Injured employees bemoan slow claims process

The wheels of government turn slowly if you are an injured federal employee with a claim pending in the Labor Department's Office of Worker's Compensation Programs (OWCP), according to advocates for workers who testified Thursday at a House subcommittee hearing.

The OWCP continues to face scathing criticism for its administration of the Federal Employees' Compensation Act, which allows workers to apply for disability and medical benefits for workplace injuries.

Employee advocates charged at the hearing that OWCP not only takes too long to process claims, but works in tandem with federal agencies to deny valid claims.

"The agencies label [injured employees] as crooks, thieves and too lazy to work," testified Greg Fox of the American Federation of Government Employees. "Nothing could be further from the truth. These are hardworking employees."

"Claimants go without pay, they have unpaid medical bills, they are forced to file bankruptcy, their homes are foreclosed, ... the divorce rate is skyrocketing," Fox added. "It's nearly impossible for an ... injury to heal with this kind of stress."

Michael Walsh, chairman of the Employee Compensation Appeals Board, which handles appeals of federal workers' compensation claims decisions, defended his agency's role in the process, testifying there has been "a dramatic downturn in our pending caseload."

"Do you gentlemen recognize that there is a problem?," Rep. Steve Horn, R-Calif., asked federal officials at the hearing. "Do we admit in the executive branch that there is a problem here?"

OWCP's heavy caseload has been the source of many of its customer service problems, OWCP Deputy Director Shelby Hallmark told the panel. OWCP deals with 250,000 injured workers annually, and each of the agency's employees handles between 8,000 and 9,000 calls per year.

OWCP has undertaken several initiatives to improve customer service, Hallmark said. The agency increased its staff by 10 percent last year. Electronic systems are replacing paper-based communications. Since February, all new cases are scanned and processed as electronic documents.

"I take issue with the statement that we are a program in crisis," Hallmark said. "The projects and initiatives that we have in place will address these issues."