As an injured federal worker, your rights to compensation are protected under FECA, or the Federal Employees Compensation act. This means that your medical and day-to-day costs will be taken care of should you suffer an injury while on the job or elsewhere, and you may even be eligible for retraining compensation costs as well as the cost of hiring an assistant if your injuries were extensive enough to require them.
Are you wondering about what a federal employee should do when injured at work? There are a few steps you must take immediately so you’re eligible for compensation. For over two decades, McCready, Garcia and Leet have been helping injured postal workers and other federal workers get the compensation they deserve. The process can be daunting, and there are intricacies with regard to the application process that you may not be aware of even after carrying out extensive research. Speaking with an experienced federal workers’ compensation attorney is therefore the right path to take: please contact our experienced federal workers’ injury attorneys NOW at (773) 906-4159 for your 100% FREE consultation to learn more about the true value of your injury claim.
Injured Federal Worker –Report Your Injury Immediately
The first step you must take is report the injury to your supervisor. This will provide you with a written account confirming the injury that will be needed by OPM. It is important to note that injury here includes the worsening of a medical condition or injury by work conditions. Your goal should be to do this immediately so the supervisor can furnish you with necessary paperwork to validate your claim.
Seek Medical Attention
Next, you want to seek medical attention immediately; this will require that you submit form CA-16 together with form OWCP-1500 to a medical doctor well-versed in treating federal workers. Please note that you are at liberty to choose your own doctor, and in such cases, we like to ask prospective clients to get in touch with us at (773) 906-4159 so you can access our network of OWCP-conversant physicians who will fill in your form in accordance with OWCP requirements, thereby safeguarding your benefits in the future.
Fill Out a Notice and Give to Supervisor
Next, you will have to fill in a written notice and present it to your supervisor: this is done on form CA-1 for traumatic injuries, and form CA-2 for individuals that sustained occupational disease. Make sure to do this within 30 days of your injury or your application may be marked as invalid.
Apply for COP, Compensation for Wage Loss, or Leave Benefits
Form CA-1 above will then be used to apply for continuation of pay, or COP. This will provide you with up to 45 calendar days of compensation for wage loss due to your traumatic injury. Again, make sure to do this within 30 days of your injury. That being said, if you became disabled following your traumatic injury, you must submit evidence that you suffered a disabling injury within 10 WORK DAYS of your injury. Should you not be able to qualify for COP because your 45 days have either ran out, or have an occupational disease, use form CA-7, and again, file everything in a timely manner.
Need Urgent Help? Call US Now!
Need to make sense of it all? Time is of the essence, and you don’t want to be locked out of compensation. For help with filling out all the forms and sourcing an OWCP-conversant physician, please call our best injured federal workers attorney NOW at (773) 906-4159 for your 100% FREE consultation. Thanks, and we look forward to hearing from you.