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If a federal employee is injured while attempting work that he or she is scheduled to do for his or her employer, that employee may be entitled to what we refer to as workers compensation benefits.
Federal workers compensation benefits include:
- payment of medical bills for the work related injury
- compensation for lost wages on a temporary basis and,
- if the injury is established to have a created a permanent loss of some function of your body, a one-time “schedule” award based upon a rating of that impairment.
Will any of these benefits be paid? That decision will be made by the Office of Workers Compensation (OWCP) which participates in the direction of that treatment by requiring pre-approval of payment for those services. The OWCP may request that you use only their pre-authorized doctors, and may request that their representative (usually a nurse) attend and monitor your medical visits with the doctor, visit privately with your doctor, and report back to OWCP with his/her opinion of your course of treatment. As in the case of private insurance involvement the procedures required can be frustrating to both the worker and the worker's doctor.
Federal workers often confuse their federal workers compensation rights with another, similar benefit referred to as “continuation of pay." When the worker is receiving his COP payments he often thinks that he has already qualified for and is receiving federal workers compensation benefits. It is often not until later that he has learns that he has not qualified for workers compensation at all and circumstances have developed that prevent him from receiving his full federal workers compensation benefit entitlement.
Because federal workers compensation claims can be so confusing and incredibly time consuming, it's rarely economical to pay someone to assist you, unless you have a major or career-ending injury.
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