OPM needs to improve its records on its employees who seek FECA workers’ compensation, according to an IG audit.
FECA case files at OPM for example did not always contain copies of relevant documentation relating to periodic monitoring of the claim, it said. That includes two cases indicating that personnel specialists “apparently had no contact” with the injured employees or DoL’s Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs for at least a year, and two that did not contain the injured employee’s current medical documentation.
Files also “lacked a systematic order, making it difficult to locate all documents relevant to the compensation claim,” it said. “We also found that Employee Services was not providing program office managers with their total compensation chargeback costs until the end of the fiscal year. Further, these chargeback reports lacked the detailed information associated with those costs.
Additionally, it said, OPM’s long-term FECA cases “may be vulnerable to possible fraudulent payments. During our evaluation, we identified 15 FECA cases where either the injured employee or the surviving family member had been receiving FECA payments with very limited verification of continued eligibility,” it said.
During FY 2015, OPM incurred expenses of nearly $2.5 million for 153 work-related injuries, diseases and deaths.