20 CFR § 10.510 - When may a light duty job form the basis of a loss of wage-earning capacity determination?

---
identifier: "/us/cfr/t20/s10.510"
source: "ecfr"
legal_status: "authoritative_unofficial"
title: "20 CFR § 10.510 - When may a light duty job form the basis of a loss of wage-earning capacity determination?"
title_number: 20
title_name: "Employees' Benefits"
section_number: "10.510"
section_name: "When may a light duty job form the basis of a loss of wage-earning capacity determination?"
chapter_name: "OFFICE OF WORKERS' COMPENSATION PROGRAMS, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR"
subchapter_number: "B"
subchapter_name: "FEDERAL EMPLOYEES' COMPENSATION ACT"
part_number: "10"
part_name: "CLAIMS FOR COMPENSATION UNDER THE FEDERAL EMPLOYEES' COMPENSATION ACT, AS AMENDED"
positive_law: false
currency: "2026-04-05"
last_updated: "2026-04-05"
format_version: "1.1.0"
generator: "[email protected]"
authority: "5 U.S.C. 301, 8102a, 8103, 8145 and 8149; 31 U.S.C. 3716 and 3717; Reorganization Plan No. 6 of 1950, 15 FR 3174, 64 Stat. 1263; Secretary of Labor's Order No. 10-2009, 74 FR 218; Pub. L. 117-263."
regulatory_source: "76 FR 37903, June 28, 2011, unless otherwise noted."
cfr_part: "10"
---


# 10.510 When may a light duty job form the basis of a loss of wage-earning capacity determination?

A light-duty position that fairly and reasonably represents an employee's ability to earn wages may form the basis of a loss of wage-earning capacity determination if that light duty position is a classified position to which the injured employee has been formally reassigned. The position must conform to the established physical limitations of the injured employee; the employer must have a written position description outlining the duties and physical requirements; and the position must correlate to the type of appointment held by the injured employee at the time of injury. If these circumstances are present, a determination may be made that the position constitutes “regular” Federal employment. In the absence of a “light-duty position” as described in this paragraph, OWCP will assume that the employee was instead engaged in non-competitive, makeshift or odd lot employment which does not represent the employee's wage-earning capacity, *i.e.,* work of the type provided to injured employees who cannot otherwise be employed by the Federal Government or in any well-known branch of the general labor market.