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Ensuring Just Compensation under the Law

Federal Worker's Compensation

Macey, Swanson and Allman represent federal employees who are injured at work and need assistance with benefit claims under the Federal Employees Compensation Act (FECA). Whether your case is at the Department of Labor's Office of Workers' Compensation Programs (OWCP) or is on appeal to the Employees Compensation Appeals Board (ECAB), we will help you navigate the oftentimes confusing claim and appeal procedures.

AGENCIES
We provide legal representation to all civilian federal employees, from all agencies, including:

  • Postal Service (USPS)
  • Department of Homeland Security
  • Department of Agriculture
  • Veterans Administration (VA)
  • Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
  • Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)
  • Transportation Security Administration (TSA)
  • Department of Defense
  • Social Security Administration
  • Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)

CLAIMS
Under the FECA statute, federal employees who are injured on the job may have claims for a traumatic injury or an occupational injury.

A traumatic injury means:
A condition of the body caused by a specific event or incident, or a series of events or incidents, within a single workday or shift. Such condition must be caused by external force, including stress or strain, which is identifiable as to time and place of occurrence and member of function of the body affected. 20 C.F.R. § 10.5(ee)

Any injury should be reported as soon as possible to your supervisor, but to receive continuation of pay (COP) an employee must report the traumatic injury within 30 days of injury.

File a CA-1 to report a traumatic injury. A CA-7 form is used to request compensation for lost wages. Both are obtained from your supervisor. Ask your employer to authorize medical treatment and get a CA-16 form from them to take to your doctor's appointment. Remember you have the right to pick your treating physician. There are restrictions, however, on what a chiropractor is authorized to do for federal employees.

An occupational injury means:

Occupational disease or illness means a condition produced by the work environment over a period longer than a single work day or shift. 20 C.F.R. § 10.5(q)

File a CA-2 to report an occupational injury. There is no COP for an occupational injury. Both the CA-1 and the CA-2 can also be downloaded and printed from the internet at www.dol.gov/dol/esa/owcp.htm [LINK]. You will not be able to download a CA-16 from the internet.

BENEFITS

Under the FECA, an injured employee may receive benefits for:

  • lost wages of either 66 2/3% of pay, or, if you have dependents, 75% of pay
  • loss of wage-earning capacity (a percentage of the difference between pre-injury wage and post-injury wage)
  • disfigurement or loss of use of body members (schedule award)
  • medical expenses
  • vocational rehabilitation services
  • death/survivors' benefits

For more information, see this Guide to the Federal Employees' Compensation Act from the National Association of Letter Carriers.

CONSULTATIONS

If you think you may need help with your federal worker's compensation claim, call us at 317-637-2345 for a brief (15 minutes or less) interview at no charge, or call us to set up a consultation for a competitive fee.

 

 

© 2011 Macey Swanson and Allman. All rights reserved.
445 N. Pennsylvania St., Ste. 401 | Indianapolis, IN 46204 | 317.637.2345 | info@maceylaw.com
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© 2011 Macey Swanson and Allman. All rights reserved.