Excepted service federal employees who have fully recovered from workplace injuries are entitled to several possible avenues to restoration to federal employment, including the Priority Reemployment List (PRL). See 5 U.S.C. § 8151 (b). Each of these avenues has its own mechanics, and so it is important for employees who have been injured in the workplace, and recipients of benefits from the Office of Workers Compensation Programs as a result understand their rights under each program.
A related—but independent and distinct—program called the Reemployment Priority List (RPL) is also available to competitive service employees who are fully recovered from workplace injuries, and also available to certain employees who have been affected by a reduction in force (RIF) (as previously analyzed in this blog) and to employees who are returning from uniformed service, although the focus of this blog entry will be those recovering from compensable workplace injuries.
Employee Requirements for PRL
To be eligible for PRL placement after fully recovering from a compensable injury, the employee must meet two basic requirements under 5 C.F.R. § 302.303(b). They must have had their compensation payments terminated due to being able to perform the duties of their former position or an equivalent position (for example, due to OWCP benefits ceasing after more than one year collecting benefits), and they must request reemployment within 30 days of compensation ceasing. See Green v. U.S. Postal Service, MSPB Docket No. SF-0353-98-0372-I-1 (June 19, 1998)(Reed, A.J.). “An agency may limit consideration granted at its discretion to applicants for specific positions or applicants who meet specific conditions, but must make those conditions a matter of record and must apply its policy uniformly to all eligible employees.” 5 C.F.R. § 302.303(a)(2).
Employees with a compensable workplace injury who fully recover within one year of injury do not go on the PRL. Instead, the employee has “the right to resume his former or an equivalent position, as well as all other attendant rights which the employee would have had, or acquired, in his former position had he not been injured or disabled, including the rights to tenure, promotion, and safeguards in reductions-in-force procedures.” See 5 U.S.C. § 8151(b)(1); accord 5 C.F.R. §§ 302.303(b)(3), 353.301(a).
Partially recovered employees who fully recover after the one-year mark, as well as compensably injured employees who were terminated after one year of continuous absence due to their injury, may participate in PRL. PRL rights apply when an employee has been reinstated on light duty due to partial recovery, then reaches full recovery (for example, when OWCP has given notice that the employee has fully recovered and compensation benefits will cease) more than one year from the date of compensable injury. PRL rights also apply where these employees were removed from federal service (for example, because of their continuous absence from work for more than a year), and then later reach full recovery. See Bair v. Department of Defense, 117 M.S.P.R. 374, 2012 MSPB 17, ¶¶11-12 (2012).
Many agencies require employees to file a request to register for the PRL program –they are not automatically placed on the PRL. In those agencies the employee has to affirmatively request placement on the PRL. This application must be submitted to the agency, often within 30 days of the date compensation benefits cease or that the Department of Labor denies compensation benefits. If an employee successfully registers for the PRL, they remain on the PRL for 2 years from their date of registration, although the agency may provide for a longer enrollment. See 5 C.F.R. § 302.303(b). The employee must also have been separated because of the compensable injury (and not separated for other reasons, such as removal for cause due to misconduct).
In general, an employee will remain on the PRL until they are placed in an appropriate comparable position or reach the end of their eligibility.
Agency Responsibilities for PRL
In general, the employee can only register for the PRL for the local commuting area from which they were separated, based on the duty station of their position of record when they were injured, although the agency may potentially provide a larger geographic scope for PRL consideration. A “local commuting area” is the geographic area usually considered a single area for employment purposes and includes any population center (or two or more neighboring ones) and the surrounding localities where people live and can reasonably be expected to travel back and forth daily to their jobs.
Employee Rights for PRL
Generally, an agency cannot place an external candidate into an excepted service position over an employee who is qualified and on the PRL, unless an exception applies. See 5 C.F.R. § 302.304(a). OPM regulations specify the priority order of different categories of applicants, including PRL applicants, receive for an excepted service position, and specify different permissible ranking methods. See 5 C.F.R. §302.304. Accordingly, it is important for PRL employees to know the specific PRL placement method that applies to them. Additionally, a hiring manager may exclude from consideration for a given position a candidate who has rejected three times for the same position. See 5 C.F.R. § 332.405.
Violations of the PRL Regulations and Other Restoration Rights
Some common ways that an agency may violate the PRL regulations include situations where an agency hires someone in violation of the rights of an employee on the PRL for an excepted service position. See 5 C.F.R. §§ 302.304(a); 302.501.
Employees with a compensable workplace injury who fully recover within one year of injury are “entitled to be restored immediately and unconditionally to his or her former position or an equivalent one.” See 5 C.F.R. § 353.301(a).
Right of Appeal if PRL or Restoration Rights are Violated
An employee who believes the agency violated his or her PRL rights by employing another person who otherwise could not have been appointed properly can file an appeal with the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) to challenge the agency’s action. 5 C.F.R. §§ 302.304(a), 302.501, 353.304.
In addition, fully recovered employees who are denied restoration rights less than one year from their compensable injury are entitled to full restoration to their position, and may appeal the denial to the MSPB, as may employees who are denied restoration after partial recovery if the agency acted “arbitrarily and capriciously in denying restoration.” 5 C.F.R. § 353.304.
An PRL rights appeal must be filed no later than 30 days after the effective date of the agency’s appointment of another person over the RPL employee. Cf., e.g., Boyd v. Dept. of Justice, MSPB Docket No. SF-0330-11-0421-I-1 (July 11, 2011) (Slizeski, A.J.) (nonprecedential); 5 C.F.R. § 1201.22(b). This deadline can be extended if the employing agency had separated the employee due to compensable injury but failed to provide notice of the deadlines for requesting restoration, provided that the employee has shown due diligence in enforcing their rights. See Bolden-Pruitt v. U.S. Postal Service, MSPB Docket No. CH-0353-16-0431-I-1 (August 1, 2022).
The MSPB can order remedies such as extension of PRL eligibility and award attorney’s fees and costs. If the employee should have received a job offer, had PRL priority been properly granted. The MSPB can also order the agency to retroactively reconstruct the prior selection and require that a position be offered to the employee with back pay. Cf. King v. Dept. of the Navy, 98 M.S.P.R. 547 (2005) and 100 M.S.P.R. 116 (2005), aff’d, 167 Fed. Appx. 191 (Fed. Cir. 2006); Welby v. Dept. of Agriculture, 10 M.S.P.R. 17 (2006) (citing Hudson v. Dept. of the Navy, 86 M.S.P.R. 398 (2000), aff’d, 15 Fed. Appx. 812 (Fed. Cir. 2001)).
A second form of MSPB appeal right exists if the agency fails to provide an eligible employee with notice of their rights to register for PRL, and then declines to allow them to register. Cf. Sturdy v. Dept. of the Army, 440 F.3d 1328, 1337 (Fed. Cir. 2006) (construing 5 C.F.R. § 330.204(b)(1) and Roberto v. Dept. of the Navy, 440 F.3d 1341, 1353 (Fed.Cir. 2006)).
However, the decision of an agency that an employee is ineligible to register on an PRL is not within the Board’s jurisdiction, and tother reemployment rights violations may unfortunately be outside MSPB jurisdiction. Cf., e.g., McCorkle v. Dept. of Defense, MSPB Docket No. SF-0330-03-0255-I-1 (June 10, 2003) (Berg, A.J.)(construing 5 C.F.R. § 330.203).
Other restoration rights appeals must be filed with the MSPB within 30 days of the action being appealed. Where the action is a non-response by the Agency, where circumstances indicate that the appellant had had sufficient information to conclude that the agency had effectively denied the reinstatement rights. Cf., e.g., Turner v. U.S. Postal Service, MSPB Docket No. AT-0353-24-0470-I-1 (April 18, 2025) (Henderson, A.J.).
If you are an excepted service federal employee who has recovered from a compensable injury and needs advice regarding your PRL or restoration rights, consider contacting Gilbert Employment Law to request an initial consultation.