Workers’ Compensation — In Plain Words

Who runs it: two levels, as the DOL states them

The DOL’s workers’ compensation page states the split in one passage:

The DOL’s topic page states the same split from the worker’s side: “Individuals injured on the job while employed by private companies or state and local government agencies should contact their state workers’ compensation board.”

So, in the DOL’s framing, most workers are under their state’s system, and a separate federal system run by OWCP covers the specific groups named in the next section. This page does not add any group to either side of that split, and it does not work out which side covers any one reader.

The federal side: OWCP and its four programs

OWCP is short for the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs. It is part of the U.S. Department of Labor.

The DOL’s “About OWCP” page states: “The OWCP administers four major disability compensation programs that provide wage replacement benefits, medical treatment, vocational rehabilitation and other benefits to certain workers or their dependents who experience work-related injury or occupational disease.” It names the four programs as:

• the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation program,
• the Federal Employees’ Compensation Program,
• the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Program, and
• the Coal Mine Workers’ Compensation Program.

The About OWCP page adds that these programs “serve the specific employee groups who are covered under the relevant statutes and regulations by mitigating the financial burden resulting from workplace injury.” Mitigating means lessening. A statute is a law passed by a legislature.

The DOL’s topic page names the same four programs in slightly different words — it lists the Federal Employees’ Compensation Program, the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Program, the Federal Black Lung Program, and the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program. This page prints both namings as their sources state them and does not merge them into one list.

The federal employees’ program: FECA, as the DOL states it

FECA is short for the Federal Employees’ Compensation Act. It is the law behind the Federal Employees’ Compensation Program.

The DOL’s FECA Claims Administration page states what that program does, in its words: it “adjudicates new claims for benefits and manages ongoing cases; pays medical expenses and compensation benefits to injured workers and survivors; and helps injured employees return to work when they are medically able to do so.” Adjudicates means decides. “Survivors” is that page’s own word for the people it pays alongside injured workers; this page keeps the page’s word.

That page also states how disputes in FECA claims are handled, in its words: “disputes in claims under the Federal Employees' Compensation Act are resolved administratively.” Administratively means through the agency process, as the page contrasts it with litigation. That sentence is about FECA claims only. It is not a statement about any state system.

After a work injury, federal employees: the steps the FECA FAQ states

This section is only about the federal employees’ program. It prints the steps the DOL’s FECA Frequently Asked Questions page states for filing a claim there. It is not a set of steps for state systems, which have their own forms and rules.

The FECA FAQ answers the question “I was injured on the job. How do I file a claim?” this way:

• “You need to complete either form CA-1, ‘Federal Employee's Notice of Traumatic Injury and Claim for Continuation of Pay/Compensation’ or form CA-2 ‘Notice of Occupational Disease and Claim for Compensation’.”
• A traumatic injury, in the FAQ’s words, “is one that can be pinpointed to have occurred during one particular work shift — falling down the steps for example.” An occupational disease, in the FAQ’s words, “is a medical condition that has developed due to work activities performed over more than one work shift.”
• “Forms can be submitted electronically via the Employees' Compensation Operations and Management Portal (ECOMP).” ECOMP is the portal the FAQ names.
• “Be sure to keep a copy of everything for your records.”
• “Your agency will complete their portion of the CA-1 or CA-2 and submit the entire packet to the Office of Workers' Compensation Programs (OWCP) office. OWCP will advise you of the claim number which has been established.”
• “The office will review the information submitted and will determine if there is sufficient information to adjudicate the claim. If there is insufficient information to adjudicate the claim, they will send you a letter advising of the additional information needed.”

The FAQ states one filing timeline for FECA, in its words: “The Federal Employees' Compensation Act (FECA) provides that a claim for compensation must be filed within 3 years of the date of injury.” The FAQ then describes how that time runs for a traumatic injury and for a latent condition, and states that timeliness is determined by the OWCP office as part of the adjudication process. Latent means not yet noticed or not yet shown. This timeline is printed here as a FECA rule for the federal employees’ program only. This page does not state any deadline for any state system, because the state sources read in full for this page do not state one in general words — see “What this page does not cover” below.

The FAQ also states, for wage loss under FECA, that a worker who has a loss of wages and is in Leave Without Pay status as a result of the accepted condition or conditions on the claim needs to file a CA-7, “Claim for Compensation,” with the worker’s agency, with medical documentation supporting any periods of disability claimed, and that OWCP will determine if there is sufficient information on file to pay compensation for the periods claimed or if further information or development is needed. That is a FECA step, printed with its FECA conditions. This page does not extend it to any other system.

After a work injury, state-system workers: what the DOL states generally

For workers outside the federal programs, the DOL’s general pages state one direction, quoted above: individuals injured on the job while employed by private companies or state and local government agencies should contact their state workers’ compensation board.

The DOL’s general pages read for this page do not print a national set of steps — no national form, no national deadline, and no national reporting rule — for state-system workers. The next section shows one state only, Oklahoma, with its own commission and its own named filing, as an example of a state system. This page does not fill the general gap with steps from any one state, and it does not present any state’s steps as national steps.

What this page does not cover

This page does not say whether any one reader is covered by a state system, by a federal OWCP program, or by neither. The anchors describe the systems and the groups they name in general words. Which system covers a particular job is decided by that system, not by this page.

This page does not give advice about anyone’s claim. It prints no strategy, no tactics, and no steps for getting a claim approved. Where a dispute or appeal process is mentioned above, it is mentioned only as the anchor states it — administratively for FECA, in the FECA section, and mediation, trial, and the appellate panel for Oklahoma, in the labeled Oklahoma box only.

This page does not state any deadline for any state system, and it does not state any state’s benefit amount, waiting period, or form deadline. The only deadline printed on this page is the FECA filing timeline in the FECA section, fenced to the federal employees’ program as its anchor states it.

This page does not print any dollar figure, percentage of pay, or weekly rate. The anchors describe benefits in words — wage replacement benefits, medical treatment, vocational rehabilitation, and other benefits — and this page keeps that wording.

This page does not cover workplace safety rules, injury prevention programs, or any other DOL program. The DOL topic page notes that the Department has separate programs designed to prevent work-related injuries and illnesses, and points readers to its Workplace Safety and Health page for those. That is the only prevention point the anchors state, and it is printed here as the topic page states it.

Words to know

Workers’ compensation: Compensation for workers who experience work-related injury or occupational disease, in the DOL’s wording.

Occupational disease: A medical condition that has developed due to work activities performed over more than one work shift, in the FECA FAQ’s wording.

Traumatic injury: An injury that can be pinpointed to have occurred during one particular work shift, in the FECA FAQ’s wording.

OWCP: The Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs, part of the U.S. Department of Labor. It administers the four major disability compensation programs named on this page.

FECA: The Federal Employees’ Compensation Act, the law behind the Federal Employees’ Compensation Program.

Wage replacement benefits: The DOL’s words for the pay-related benefits the OWCP programs provide. This page prints no amount for them.

Vocational rehabilitation: One of the benefits the DOL’s general pages name for the OWCP programs, in the DOL’s words. The general pages name it without further detail, so this page does too.

Adjudicate / adjudication: To decide a claim, and the deciding of it, in the DOL’s FECA wording.

State workers’ compensation board: The DOL’s general words for the state body that oversees workers’ compensation at the state level. In Oklahoma, the corresponding agency in the labeled example is the Oklahoma Workers’ Compensation Commission.

This page is general information only. It is not legal advice.