---
kind: "section"
citation: "5 U.S.C. § 8102"
title: "5"
title_heading: "Government Organization and Employees"
number: "8102"
heading: "Compensation for disability or death of employee"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/5/8102"
units:
  - "Part III — Employees"
  - "Subpart G — Insurance and Annuities"
  - "Chapter 81 — Compensation for Work Injuries"
  - "Subchapter I — Generally"
---

# §8102. Compensation for disability or death of employee

- (a) The [United States](/usc/5/7103.md?p=a-18) shall [pay](/usc/5/7511.md?p=a-4) [compensation](/usc/5/8101.md?p=12) as specified by this subchapter for the disability or death of an [employee](/usc/5/8101.md?p=1) resulting from personal [injury](/usc/5/8101.md?p=5) sustained while in the performance of his duty, unless the [injury](/usc/5/8101.md?p=5) or death is—
  - (1) caused by willful misconduct of the [employee](/usc/5/8101.md?p=1);
  - (2) caused by the [employee](/usc/5/8101.md?p=1)’s intention to bring about the [injury](/usc/5/8101.md?p=5) or death of himself or of another; or
  - (3) proximately caused by the intoxication of the injured [employee](/usc/5/8101.md?p=1).
- (b) Disability or death from a [war-risk hazard](/usc/5/8101.md?p=13) or during or as a result of capture, detention, or other restraint by a [hostile force or individual](/usc/5/8101.md?p=14), suffered by an [employee](/usc/5/8101.md?p=1) who is employed outside the continental [United States](/usc/5/7103.md?p=a-18) or in Alaska or in the areas and installations in the Republic of Panama made available to the [United States](/usc/5/7103.md?p=a-18) pursuant to the Panama Canal Treaty of 1977 and related agreements (as described in section 3(a) of the Panama Canal Act of 1979), is deemed to have resulted from personal [injury](/usc/5/8101.md?p=5) sustained while in the performance of his duty, whether or not the [employee](/usc/5/8101.md?p=1) was engaged in the course of employment when the disability or disability resulting in death occurred or when he was taken by the [hostile force or individual](/usc/5/8101.md?p=14). This subsection does not apply to an individual—
  - (1) whose residence is at or in the vicinity of the place of his employment and who was not living there solely because of the exigencies of his employment, unless he was injured or taken while engaged in the course of his employment; or
  - (2) who is a prisoner of war or a protected individual under the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and is detained or utilized by the [United States](/usc/5/7103.md?p=a-18).

  This subsection does not affect the payment of [compensation](/usc/5/8101.md?p=12) under this subchapter derived otherwise than under this subsection, but [compensation](/usc/5/8101.md?p=12) for disability or death does not accrue for a period for which [pay](/usc/5/7511.md?p=a-4), other benefit, or gratuity from the [United States](/usc/5/7103.md?p=a-18) accrues to the disabled individual or his [dependents](/usc/5/8951.md?p=2) on [account](/usc/5/8401.md?p=1) of detention by the enemy or because of the same disability or death, unless that [pay](/usc/5/7511.md?p=a-4), benefit, or gratuity is refunded or renounced.


## Source credit

(Pub. L. 89–554, Sept. 6, 1966, 80 Stat. 534; Pub. L. 96–70, title I, § 1231(d), Sept. 27, 1979, 93 Stat. 470.)

## Notes

| Historical and Revision Notes |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Derivation | U.S. Code | Revised Statutes and<br>Statutes at Large |
|  | 5 U.S.C. 751. | Sept. 7, 1916, ch. 458, § 1, 39 Stat. 742.<br>Aug. 8, 1958, Pub. L. 85–608, § 301, 72 Stat. 538. |

Standard changes are made to conform with the definitions applicable and the style of this title as outlined in the preface to the report.

### Editorial Notes

### References in Text

Section 3(a) of the Panama Canal Act of 1979, referred to in subsec. (b), is classified to section 3602(a) of Title 22, Foreign Relations and Intercourse.

### Amendments

1979—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 96–70 substituted “areas and installations in the Republic of Panama made available to the United States pursuant to the Panama Canal Treaty of 1977 and related agreements (as described in section 3(a) of the Panama Canal Act of 1979)” for “Canal Zone”.

### Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

### Effective Date of 1979 Amendment

Amendment by Pub. L. 96–70 effective Oct. 1, 1979, see section 3304 of Pub. L. 96–70, set out as an Effective Date note under section 3601 of Title 22, Foreign Relations and Intercourse.