Step 2 of your journey
How to file a FECA claim, start to finish
Everything runs through ECOMP — the Department of Labor’s free filing portal at ecomp.dol.gov. You do not need your supervisor’s permission to start, and your agency cannot lawfully block you from filing.
CA-1
Federal Employees
Filing within 30 days protects Continuation of Pay — your regular salary for up to 45 days while OWCP decides.
CA-2
Exposure over time made you sick → file CA-2
An occupational disease develops over more than one shift: hearing loss from mail-processing machinery, carpal tunnel from casing mail, lung disease from years of dust or fumes, PTSD from cumulative duty stress.
The clock starts when you first connect the illness to your work — often the date a doctor told you.
From injury to first payment
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D-0
Day 0 — the injury or diagnosis
Get treatment first. Then tell your supervisor in writing.
See a doctor of your choice — you have that right. For a traumatic injury, ask your agency for CA-16, which guarantees payment for the first exam. Written notice to your supervisor starts your paper trail.
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30
Within 30 days
File CA-1 (or CA-2) in ECOMP critical deadline
Register free at ecomp.dol.gov and file. For traumatic injuries, check the Continuation of Pay box. Your agency completes its portion and forwards everything to OWCP — it cannot decide your claim.
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D-45
Days 1–45
Continuation of Pay + medical evidence
Your agency keeps paying your normal salary for up to 45 calendar days of disability. Meanwhile, your doctor's narrative report is the heart of the claim: it must state the diagnosis and explain how the work caused it. "Patient reports back pain" is not enough.
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CA-7
Before COP runs out
File CA-7 to keep money coming
COP is not compensation — when it ends, pay stops unless you've filed CA-7, the Claim for Compensation. File it about a week before day 45, then every two weeks while you remain out.
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✓
Typically weeks to a few months
OWCP accepts, develops, or denies
Accepted: medical care and wage loss are paid. A development letter isn't a denial — it's a 30-day request for specific evidence; answer every numbered question. Denied: you have real appeal rights — reconsideration, a hearing, or review by the appeals board — each with its own deadline.
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3yr
The outer wall — 3 years
The statute of limitations
Written notice must be given within 3 years of the injury, or of the date you reasonably connected your condition to work. Exception: if your supervisor had actual knowledge within 30 days, a late claim may still survive. Never assume — verify.
CA-1 or CA-2 — still not sure? One shift = CA-1. More than one shift = CA-2. If it’s genuinely ambiguous (a lift that “finished off” a shoulder worn down for years), file the one your doctor’s story supports — or ask us free.