Office of Workers’ Compensation
The Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (OWCP) is part of the U.S. Department of Labor and regulates workers compensation, including programs such as:
- Division of Federal Employees’ Compensation
- State Workers’ Compensation Boards
- Division of Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation
- Division of Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation
- Division of Coal Mine Workers’ Compensation
The office is responsible for helping workers receive compensation for injuries or illnesses they sustained while at work.
When employees are injured (and after they have received necessary emergency medical treatment), the best first step is to call a personal injury attorney. With their attorney, employees will file an injury report. The report must be filed within a certain time frame, typically less than three years after the injury, illness or death.
After the injury report has been filed, it is reviewed by the OWCP and the employee receives compensation. Compensation comes in many different forms, including:
- COP
- Disability
- Medical
- Death Benefits
COP is a program that gives employees their regular pay for up to 45 calendar days while the employee recovers fro the injury. Employees who become ill at work are not eligible for this program.
Disability programs vary. Some programs pay between 60 and 70 percent of the worker’s salary, while others pay the difference if the employee has to take a lower paying job.
Medical programs cover federal employees. Compensation includes anything prescribed or recommended by physicians to treat and cure the employee.
Finally, Death benefits are given to survivors of an employee who dies because of a work-related incident. These benefits cover most related expenses, including funeral expenses.
Tags: compensation, employment injury, injury compensation, job injury, medical expenses, personal injury attorney, worker injury, workers compensation, wrongful death