(a) To determine the initial calendar years of wage-loss, OWCP will use the evidence it receives under Sec. Sec. 30.805 and 30.806 to determine the quarter in which a covered Part E employee first sustained wage-loss due to exposure to a toxic substance while engaged in employment at a DOE facility or a RECA section 5 facility, as appropriate.
(b) OWCP will then compare the calendar-year wages for that employee, as adjusted, with the average annual wage determined under Sec. 30.810 for each calendar year beginning with the calendar year that includes the quarter in which the wage-loss commenced, and concluding with the last calendar year of wage-loss prior to the submission of the claim or the calendar year in which the employee reached normal retirement age (as defined in Sec. 30.801(b)), whichever occurred first.
(c) OWCP will then aggregate separately the number of calendar years of wage-loss in which the employee's wages, as adjusted, did not exceed 50 percent of the average annual wage determined under Sec. 30.810, and the number of calendar years of wage-loss in which the employee's wages, as adjusted, exceeded 50 percent of such average annual wage, but did not exceed 75 percent of such average annual wage.
(d) For each calendar year of wage-loss determined under paragraph (c) of this section during which the employee's wages did not exceed 50 percent of his or her average annual wage, OWCP will pay the employee $15,000 as compensation for wage-loss. For each calendar year of wage-loss determined under paragraph (c) of this section during which the employee's calendar-year wages exceeded 50 percent of his or her average annual wage but did not exceed 75 percent of such average annual wage, OWCP will pay the employee $10,000 as compensation for wage-loss.