United States Department of Labor

Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

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A.P., Appellant

and

U.S. POSTAL SERVICE, NORTHERN NEW 

JERSEY MAIL RECOVERY CENTER, 

Edison, NJ, Employer

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Docket No. 22-1183

Issued: February 7, 2023

Appearances: Case Submitted on the Record

Appellant, pro se

Office of Solicitor, for the Director

DECISION AND ORDER

Before:

PATRICIA H. FITZGERALD, Deputy Chief Judge

JANICE B. ASKIN, Judge

JAMES D. McGINLEY, Alternate Judge

JURISDICTION

On August 6, 2022 appellant filed a timely appeal from a July 25, 2022 merit decision of 

the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (OWCP). Pursuant to the Federal Employees’

Compensation Act1(FECA) and 20 C.F.R. §§ 501.2(c) and 501.3, the Board has jurisdiction over 

the merits of this case.

ISSUE

The issue is whether appellant has met his burden of proof to establish entitlement to 

continuation of pay (COP). 

FACTUAL HISTORY

On July 18, 2022 appellant, then a 53-year-old postal clerk, filed a traumatic injury claim 

(Form CA-1) alleging that on May 1, 2022 he contracted COVID-19 when he was exposed to a 

1 5 U.S.C. § 8101 et seq.
2

co-worker with COVID-19 while in the performance of duty. He further explained that he 

started having symptoms on May 4, 2022 and was advised by a physician to get tested. 

Appellant indicated that he tested positive for COVID-19 on May 8, 2022. He requested COP. 

On the reverse side of the claim form, appellant’s supervisor acknowledged that appellant’s 

injury occurred while in the performance of duty. Appellant stopped work on May 1, 2022 and 

returned on June 7, 2022. 

In support of his claim, appellant submitted a laboratory test result for a polymerase chain 

reaction (PCR) test performed on May 8, 2022, which indicated that appellant’s test was 

positive.

By decision dated July 25, 2022, OWCP denied appellant’s claim for COP, finding that 

he had not reported his injury on an OWCP-approved form within 30 days of his alleged May 1, 

2022 employment injury. It noted that the denial of COP did not preclude him from filing a 

claim for disability due to the effects of his claimed injury. 

LEGAL PRECEDENT

Section 8118(a) of FECA authorizes COP, not to exceed 45 days, to an employee who 

has filed a claim for a period of wage loss due to a traumatic injury with his or her immediate 

superior on a form approved by the Secretary of Labor within the time specified in section 

8122(a)(2) of this title.2 This latter section provides that written notice of injury shall be given 

within 30 days.3 The context of section 8122 makes clear that this means within 30 days of the 

injury.4

OWCP’s regulations provide, in pertinent part, that to be eligible for COP, an employee 

must: (1) have a traumatic injury which is job related and the cause of the disability and/or the 

cause of lost time due to the need for medical examination and treatment; (2) file Form CA-1 

within 30 days of the date of the injury; and (3) begin losing time from work due to the traumatic 

injury within 45 days of the injury.5

FECA Bulletin No. 21-09 at subsection II.2., however provides that, “The FECA 

program considers COVID-19 to be a traumatic injury since it is contracted during a single 

workday or shift (see 20 CFR 10.5(ee)), and considers the date of last exposure prior to the 

2

Id. at § 8118(a).

3

Id. at § 8122(a)(2).

4 E.M., Docket No. 20-0837 (issued January 27, 2021); J.S., Docket No. 18-1086 (issued January 17, 2019);

Robert M. Kimzey, 40 ECAB 762, 763-64 (1989); Myra Lenburg, 36 ECAB 487, 489 (1985).

5 20 C.F.R. § 10.205(a)(1-3); see also T.S., Docket No. 19-1228 (issued December 9, 2019); J.M., Docket No. 

09-1563 (issued February 26, 2010); Dodge Osborne, 44 ECAB 849 (1993); William E. Ostertag, 33 ECAB 

1925 (1982).
3

medical evidence establishing the COVID-19 diagnosis as the Date of Injury since the precise 

time of transmission may not always be known due to the nature of the virus.”

6

ANALYSIS

The Board finds that appellant has not met his burden of proof to establish entitlement to 

COP.

The record reflects that appellant filed written notice of his traumatic injury on a 

Form CA-1 on July 18, 2022, alleging that on May 1, 2022 he was exposed to COVID-19 in the 

performance of duty. He stopped work on May 1, 2022. As previously noted, FECA Bulletin 

No. 21-09 defines date of injury as the date of last exposure, which in this case was 

May 1, 2022.

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As appellant filed his Form CA-1 on July 18, 2022, more than 30 days after the May 1, 

2022 date of injury, the Board finds that appellant has not met his burden of proof.

Appellant may submit new evidence or argument with a written request for 

reconsideration to OWCP within one year of this merit decision, pursuant to 5 U.S.C. § 8128(a) 

and 20 C.F.R. §§ 10.605 through 10.607.

CONCLUSION

The Board finds that appellant had not met his burden of proof to establish entitlement to 

COP. 

6 FECA Bulletin No. 21-09.II.2 (issued April 29, 2021). On March 11, 2021 the American Rescue Plan Act of 

2021 (ARPA) was signed into law. Pub. L. No. 117–2. OWCP issued FECA Bulletin No. 21-09 to provide

guidance regarding the processing of COVID-19 FECA claims as set forth in the ARPA. Previously, COVID-19 

claims under FECA were processed under the guidelines provided by FECA Bulletin No. 20-05 (issued March 31,

2020) and FECA Bulletin No. 21-01 (issued October 21, 2020). FECA Bulletin No. 21-09 supersedes FECA

Bulletin Nos. 20-05 and 21-01.

7

Id.
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ORDER

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT the July 25, 2022 decision of the Office of 

Workers’ Compensation Programs is affirmed.

Issued: February 7, 2023

Washington, DC

Patricia H. Fitzgerald, Deputy Chief Judge

Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

Janice B. Askin, Judge

Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

James D. McGinley, Alternate Judge

Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board