Brothers and Sisters,

I want to remind you, if you are are /have been diagnosed with COVID-19, you can file for Workers' Compensation by completing the Form CA-1, Notice of Traumatic Injury using the Employees's Compensation Operations & Management Portal (E-COMP).

United States Department of Labor

Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs

Division of Federal Employees' Compensation (DFEC)

Claims under the Federal Employees' Compensation Act due to the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19)

The pandemic caused by the COVID-19 viral disease is impacting how we live and work across the country, and around the world. The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) is committed to providing support to Federal employees during this difficult time.

All federal employees who develop COVID-19 while in the performance of their federal duties are entitled to workers' compensation coverage pursuant to the Federal Employees' Compensation Act (FECA). See https://www.dol.gov/owcp/dfec/.

DOL acknowledges, however, that it is difficult to determine the precise moment and method of virus transmission. Therefore, when an employee claims FECA benefits due to COVID-19, federal workers who are required to have in-person and close proximity interactions with the public on a frequent basis - such as members of law enforcement, first responders, and front-line medical and public health personnel - will be considered to be in high-risk employment, thereby triggering the application of Chapter 2-0805-6 of the FECA Procedure Manual. In such cases, there is an implicit recognition that a higher likelihood exists of infection due to high-risk employment. Federal workers in such positions routinely encounter situations that may lead to infection by contact with sneezes, droplet infection, bodily secretions, and surfaces on which the COVID-19 virus may reside. Therefore, the employment-related incidence of COVID-19 is more likely to occur among members of law enforcement, first responders and front-line medical and public health personnel, and among those whose employment causes them to come into direct and frequent in-person and close proximity contact with the public.

Accordingly, DOL has created new procedures to specifically address COVID-19 claims. Employees filing a claim for workers' compensation coverage as a result of COVID-19 should file Form CA-1, Notice of Traumatic Injury through your employer using the Employees' Compensation Operations & Management Portal. The new procedures will also call the adjudicator's attention to the type of employment held by the employee, rather than burdening the employee with identifying the exact day or time they contracted the novel coronavirus.

If a COVID-19 claim is filed by a person in high-risk employment, the Office of Workers' Compensation Programs (OWCP) DFEC will accept that the exposure to COVID-19 was proximately caused by the nature of the employment. If the employer supports the claim and that the exposure occurred, and the CA-1 is filed within 30 days, the employee is eligible to receive Continuation of Pay for up to 45 days.

*This information was retrieved from DOL website