What is federal workers’ compensation (OWCP)?
The Federal Employees’ Compensation Act (FECA) is one of the biggest federal employment laws you’ve never heard of. The FECA was created by Congress in 1916, and today covers over 3 million federal workers (including employees of the United States Postal Service (USPS)) who develop work-related disabilities or sustain on-the-job injuries. The government entity in charge of administering claims under the FECA is the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (OWCP).
OWCP’s Disability Compensation Programs
OWCP administers four disability compensation programs: (1) the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program, (2) the Federal Employees’ Compensation Program, (3) Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Program, and (4) Coal Mine Workers’ Compensation Program. Our firm focuses on the Federal Employees’ Compensation Program, and our office refers to claims filed pursuant to this program as OWCP-FECA claims.
FECA Rights and Benefits
If a federal civilian employee is injured or develops an occupational disease in connection to federal employment duties, the FECA allows them to file a claim for federal workers’ compensation benefits with OWCP.
Unlike other workers’ compensation systems, the FECA itself does not offer any “settlements” of claims and there is unfortunately no award for “pain and suffering.” Filing a claim is also not a “lawsuit,” and the program is administrative in nature, or “non-adversarial.” The FECA offers three (3) main benefits to workers who file claims:
Medical coverage: for accepted conditions, OWCP will reimburse claimants for medical travel and out-of-pocket expenses, as well as paying the claimants’ providers for authorized medical care and procedures.
Wage loss compensation: if a federal worker loses time from work or their employer cannot accommodate work restrictions given by a physician due to an accepted condition, OWCP will pay disability compensation at 66.66%, or 75% (with a qualifying dependent or spouse) for the substantiated lost time.
Schedule award: this benefit provides additional monetary compensation for a permanent impairment on a qualifying body part (set by the FECA) related to injuries accepted by OWCP. A schedule award can be claimed when a claimant’s doctor determines they have reached “maximum medical improvement,” or MMI. After, the claimant’s qualifying body part is “rated” by a physician during an impairment rating examination using the AMA Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment (Sixth Edition). The monetary amount of the schedule award is determined based upon the claimant’s salary, a statutory “schedule” set by the FECA for the body part, and the percentage of impairment given by the physician.
Additional Information About OWCP
More information about OWCP can be found on the U.S. Department of Labor’s website. OWCP’s website provides FAQs for medical providers, medical billing questions, claimants, and employing agencies.
The information provided in this post is just a simple overview of OWCP and is not fully inclusive of all pertinent information. If you have any specific questions about an OWCP matter, please feel free to contact us and we will evaluate our ability to assist you in navigating the OWCP process.
