United States Department of Labor

Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

__________________________________________

S.H., Appellant

and

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS, 

BROCKTON VA MEDICAL CENTER, 

Brockton, MA, Employer

__________________________________________

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Docket No. 23-0432

Issued: January 17, 2024

Appearances: Case Submitted on the Record

Appellant, pro se

Office of Solicitor, for the Director

DECISION AND ORDER

Before:

ALEC J. KOROMILAS, Chief Judge

VALERIE D. EVANS-HARRELL, Alternate Judge

JAMES D. McGINLEY, Alternate Judge

JURISDICTION

On February 9, 2023 appellant filed a timely appeal from an August 24, 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’s traumatic injury claim (Form CA-1) was untimely filed, 

with regard to continuation of pay (COP).

FACTUAL HISTORY

On August 15, 2022 appellant, then a 42-year-old licensed practical nurse, filed a traumatic 

injury claim (Form CA-1) alleging that he contracted COVID-19 on July 14, 2022 while in the 

1

5 U.S.C. § 8101 et seq.
2

performance of duty. He reported that he was working in the nurses’ station and came into contact 

with an employee that had to leave after testing positive for COVID-19. On the reverse side of 

the claim form, the employing establishment acknowledged that appellant was injured in the 

performance of duty, but controverted COP because the claim was not filed within 30 days of the 

injury. Appellant stopped work on July 18, 2022, and returned to work on July 27, 2022. 

Appellant submitted an antigen laboratory test result, collected by the employing 

establishment on July 17, 2022, which revealed that he tested positive for COVID-19. 

By decision dated August 24, 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 the accepted 

employment injury. It noted that the COP denial did not affect his entitlement to other 

compensation benefits.

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

the FECA.

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

ANALYSIS

The Board finds that appellant’s Form CA-1 was timely filed, with regard to COP.

Appellant filed a Form CA-1 on August 15, 2022. By decision dated August 24, 2022, 

OWCP denied hisrequest for COP, as his claim was not filed within 30 days of the alleged July 14, 

2022 employment injury. 

In a COP case, the Board has held that if the date of the 30-day period in which to file 

notice of injury would have expired was a Saturday, the time for filing a notice of injury does not 

2

5 U.S.C. § 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); WilliamE. Ostertag, 33 ECAB 

1925 (1982).
3

expire until the next business day.6 In the present case, the 30th day following July 14, 2022 was 

Saturday, August 13, 2022. Therefore, appellant had until Monday, August 15, 2022, to request 

COP.7 As he filed his claim on Monday, August 15, 2022, his Form CA-1 claim was timely filed 

with regard to COP.8

CONCLUSION

The Board finds that appellant’s Form CA-1 was timely filed, with regard to COP. 

ORDER

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT the August 24, 2022 decision of the Office of 

Workers’ Compensation Programs is reversed.

Issued: January 17, 2024

Washington, DC

Alec J. Koromilas, Chief Judge

Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

Valerie D. Evans-Harrell, Alternate Judge

Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

James D. McGinley, Alternate Judge

Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

6 A.J., Docket No. 22-0580 (issued August11, 2022); M.F., Docket No. 22-0467 (issued August11, 2022); Gwen 

Cohen-Wise, Docket No. 03-1021 (issued July 23, 2003).

7

Id.

8

Id.