DOL petitions federal court to force USPS to comply with subpoenas in employee whistleblower investigation

Since 2020, the department has filed nine federal lawsuits to protect USPS probationary employees fired after reporting injuries in California, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Washington.

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USPS OIG Report: Workers’ Compensation Program Update

Background Postal Service employees who sustain a work-related injury or occupational disease are covered by the Federal Employees’ Compensation Act (FECA). These benefits include wage-loss compensation, medical and rehabilitation services, and death benefit payments to surviving dependents. The Department of Labor’s (DOL) Office of Workers’ Compensation Program has the exclusive authority to administer, implement, and…

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Information on FECA Coverage for Coronavirus Disease – 2019/COVID-19

A federal employee who contracts the Coronavirus Disease – 2019, known as COVID-19, while in performance of their job duties would have the full coverage of the FECA for related medical treatment and for wage loss or disability related to that condition or associated complications. However, under 20 C.F.R. § 10.303, exposure to COVID-19 alone…

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OWCP Medical File Hack Affected Nearly Half a Million Postal Workers

Network intruders compromised health information on current and former U.S. Postal Service employees who filed for workers’ compensation, USPS officials say. The files were accessed during a previously reported September cyber intrusion that netted the Social Security numbers of about 800,000 USPS employees. Details of the health data breach are just now being revealed for the first time….

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Are USPS Changes Leading to More Work-Related Injuries?

Letter carriers and other postal employees have been saying for several years that changes at the Postal Service would lead to more job-related industries. A new report suggests they may be right. “Despite the Postal Service’s efforts to decrease the number of employees [by 19% since 2008], its workers’ compensation costs have increased 35 percent,”…

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ELM Revision: Injury Compensation Program – Effective June 26, 2014

Effective June 26, 2014, the Postal Service™ is revising the Employee and Labor Relations Manual (ELM) subchap­ter 5, due to the following: In January 2013, the Department of Labor/Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (DOL/OWCP) updated its website that included injury compensa­tion basic forms which are required to record and report a work-related injury. ELM section…

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