FECA claims are adjudicated by the Department of Labor, not OPM and not your agency, and the medical evidence requirements are specific and unforgiving. This is an overview of how the pieces fit. For a contested claim, or where the election between benefits is close, get advice — see retaining counsel.
I What FECA covers
The Federal Employees' Compensation Act covers injury and illness caused by your federal employment. It is administered by the Office of Workers' Compensation Programs at the Department of Labor.
That last point explains a great deal about how the process feels. Your agency is not the decision-maker. OPM is not involved. A separate department adjudicates the claim against its own evidentiary standards, on its own timeline.
| Benefit | What it addresses |
|---|---|
| Medical treatment | Care for the accepted condition |
| Wage-loss compensation | Income while you cannot work |
| Schedule award | Permanent impairment of specified body parts |
The threshold question in every claim is work-causation: whether the condition arose out of and in the course of employment. Unlike FERS disability retirement, which covers any condition preventing you from doing your job, FECA reaches only what your job caused.
II CA-1 or CA-2
Which form you file is not administrative trivia. It determines what you are entitled to.
| CA-1 — Traumatic injury | CA-2 — Occupational disease | |
|---|---|---|
| Cause | A specific event or incident within a single day or work shift | Exposure or repeated activity over more than one day or shift |
| Continuation of Pay | Available | Not available |
| Evidence turns on | The incident | The exposure or repetitive employment factors over time |
| Typical example | A fall, a lifting injury, a vehicle collision | Hearing loss, repetitive strain, chemical exposure |
There are timeliness requirements attached to Continuation of Pay, and the instinct to wait and see whether an injury settles down is how people lose it. Report the injury and file the CA-1 straight away. If it turns out to be nothing, nothing is lost by having filed. The contemporaneous record practice applies directly — what you wrote on the day is worth more than what you recall six months later.
III Continuation of Pay
For a traumatic injury, Continuation of Pay allows your agency to keep paying your regular salary for up to 45 calendar days while the claim is processed.
Three things about it that matter:
- It is paid by your agency, not by OWCP
- It is regular salary, not the reduced FECA wage-loss rate
- It bridges the gap while adjudication runs, so you are not forced onto annual leave or into leave without pay
When COP ends, if the claim is accepted and you still cannot work, OWCP wage-loss compensation takes over — at the lower rate described below.
IV What it pays
| Situation | Rate | Taxable? |
|---|---|---|
| No eligible dependents | Two-thirds of pay rate | No |
| At least one dependent | Three-quarters of pay rate | No |
| Continuation of Pay | Full salary, up to 45 days | Yes — it is salary |
The tax treatment is the whole story. A three-quarters rate that is not subject to federal income tax compares very differently against a 40 percent FERS disability annuity that is. Comparing the headline percentages alone will lead you to the wrong conclusion.
V FECA or Disability Retirement?
The comparison that decides the election. Enter your figures and the comparator puts both benefits on an after-tax basis.
Which Benefit Pays More?
Estimates only, and money is not the only factor — durability and creditable service matter too. Get advice before electing.
VI Schedule awards
A schedule award compensates permanent impairment of specified body parts, and it is separate from wage-loss compensation.
Two features people do not expect. You may receive more than one schedule award, provided each is for a separate body part. And because the award addresses impairment rather than lost earnings, it can be payable even after you have returned to work.
Impairment is rated against established medical criteria, which means the medical evidence supporting the rating determines the size of the award. This is the part of a FECA claim where the quality of the physician's report translates most directly into money.
VII The election, and why you file both
In most cases you must decide which benefit is more advantageous and elect to be paid only one. You cannot draw OWCP wage-loss compensation and a FERS disability annuity as concurrent income.
But electing one does not mean applying for only one, and the distinction is where the strategy lives.
Many people apply for FERS disability retirement and elect to receive OWCP compensation. The FERS annuity is then suspended, not forfeited. Two consequences follow. If OWCP entitlement later ends, there is an approved annuity waiting rather than a fresh application against a deadline that may already have passed. And if you elect survivor benefit protection on the disability retirement application, you protect both your survivors' rights and your own annuity rights should OWCP entitlement be lost.
Two more facts that cut against assumption. OWCP approval does not automatically entitle you to FERS disability retirement — a separate application to OPM is required, and it is subject to its own one-year deadline running from separation. And time on the OWCP rolls counts as creditable service toward your federal retirement, so a period of compensation is not lost career time.
VIII How it ends
OWCP can terminate benefits on either of two determinations: that you have medically recovered, or that you can be accommodated in suitable work.
Neither is a revocation of a permanent entitlement — they are determinations on the file. The practical effect is the same. The income stops.
FECA pays more while it lasts. FERS disability retirement pays less and lasts longer, converting to a regular annuity at 62 with the disability years credited. Relying on FECA alone means accepting the higher payment and the termination risk together. Filing for disability retirement in parallel costs a form package and buys a floor. Given that the FERS deadline is one year from separation and effectively unwaivable, the window to buy that floor closes fast.
IX The playbook
| Situation | What to do |
|---|---|
| Injured at work today | Report it and file the CA-1 immediately. COP timeliness rules attach. |
| Condition built up over time | CA-2. No COP, and the evidence must show the exposure or repetitive factors. |
| Not sure which form | Single shift or incident is CA-1. More than one day or shift is CA-2. Ask before guessing. |
| COP running out | Confirm whether the claim is accepted and what wage-loss rate applies. |
| Comparing benefits | Compare after tax. FECA is not federally taxed; the FERS annuity is. |
| Receiving OWCP | File for FERS disability retirement anyway. The annuity is suspended, not lost. |
| Approved for disability retirement | Elect survivor benefit protection. It protects your annuity rights too. |
| Permanent impairment | Ask about a schedule award. It is separate from wage loss and survives return to work. |
| Multiple body parts affected | Separate schedule awards are possible, one per body part. |
| OWCP proposes termination | Check what is already on file with OPM, and check the one-year date. |
From the day of injury
- Report the injury the day it happens and note who you told.
- File the CA-1 or CA-2 immediately rather than waiting to see if it resolves.
- Confirm in writing whether Continuation of Pay has been approved.
- Keep every medical record and every OWCP communication.
- Ask your physician to address work-causation explicitly, not just diagnosis.
- Calendar the FERS disability retirement one-year deadline from any separation.
- File for disability retirement in parallel even if you intend to be paid by OWCP.
- Elect survivor benefit protection if the disability retirement is approved.
- Confirm how your OWCP period is being credited as service.
- Ask about a schedule award once the condition reaches maximum medical improvement.
Frequently asked questions
The Federal Employees' Compensation Act covers injury and illness caused by your federal employment. It is administered by the Office of Workers' Compensation Programs at the Department of Labor, not by OPM and not by your agency, which is why the process feels separate from everything else in your benefits package. Coverage includes medical treatment for the accepted condition, wage-loss compensation while you cannot work, and schedule awards for permanent impairment of certain body parts. Because it turns on work-causation, the threshold question in every claim is whether the condition arose out of and in the course of employment.
For a traumatic injury, Continuation of Pay allows your agency to keep paying your regular salary for up to 45 calendar days while the claim is processed, rather than leaving you on leave or unpaid. It applies to traumatic injury claims filed on a CA-1, not to occupational disease claims on a CA-2, and there are timeliness requirements for claiming it, so file immediately rather than waiting to see whether the injury resolves. COP is paid by the agency and is distinct from OWCP wage-loss compensation, which begins afterward if the claim is accepted and you still cannot work.
A CA-1 is a notice of traumatic injury, meaning an injury caused by a specific event or incident during a single day or work shift. A CA-2 is a notice of occupational disease, meaning a condition produced by exposure or repeated activity over more than one day or shift. The distinction matters practically because Continuation of Pay is available on the traumatic injury track and not the occupational disease track, and because the evidence required differs: a traumatic claim turns on the incident, while an occupational claim turns on demonstrating the exposure or the repetitive factors of employment over time.
Wage-loss compensation is two-thirds of your pay rate if you have no eligible dependents, and three-quarters if you have at least one. Those payments are not subject to federal income tax, which is why FECA usually pays substantially more in real terms than a FERS disability retirement annuity taxed at ordinary rates. That difference is the single strongest argument for pursuing a FECA claim where the condition is genuinely work-related.
Not as concurrent income. In most cases you must decide which benefit is more advantageous and elect to be paid only one. What you can do, and what many people do, is apply for both: the FERS annuity is suspended rather than forfeited while you receive OWCP compensation. That matters because OWCP entitlement can end if the agency determines you have recovered or can be accommodated, and without a disability retirement application on file you may be left with neither. Note also that OWCP approval does not automatically entitle you to FERS disability retirement — a separate application to OPM is required.
Yes. Time spent on the OWCP rolls counts as creditable service toward your federal retirement, which is a significant and frequently overlooked advantage. It means a period of wage-loss compensation is not lost career time for pension purposes, and it is part of why some employees use OWCP first and move to disability retirement later. Confirm how your specific period is being credited rather than assuming, because the record-keeping crosses two agencies.
A schedule award compensates permanent impairment of specified body parts, separately from wage-loss compensation. You may receive more than one schedule award, but each must be for a separate body part. Because it addresses permanent impairment rather than lost wages, a schedule award can be payable even where you have returned to work. Impairment is rated against established medical criteria, so the medical evidence supporting the rating is what determines the size of the award.
Yes, and this is the main structural risk of relying on FECA alone. OWCP can terminate benefits if it determines you have medically recovered, or that you can be accommodated in suitable work. Termination is a determination on the file rather than a permanent entitlement being revoked, but the practical effect is the same: the income stops. This is precisely why filing a FERS disability retirement application in parallel is worth doing even when you intend to be paid by OWCP, and why electing survivor benefit protection under that application matters.