Labour market · 23/12/1997

Claims for Compensation under the Federal Employees' Compensation Act; Compensation for Disability and Death of Noncitizen Federal Employees Outside the United States

The Department of Labor proposes to revise the regulations governing the administration of the Federal Employees' Compensation Act (FECA), which provides benefits to all civilian Federal employees and certain other groups of employees and individuals who are injured or killed while performing their jobs. The Office of Workers' Compensation Programs (OWCP) administers the FECA. The existing rules have been entirely rewritten using plain English and have also been reorganized into a more accessible format. A number of significant changes are made in the proposed regulations, including new sections implementing amendments to the law which provide for suspension of benefits during incarceration and termination of benefits for conviction of fraud against the program; changes to the continuation of pay (COP) provisions, including reducing to 30 days the time within which COP may be used where there is a recurrence of disability; paying for an attendant as a medical expense instead of as a supplemental payment to the claimant; inclusion of OWCP nurse services in the definition of vocational rehabilitation services; clarifying the review process by distinguishing between modification on th