Paying Respects

During a speech in late July laying out his vision of the civil service, Office of Personnel Management Director John Berry issued a stark reminder that government workers sometimes pay a very high price for their dedication to the country. Between 1995 and 2007, 2,085 civil servants were killed on the job. "Just as we owe our men and women who die in uniform more than we can ever repay, we owe these noncombatant workers a debt of honor as well," he told the audience of federal managers at the Excellence in Government Conference hosted by Government Executive. "I challenge anyone to say their lives are any less dear."

Recently, several agencies have moved to adopt policies that recognize the sacrifice of civilians who are killed while working by making it easier for their survivors to carry forward some of their benefits.

On Tuesday, the Labor Department published a regulation in the Federal Register implementing a program to provide a $100,000 death benefit for civil service employees who die of injuries or illnesses they suffer while supporting military operations in the United States or abroad. The program was created in the fiscal 2008 Defense Authorization Act.

Survivors could receive less than $100,000 if they have collected other payments to compensate for the employee's death. But there is no requirement that the death occur within a set period after injury or onset of illness, making it easier for more federal employees' families to claim benefits.

The regulation includes a broad set of standards for determining if employees are eligible for the benefit. Employees working for a federal agency outside the United States where a military operation is under way qualify as having support roles, the rule states. That's because agencies support the armed forces both directly, through jobs such as providing supplies, and indirectly, through efforts such as public diplomacy. Unless an employee who died clearly was doing work unrelated to the military mission in the area, that worker's survivors will be eligible for a payment.

"Additionally," Labor wrote, "activities of covered employees in these areas will be seen as relating to the ongoing contingency operation by the affected populace, and hostilities may be directed at the employees because of that perception."

The new benefit took effect on Aug. 18, and applies retroactively to Oct. 7, 2001, for federal employees who died in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Labor is accepting comments on the regulation until Oct. 19, but decided to implement it immediately because "family members and other survivors left behind by those brave individuals…deserve the government's compassionate response without further delay."

Also in the works is a wider-ranging benefit: the right of federal employees' spouses and beneficiaries to maintain their Thrift Savings Plan accounts after their deaths. Currently, beneficiaries are required to close a TSP account within 60 days of the federal employee's death. The TSP is dedicated to changing that requirement. But Greg Long, the TSP's executive director, said on Monday that given the complexities of the project -- including educating beneficiaries about how the TSP works -- an interim solution might be necessary to give staff time to finalize rules for how to handle the accounts of deceased federal employees.

It could be a while before Berry's vision of a civil service that is as well-respected for its sacrifices as the military, is realized. But the Labor Department and TSP measures could go a long way in helping family members and other beneficiaries of federal employees who die on -- and off-- the job.