The death gratuity, when combined with certain other payments, currently may not exceed $10,000. Image: SeventyFour/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffA bipartisan bill (HR-3317) has been reintroduced to increase payments to survivors on the death of a federal employee in the line of duty—which have been unchanged for decades—and to standardize policies across agencies on their payment.
The bill would increase to $100,000 the $10,000 current death gratuity payment in effect since 1997 and increase to $8,800 the funeral expense payment from the $800 that has been in effect since 1966; both then would be indexed to inflation.
The bill also would expand the scope of who qualifies as a beneficiary; clarify who qualifies as a federal civil servant for the purposes of the benefit; ensure that agencies treat the benefit as mandatory and not discretionary; and authorize funding in certain cases where a major event may cause a large number of federal civilian employee deaths.
A similar bill was approved at the Senate committee level in the prior Congress but did not advance to a floor vote there or in the House.
Line of Duty Death Benefits Payments
Under Section 651 of Public Law 104-208, at the discretion of the head of the department or agency, the personal representative of any federal employee who dies from an injury sustained in the line of duty may be paid line of duty death benefits of up to $10,000. While the payment is discretionary, the Office of the Personnel Management encourages all department and agency heads to make full use of this authority.
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