A. The Federal Employee Workers Compensation program got its start with
the enactment of the Federal Employees Compensation Act (FECA) by Congress
in 1916. The program is funded by a levy against agency payrolls; there
is no workers compensation tax that federal employees must pay. The Act
was passed originally based on state workers compensation statutes, which
still influence it today. Currently one in 25 federal employees is injured
on the job every year; in other words, there is an injured worker in every
office or workshop. The Act pays medical and pharmacy bills and expenses,
as well as lost wages and cash settlements for permanent loss or loss
of use of an arm or leg, known as schedule awards.
