Working for the Federal Government isn’t entirely without benefit. Sure, your job may be difficult, and accidents do occur. But, there are provisions in place to help you if you happen to get injured on the job. One such provision is the CA-7. But like anything else within the OWCP model, pitfalls do arise. The CA-7 provides benefits for the injured worker should you lose the ability to perform your job duties completely or your work status has been reduced to a point that you are not able to meet your financial obligations.
As we have discussed in previous blogs there are two types of injuries. CA-1 is a Traumatic Injury and a CA-2 is an Occupational Disease. CA-2’s does not qualify for COP (continuation of pay). Under the CA-7 provision only a Traumatic Injury (CA-1) is considered for COP. In order to properly qualify for COP the following must take place. Your CA-1 must be received within the 30 days from the date of your injury. Your supervisor must be notified with valid medical documentation to show that the inability to work in any capacity is due to the work injury. Also, your absences can not exceed a total of 45 calendar days of COP.
But wait! What if I am unable to work after the 45-day COP expires. Glad you asked. An injured Federal Employee may choose to use sick or annual leave to continued uninterrupted pay or elect to go on Leave Without Pay and submit form CA-7 to request wage loss benefits from DOL (department of labor). Form CA-7 initiates wage loss pay and continues wage loss pay at bi-weekly intervals if the absences continue beyond the initial period claimed on the form CA-7. The claimant however is responsible for submitting medical documentation to demonstrate that the absences are related to the claimed work condition. Medical documentation must accompany all CA-7’s and cover the dates indicated on the form.
Like all aspects of DOL OWCP it may be difficult to navigate but DOL Injury Centers is always available to help. Our goal is to help each injured Federal Employee navigate the claims process and help them return to work as soon as they are able.
