Title 5Government Organization and EmployeesRelease 119-73

§8118 Continuation of pay; election to use annual or sick leave

Title 5 › Part PART III— - EMPLOYEES › Subpart Subpart G— - Insurance and Annuities › Chapter CHAPTER 81— - COMPENSATION FOR WORK INJURIES › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER I— - GENERALLY › § 8118

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

The United States must keep paying an employee who files a timely claim for lost wages after a traumatic injury. The employee must be the kind described in 5 U.S.C. 8101(1), excluding those in clauses (B) or (E). The claim must go to the worker’s immediate supervisor on a form the Secretary of Labor approves and must meet the time limit in 5 U.S.C. 8122(a)(2). Continued pay is given without interruption unless disputed, can last no more than 45 days, and follows accounting and other rules the Secretary sets. An employee may use their available annual or sick leave while disabled, but disability compensation and related time rules do not start until the continued pay ends or the leave stops. If the Secretary denies the claim, the employee can choose to have the payments charged to annual or sick leave or treated as an overpayment under 5 U.S.C. 5584. These payments are not counted as “compensation” under 5 U.S.C. 8101(12).

Full Legal Text

Title 5, §8118

Government Organization and Employees — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)The United States shall authorize the continuation of pay of an employee, as defined in section 8101(1) of this title (other than those referred to in clause (B) or (E)), who has filed a claim for a period of wage loss due to a traumatic injury with his immediate superior on a form approved by the Secretary of Labor within the time specified in section 8122(a)(2) of this title.
(b)Continuation of pay under this subchapter shall be furnished—
(1)without a break in time, except as provided under section 8117(b), unless controverted under regulations of the Secretary;
(2)for a period not to exceed 45 days; and
(3)under accounting procedures and such other regulations as the Secretary may require.
(c)An employee may use annual or sick leave to his credit at the time the disability begins, but his compensation for disability does not begin, and the time periods specified by section 8117 of this title do not begin to run, until termination of pay as set forth in subsections (a) and (b) or the use of annual or sick leave ends.
(d)If a claim under subsection (a) is denied by the Secretary, payments under this section shall, at the option of the employee, be charged to sick or annual leave or shall be deemed overpayments of pay within the meaning of section 5584 of title 5, United States Code.
(e)Payments under this section shall not be considered as compensation as defined by section 8101(12) of this title.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Historical and Revision Notes

DerivationU.S. CodeRevised Statutes andStatutes at Large 5 U.S.C. 758.Sept. 7, 1916, ch. 458, § 8, 39 Stat. 743. Oct. 14, 1949, ch. 691, § 101(b), 63 Stat. 854. Standard changes are made to conform with the definitions applicable and the style of this title as outlined in the preface to the report.

Editorial Notes

Amendments

2006—Subsec. (b)(1). Pub. L. 109–435 amended par. (1) generally. Prior to amendment, par. (1) read as follows: “without a break in time unless controverted under

Regulations

of the Secretary;”. 1974—Pub. L. 93–416 inserted in section catchline the reference to continuation of pay, added subsecs. (a), (b), (d) and (e), designated existing provisions as subsec. (c), and in subsec. (c) as so designated, substituted “until termination of pay as set forth in subsections (a) and (b) or the use of annual or sick leave ends” for “until the use of the annual or sick leave ends”.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 1974 Amendment Pub. L. 93–416, § 28(b), Sept. 7, 1974, 88 Stat. 1151, provided that: “section 11 of this Act [amending this section] shall become effective 60 days from enactment [Sept. 7, 1974] and be applicable to any injury occurring on or after such

Effective Date

.”

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

5 U.S.C. § 8118

Title 5Government Organization and Employees

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73