Printing - FECA-PT2 - National Association of Letter Carriers

entitlement is exhausted or the claimant returns to work. (See paragraph 13 below concerning
payment of COP during recurrences of disability.)
2-0807-7 Employee Responsibility
7. Employee Responsibility. The injured employee or someone acting on his or her behalf is
responsible for the following:
a. Notice of Injury. The employee must provide a written report on Form CA-1 to the
employing agency within 30 days of the injury. 20 C.F.R. 10.210(a). Another OWCP-approved
form, such as Form CA-2, CA-2a, or CA-7, which contains words of claim, can be used to satisfy
timely filing requirements.
(1) The employee's submission of a sick leave slip or any form of leave request other
than Form CA-1 or CA-2 to the employing agency may not be construed as an election of
leave for disability resulting from a traumatic injury.
(2) The Employees' Compensation Appeals Board held, in the case of William E.
Ostertag, 33 ECAB 1925 (1982), that 5 U.S.C. 8122(d)(3), which provides that failure to file
claim in a timely fashion may be excused for exceptional circumstances, does not apply to
claims for COP.
b. Medical Evidence. The employee must present the employing agency with medical evidence
supporting disability resulting from the claimed traumatic injury within 10 calendar days after filing
a claim for COP. 20 C.F.R. 10.210(b). The employing agency may continue the employee's pay
absent such evidence if the nature and severity of the injury warrant the continuation. COP may
be reinstated retroactively if payment was not initially authorized but supporting medical evidence
is received later, 20 C.F.R. 10.222(a)(1).
c. Advising the Physician. Where the agency has advised the employee that a specific
alternative position exists, the employee must furnish a description of the position to the physician
and inquire whether and when he or she will be able to perform such duties. Likewise, where the
agency has advised that it is willing to accommodate the employee's work limitations, the
employee must so advise the attending physician and ask him or her to specify the limitations
imposed by the injury. In both instances the employee must provide the agency with a copy of the
physician's response.
FECA-PT2 Printed: 06/08/2010 280