HHS Office of Human Resources Guidance, Workers’ Compensation Program

Effective Date: 11/15/2024

Document Change History
Release DateSummary of ChangesSection/PageChanges Made By
11/15/2024ReleaseN/AASA/Office of Human Resources,
Workforce Relations Division

Approved:
/s/

Jeffery Anoka
Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Human Resources and
Chief Human Capital Officer
Office of Human Resources
11/15/2024

A. Purpose

This guidance is provided to outline the authorities and describe the responsibilities for administering and managing the HHS Workers’ Compensation Program (WCP) under the Federal Employees’ Compensation Act (FECA).

The Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (OWCP), Department of Labor (DOL) is responsible for administering the FECA program. FECA provides compensation benefits to civilian employees of the United States government for disability due to personal injury sustained while in the performance of duty or due to employment-related disease. The FECA claims administration process includes adjudicating new claims for benefits and managing ongoing cases, paying medical expenses and compensation benefits to injured workers and survivors, and helping injured employees return to work when they are medically able to do so. When provisions of this guidance differ from changes in applicable law or regulation, the changes in law or regulation apply.

B. Coverage

This guidance applies to all HHS employees as defined in 5 U.S.C. § 2105, unless exempted by statutory or federal regulatory authority, or as otherwise indicated herein.

The Department will follow all requirements of 5 U.S.C. Chapter 71 involving bargaining regarding the conditions of employment for bargaining unit employees. To the extent that provisions of this guidance are in specific conflict with a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), the provisions of the CBA govern for bargaining unit positions only.

C. References

  1. Executive Order 13548, Increasing Federal Employment of Individuals with Disabilities, July 26, 2012, Section 3
  2. Secretary of Labor's Order No. 10-2009, 74 FR 218; Pub. L. 117-263
  3. 5 U.S.C. § 552a, The Privacy Act of 1974
  4. 5 U.S.C. § 8101 et seq., The Federal Employees’ Compensation Act, or FECA
  5. Title 29 C.F.R. Part 71, Protection of Individual Privacy and Access to Records under the Privacy Act of 1974
  6. Title 20 C.F.R. Part 10, Claims for Compensation Under the Federal Employees’ Compensation Act, as amended, and Part 25, Compensation for Disability and Death of Noncitizen Federal Employees Outside the United States

D. Responsibilities

  1. HHS Assistant Secretary for Administration, Office of Human Resources (ASA/OHR):
    1. Establishes Department-wide workers’ compensation program guidance consistent with DOL, Office of Personnel Management (OPM) guidance and procedures, and all applicable federal laws and regulations.
    2. Serves as the Department Liaison with DOL and other outside Federal Organizations related to HHS' Workers’ Compensation Program (WCP) within the Human Capital Directorate, in the Workforce Relations Division.
    3. Designates HHS WCP Manager who:
      1. Provides technical advice and assistance to Operating Division and Staff Division (OpDiv/StaffDiv) workers’ compensation personnel.
      2. Serves as the principal policy advisor responsible for establishing procedures, principles, and guidelines that ensure effective and efficient management of the HHS WCP.
      3. Serves as the Department level liaison with the Department of Labor's OWCP District Offices. Represents the agency at interagency meetings and during workgroups interpreting policy directives, reviewing, and commenting on proposed policy changes affecting government-wide Federal Employee Compensation Act programs, formulating agency policies, and seeking assistance from Department of Labor if needed to resolve questions not addressed in their written instructions.
      4. Develops and conducts program reviews and audits and provides guidance and training to OpDivs/StaffDivs on the interpretation and application of workers’
      5. compensation legislation, regulations, policies, and processes.
      6. Analyzes trends, develops reports, and presents findings to HHS leadership; proposes strategies for improving program management; plans, develops, and implements programs and initiatives to control injury-related costs; and increases workforce readiness to support HHS missions.
      7. Conducts HHS-wide Employees' Compensation Operations & Management Portal (ECOMP) oversight.
      8. Oversees the medical case management program to ensure active and appropriate administration of contract.
    4. Periodically reviews the HHS WCP and OpDiv/StaffDiv workers’ compensation program procedures, actions, and reports to analyze effectiveness, efficiency, and program compliance with this guidance, and all applicable federal laws and regulations.
  2. HHS Chief Financial Officer issues budgeting and accounting guidance to ensure proper planning and accounting for the costs of workers’ compensation claims each year.
  3. Operating Division/Staff Division (OpDiv/StaffDiv) WCP Supervisor:
    1. Ensures that OpDivs/StaffDivs adopt an efficient claims intake process and system of records to maintain and manage workers’ compensation cases, as governed by the DOL/GOVT-1 system of records (29 C.F.R. § 71.1(b)(1)), which asserts control of all records relating to the injury or death of civilian employees entitled to FECA benefits, to include copies of all forms and documents relating to an injury claim. The DOL/GOVT-1 system of records relates to FECA case files under the control of any agency. It provides categories of records in the system and the routine uses of records maintained in the system, including categories of users and the purposes of such use.
    2. Reviews, investigates, and addresses all available injury information related to FECA claims in a timely manner to ensure program efficiency.
    3. Ensures a systematic and timely process is in place to review, verify, and correct data contained in the DOL quarterly chargeback reports and annual chargeback bills.
    4. Establishes and maintains an effective and comprehensive WCP for their employees consistent with the requirements in FECA, DOL regulations, and this guidance.
    5. Designates its division workers’ compensation personnel.
    6. Establishes an organizational structure to effectively manage the number of FECA compensation cases.
    7. Ensures that responsibilities under labor relations statutes and union agreements are fulfilled, insofar as they relate to the WCP.
    8. Implements a medical case management program or system to ensure active and appropriate oversight of injured employee claims while adhering to 5 U.S.C. § 552a and other laws and regulations related to maintaining the privacy and confidentiality of an employee’s medical and health information and personally identifiable information.
    9. Limits unnecessary program costs by proactively providing work to all injured employees as soon as possible after an injury or illness that is within physicians’ work restrictions.
  4. OpDiv/StaffDiv Administration Maintenance User (AMU):
    1. Serves as the program lead and is responsible for administering and managing the WCP within their OpDiv/StaffDiv through designated workers’ compensation personnel.
    2. Assists designated OpDiv/StaffDiv workers’ compensation personnel in implementing program policies, initiatives, and management actions to support HHS goals, objectives, and responsibilities, as required by FECA, DOL regulations, and this guidance.
    3. Conducts OpDiv/StaffDiv ECOMP oversight.
    4. Minimizes workers’ compensation costs to the maximum extent possible by focusing on effective and efficient administration of return-to-work opportunities and oversight of their agency chargeback report.
  5. OpDiv/StaffDiv Agency Reviewer (AR)
    1. Responsible for active case management to ensure that IW is restored to duty as soon as medically possible.
    2. Works with former Injured Workers (IWs) who apply for restoration to duty through priority consideration.
    3. Monitors injured workers’ medical documentation for increasing work capabilities.
    4. Coordinates work status changes with injured workers’ supervisors.
    5. Ensures supervisors and injured workers are familiar with their responsibilities as it pertains to the FECA.
    6. Meets with supervisors and injured workers as needed to provide guidance.
    7. Ensures the proper use, disclosure, and retention of medical information concerning DOL/OWCP claims.
  6. OWCP Chargeback Account Number and Respective OpDiv:
    1. 1203 – Office for Civil Rights - OCR
    2. 1204 – Office of Medicare Hearings and Appeals -- OMHA
    3. 1206 – Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) St. Elizabeth’s Hospital
    4. 1208 – Food and Drug Administration – FDA
    5. 1210 – Office of Inspector General – OIG
    6. 1211 – Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health/Program Support Center (PSC)
    7. 1213 – General Department Management (Includes Workers’ Compensation Fund (WCF)
    8. 1215 – Indian Health Service – IHS
    9. 1216 – SAMHSA – All Others
    10. 1217 – Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – CDC
    11. 1220 – All Other Office of the Secretary
    12. 1226 – National Institutes of Health – NIH
    13. 1231 – Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services - CMS
    14. 1233 – Administration for Children and Families - ACF
    15. 1240 – Agency for Health Care and Research Quality – AHRQ
    16. 1241 – Health Resources and Services Administration – HRSA
    17. 1242- Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response - ASPR

E. Documentation and Accountability.

  1. Workers’ compensation records, including all documentation sufficient for third-party review, must be retained for a total of 15 years after compensation ceases or when deadline for filing a claim has passed, in accordance with the National Archives and Records Administration, General Records Schedule 2.4.
  2. Records involved in litigation that are subject to a litigation hold must be preserved until an official litigation hold lift notice is received from OPM, Department of Justice, courts, or the Office of the General Counsel, etc. that the matter has been fully litigated, or resolved and closed.
  3. ASA/OHR may conduct periodic accountability reviews to analyze compliance with this Guidance, HHS and OPM policy and guidance, and all applicable federal laws and regulations.

F. Guidance Information:

Owned by: ASA/Office of Human Resources, Workforce Relations Division
Effective date: November 15, 2024
Contact Information: OHR-WRD-Wellness-Resilience@hhs.gov

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