This is a great question because some injuries may be so severe or catastrophic, that returning to work may be out of the question, such as injuries that have to do with paralysis or the spinal cord, or illnesses such as a metastatic cancer, blindness, or end stage kidney disease. In such instances, FECA has in place set rules to help bridge the gap between your injury or health condition and your ability to financially take care of yourself.

Injured federal workers who suffered a total disability will be eligible for permanent total disability benefits, or PTD. In addition, you will continue to receive these benefits until you’re eligible for retirement or as long as your doctor maintains your restrictions, the Agency cannot accommodate, and you are not a candidate for vocational rehabilitation.

Depending on your health condition as an injured or sick federal worker, you may also become eligible for vocational rehabilitation as mentioned above, which is an OWCP program meant to ensure you remain gainfully employed without aggravating your injuries or health condition. Within this program, you can expect job counseling, assistance finding a new job position as well as retraining in order to help you transition into your new responsibilities. Vocational rehabilitation is specifically targeted towards injured federal workers that are unable to return to their previous job and position, and it is a prerequisite for individuals that want to continue receiving wage loss benefits.

A permanent impairment that makes it impossible for you to resume working will make you eligible for a schedule award which is paid out according to impairment severity of the limb or body part affected. It is also important to note that these schedule awards are paid in concert with permanent total disability benefits and all other vocational rehabilitation benefits. However, you do not want to request a scheduled award if you are still receiving wage compensation benefits from OWCP.

Additionally, if your condition or injury is so severe that a return to work is virtually impossible, going into retirement so that one can receive federal worker employee retirement benefits is an option. This provides financial stability that can last decades depending on your age at the time of injury or contraction of occupational disease. However, sometimes it is better to stay on workers’ compensation as long as possible since it generally pays the injured worker more monthly.  We can discuss the positive and negatives of each option and help you make an informed decision on what is best for you.

If you’re a federal worker that’s suffered a permanent injury making you unable to work, don’t go it alone, and don’t be discouraged: we can help streamline the benefits process for you and shorten the time it will take for you to receive them: simply call us at 312-444-0214 to speak with one of our experienced and friendly federal workers’ compensation attorneys.