OWCP CLAIMS PROCESSING –

Certain procedures and responsibilities have to be accomplished once the

forms and information have reached OWCP for appropriate adjudication of

claim.

A. Initial Processing –

Once claim is received with all supporting documentation (when possible)

claim number will be assigned to the case. OWCP will notify the

employee and agency once claim has been received. Uncontroverted

claims with medical bills totaling less than $1500 will be administratively

closed by OWCP. Thos claims not meeting that criteria will...

Continuation of Pay (COP) is continuation of regular pay up to 45 calendar

days for periods of disability and or medical care, which occur in connection

with a Traumatic Injury. COP must begin within 45 days of the injury.

A. Entitlement –

Permanent and Temporary employees are entitled to COP when

Traumatic Injury is reported within 30 days. Medical documentation must

support all periods of COP. Normally, COP will begin the day following

the date of the traumatic injury. Except for Injuries that occurred prior to

the st...

OWCP Claims for Compensation for federal - civil employees injuries, must meet certain requirements before being accepted.  These five (5) requirements ( also known as the 5 elements of coverage determination criteria) must be met within the sequence below and if not, claim will be adjudicated or held up by requesting information from the injured work to satisfy each of the 5 element requirement in sequential order to be given due process:

A. Time                                                                                                                                        

B. Civil Employee                                                                                                                    

C. Fact of Injury or Occupational Disease or Illness                                                          

Two factors are involved in the determination of whether the employee did in fact suffer the injury: 

                 1) Occurrence of the Event                                                                 ...

                                  Initiating Claims with OWCP.

Procedures initiating claims with OWCP for an employee who has (A)

suffered a Traumatic Injury, (B) suffers from an Occupational Injury or

Disease, (C) Recurrence of Injury or Disease, and (D) Death:

Seasosn 5 podcast episode 1 explaining  how OWCP works from an OWCP Claims examiner's training. Today we are going over something I have never addressed in the podcast before…we are going to teach OWCP from OWCP Claims Examiner training material. In order to be successful with communication with an OWCP claims examiner, it is important to understand what they...

A psychiatric condition is accepted under FECA only if a qualified mental health professional diagnoses an emotional condition and provides a rationalized opinion that it was directly caused or substantially aggravated by specific, substantiated incidents or conditions of federal employment — not by general job stress or properly conducted personnel actions.

If you are pursuing such a claim, almost all successful claimants use an attorney or experienced representative who specializes in federal workers’ compensation, because the medical and factual causation burdens are extremely high.

. Medical Causation Requirements for Establishing a Psychological DSM-5 Diagnosis for a Federal Empl...

CA-7 Form is used When the CE first becomes aware that the claimant is disabled from work (even if the COP period has not expired or a wage-loss claim has not yet been received).

(b) The first CA-7, Claim for Compensation, is approved for a nonintermittent period of leave without pay, and medical evidence supports continued disability from work. The CA-7 form asks the claimant to reportall earnings from employment (outside of his/her federal job) for the period claimed on the CA-7. The claimant is specifically advised to include all employment for which salary, wages, sales...

OWCP Schedule Awards. If you’ve got a permanent impairment from a work injury, this could mean a lump-sum payout to help with the long haul. We’ll break it down for you injured feds: Who’s eligible? What’s the filing process? And what’s this “impairment rating” everyone’s talking about? Plus, we’ll touch on how this plays out for our maritime folks under Longshore—because OWCP covers more than just office desks and mail routes. Stick around; by the end, you’ll know exactly how to get what’s yours. 

Alright, let’s start with the basics—who’s...

The Federal Employees' Compensation Act (FECA) provides comprehensive protections for injured federal workers during the adjudication and appeals process for claim denials, including denials of wage-loss (off-work) benefits and impairment ratings for scheduled awards. While FECA does not explicitly prohibit an employing agency from initiating administrative actions like separation for extended absence, it establishes strong safeguards to maintain the status quo during ongoing OWCP proceedings. This includes continuation of benefits unless specific suspension criteria are met, restoration rights to duty, and job protections tied to disability status. These mechanisms prevent premature termination of employment or benefits while disputes are...

Federal Workers Compensation Coffee Break Podcast is an educational podcast that covers relevant federal workers compensation topics that affect injured government employees. Today's podcast covers relevant information about Impairment Ratings for a Schedule Award calculations and eligibility. 

Schedule awards are for an OWCP accepted condition arising out of an on-the-job injury. The awards are generally for the permanent loss or use of a scheduled member of the body and usually not for the body as a whole.

As of July 2005 the appropriate method of evaluating the extent of any permanent impairment is found in the A...

In this episode of the Federal Workers Compensation Coffee Break Podcast, Dr. Taylor, a seasoned OWCP and federal healthcare consultant, provides an update on the OWCP Appeal Process. Dr. Taylor discusses FECA ACT § 10.600 which covers how can final decisions of OWCP be reviewed?

There are three methods for reviewing a formal decision of the OWCP (§§ 10.125 through 10.127 discuss how decisions are made). These methods are: reconsideration by the district office; a hearing before an OWCP hearing representative; and appeal to the Employees' Compensation Appeals Board (ECAB). For each method there are time limitations and other restrictions whi...

In this episode of the Federal Workers Compensation Coffee Break Podcast, Dr. Taylor, a seasoned OWCP and federal healthcare consultant, provides an update on effectively communicating with the Office of Workers' Compensation Programs (OWCP) as an injured federal employee. The podcast focuses on using the Employees' Compensation Operations & Management Portal (ECOMP) for online correspondence, including registering an account, uploading documents with a nine-digit case number, and tracking submissions via a Digital Control Number (DCN). Dr. Taylor advises against using work or military emails due to restrictions and highlights the importance of adhering to file size (5 MB) and format (e...

Federal Workers Compensation Coffeebreak is with an OWCP Consultant, Dr. Stephen Taylor, who is a medical provider in Tampa & Pensacola Florida and Daphne Alabama who has been helping government employees with OWCP, DOL and Longshore work-related injuries, disability, FERS Disability, VA disability and other types of Federal program filings for 30 years. 

Understanding LWOP denials and common mistakes by Employee agency & OWCP for Federal Employees

Welcome to today’s episode, where we’re diving into the often-misunderstood world of Leave Without Pay (LWOP) and Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (OWCP) claims for federal employees. These topics can fee...

Dr. Stephen Taylor is an OWCP -  DOL provider and consultant who enjoys teaching all things federal workers compensation related. This is an educational short form format podcast for learning how to successfully file federal workers compensation claims. So grab a cup of coffee and lets begin. You will be glad you did!
Here at this podcast we discuss all sorts of topics related to  federal  workers compensation, Department of Labor, OWCP, FECA ACT, FERS, longshore-maritime, DOD contractors, VA benefits. I cover these relevant topics in a short coffee break style format  because we like to discuss topi...