Federal employees who are injured in the performance of their work duties do not recover benefits under state workers’ compensation statutes, but look instead to federal law. The Federal Employee’s Compensation Act (FECA) allows for the payment of benefits to most federal employees and their dependents for work-related death or disability resulting from a personal injury “sustained while in the performance of duty.” As with state statutory systems, FECA is an exclusive remedy for covered employees and all other direct claims against the government generally are barred. FECA is considered to be one of the most liberal workers’ compensation acts available to injured employees.
Another federal system that allows an employee to recover for work-related injuries is the Federal Employer’s Liability Act (FELA). The application of FELA is limited, however, to claims against common carriers engaged in interstate commerce, such as railroads. In addition to this limitation, FELA also differs significantly from regular workers’ compensation systems in that the employee is required to prove some level of negligence in order to obtain benefits.
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