United States Department of Labor

Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

__________________________________________

E.N., Appellant

and

U.S. POSTAL SERVCE, SUGAR LOAF POST 

OFFICE, Albany, NY, Employer

__________________________________________

)

)

)

)

)

)

)

)

Docket No. 22-0852

Issued: March 10, 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 May 12, 2022 appellant filed a timely appeal from a May 4, 2022 merit decision of the 

Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (OWCP).1 Pursuant to the Federal Employees’

Compensation Act2(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 her burden of proof to establish entitlement to 

continuation of pay (COP). 

FACTUAL HISTORY

On April 27, 2022 appellant, then a 59-year-old postmaster, filed a traumatic injury claim 

(Form CA-1) alleging that on December 29, 2021 she developed COVID-19. She noted that she 

1 Appellant listed April27, 2022 as the date of the decision on the appeal form; however, that was the date of an 

informational letter. The date of the lastdecision was May 4, 2022.

2

5 U.S.C. § 8101 et seq.
2

was exposed to COVID-19 while in the performance of duty. The Form CA-1 indicated that 

appellant’s regular work hours were 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, and that she

stopped work at 8:00 a.m. on December 30, 2021 and returned to work on January 17, 2022. 

By decision dated May 4, 2022, OWCP denied appellant’s claim for COP, finding that she 

did not report the injury on a form approved by OWCP within 30 days following the date of injury. 

It noted that the denial of COP did not preclude her from claiming disability due to the alleged 

December 29, 2021 employment 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.3 This latter section provides that written notice of injury shall be given within 30 days.4 

The context of section 8122 makes clear that this means within 30 days of the injury. 5

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.6

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 C.F.R. [§] 10.5(ee)), and considers the date of last exposure prior to the medical evidence

establishing the COVID-19 diagnosis as the [d]ate of [i]njury since the precise time of transmission

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

7

3

Id. at. § 8118(a).

4

Id. at § 8122(a)(2).

5

See K.E., Docket No. 22-0842 (issued June16, 2022); E.M., Docket No. 20-0837 (issued January 27, 2021); J.S., 

Docket No. 18-1086 (issued January 17, 2019);RobertM. Kimzey, 40 ECAB 762-64 (1989);Myra Lenburg, 36 

ECAB 487, 489 (1985).

6

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); WilliamE. Ostertag, 33 ECAB 

1925 (1982).

7 FECA Bulletin No. 21-09.II.2. (issued April29, 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 FECAwere processed under the guidelines provided by FECABulletin No. 20-05 (issued March31,

2020) andFECA Bulletin No. 21-01(issuedOctober 21, 2020). FECABulletin No. 21-09supersedes FECABulletin

Nos. 20-05 and21-01.
3

ANALYSIS

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

COP. 

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

Form CA-1 on April 27, 2022, alleging that on December 29, 2021 she contracted COVID-19 

while in the performance of duty. The Form CA-1 indicates that her work schedule was 8:00 a.m. 

to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, and that she stopped work at 8:00 a.m. on 

December 30, 2021. Since 8:00 a.m. on December 30, 2021 was the beginning of her work shift, 

the Board finds that appellant’s date of last exposure was December 29, 2021. 

As previously noted, FECA Bulletin No. 21-09 defines date of injury as the date of last 

exposure, which in this case was December 29, 2021.

8

 As appellant filed her Form CA-1 on 

April 27, 2022, more than 30 days after the December 29, 2021 date of injury, the Board finds that 

she has not met her 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 has not met her burden of proof to establish entitlement to 

COP. 

8

Id.
4

ORDER

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT the May 4, 2022 merit decision of the Office of 

Workers’ Compensation Programs is affirmed.

Issued: March 10, 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