How OWCP works
Navigating the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs can feel overwhelming. The process is unfamiliar, the deadlines are real, and the medical evidence has to be specific. Here is the shape of it, in plain language.
What happens when you contact us
This is our part of it. Your claim itself is filed through your employing agency and decided by OWCP, and we will always tell you plainly which is which.
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1
We listen
You tell us what happened, where you work and where you are in the process. If your union already has your claim in hand, we will say so rather than duplicate their work.
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2
We point you to a clinic
We connect you with a partner clinic near you that treats federal employees and knows what OWCP expects to see in the medical record.
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3
You are treated, and it is documented properly
Your treating physician examines you and documents the injury to the standard the federal system requires. This is the part that most often decides a claim.
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4
Case management, if your claim needs it
Some claims are straightforward. Where one is not, partner clinics provide expert case management to keep the medical evidence moving.
The words you will keep hearing
FECA
The Federal Employees’ Compensation Act. The law that covers you when you are injured or made ill by your federal job.
OWCP
The Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs, part of the U.S. Department of Labor. They administer claims and make the decisions.
Treating physician
The doctor managing your care. Under FECA you generally have the right to choose your own, which is the part most people are never told.
Official forms, deadlines and current guidance come from the Department of Labor at dol.gov/agencies/owcp. We point you to the source rather than paraphrase it.
A single missing document can stall a claim
The medical evidence is what the decision rests on. Getting in front of a physician who treats federal employees every day is the most useful thing you can do next.