If you’re a federal employee who got hurt on the job, the process can feel unfamiliar fast. Terms like FECA, OWCP, CA-1, CA-2, and ECOMP start showing up almost immediately, often at the same time you’re trying to get medical care, report the injury, and figure out what happens to your pay.
The good news is that there is a framework for this. Federal workers’ compensation operates under a specific federal law, and the U.S. Department of Labor has an established claims system for handling these cases. In this post you’ll learn what FECA is, what OWCP does, how claims usually begin, which forms come up most often, what benefits may be available, and where many federal employees get stuck. If you want a broader overview of how the system fits together, this plain-English breakdown of the federal claims process can help connect the moving parts.
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FECA stands for the Federal Employees’ Compensation Act. It is the federal law that provides workers’ compensation benefits to covered federal employees who experience work-related injuries or illnesses. The statute is administered by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs, commonly called OWCP. Under this system, OWCP adjudicates claims, pays approved medical and wage-loss benefits, and manages ongoing cases for injured workers and eligible survivors (U.S. Department of Labor) (U.S. Department of Labor).
In FY 2025, the FECA program reported more than 79,000 new cases, and in the related chargeback year it provided $3.13 billion in benefits to over 173,000 workers and survivors (U.S. Department of Labor). That scale matters because it shows this is not a niche process. It is a large federal system with its own rules, terminology, timelines, and documentation standards.
OWCP is the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs, part of the U.S. Department of Labor. For federal employees, OWCP’s FECA program handles questions like:
In basic terms, your employing agency is involved at the start, but OWCP makes claim decisions under FECA. OWCP also manages compensation payments, medical billing, rehabilitation-related issues, and certain disputes that arise later in the case (U.S. Department of Labor).
FECA generally covers federal civilian employees, including many U.S. Postal Service employees, for job-related injuries and occupational illnesses (U.S. Department of Labor) (U.S. Department of Labor).
That sounds straightforward, but coverage questions can get complicated when the dispute involves issues like: