Title 5, Government Organization and EmployeesRelease 119-102
§8105 Total Disability
Title 5 › PART III — EMPLOYEES › Subpart G — Insurance and Annuities › CHAPTER 81 — COMPENSATION FOR WORK INJURIES › SUBCHAPTER I — GENERALLY › § 8105
Summary
If an employee is totally disabled, the United States must pay a monthly benefit equal to 66 2/3 percent of the employee’s monthly pay. That payment is the employee’s basic total-disability compensation. Losing the use of both hands, both arms, both feet, both legs, or losing sight in both eyes is automatically treated as a permanent total disability.
Full Legal Text
Title 5, §8105
Government Organization and Employees, Source: USLM XML via OLRC
(a)If the disability is total, the United States shall pay the employee during the disability monthly monetary compensation equal to 66⅔ percent of his monthly pay, which is known as his basic compensation for total disability.
(b)The loss of use of both hands, both arms, both feet, or both legs, or the loss of sight of both eyes, is prima facie permanent total disability.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Historical and Revision Notes
DerivationU.S. CodeRevised Statutes andStatutes at Large 5 U.S.C. 753.Sept. 7, 1916, ch. 458, § 3, 39 Stat. 743. Oct. 14, 1949, ch. 691, § 102, 63 Stat. 855. In subsection (a), the words “Except as otherwise provided in section 751–756, 757–781, 783–791, and 793 of this title” are omitted as surplusage. In subsection (b), the words “Loss, or” are omitted as included in “loss of use of”. The words “or the loss of sight of both eyes” are substituted for “or both eyes or the sight thereof”. Standard changes are made to conform with the definitions applicable and the style of this title as outlined in the preface to the report.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
5 U.S.C. § 8105
Title 5, Government Organization and Employees
Last Updated
Aug 21, 2026
Release point: 119-102