This section provides: Suggested practices and procedures to ensure that Agency-operated Job Corps centers (AO-JCCs) provide accurate and consistent OWCP reporting and FECA cost accounting for AO-JCC staff⁵  (does not include Job Corps students) injured while in the performance of duty on an AO-JCC.

An overview of the FECA chargeback process and procedures⁶ for determining allowable FECA costs, correcting chargeback codes prior to filing OWCP injury, identifying and correcting errors in subagency chargeback codes after claim filing, and reporting FECA costs for closed AO-JCCs.

• Overview of the FECA Chargeback Process
• Determine Allowable/Unallowable FECA Costs for AO-JCCs
• Verify Correct Chargeback Codes Prior to Filing Injury Reports with OWCP District Office
• Identify Subagency Chargeback Errors After Initial Claim is Filed
• Request Changes to Quarterly Chargeback Reports
• Request Changes to Annual Chargeback Billing
• Report FECA Costs for Closed AO-JCCs

Overview of FECA Chargeback Process

When an AO-JCC employee is injured while in the performance of duty on an Agency-operated Job Corps center, an OWCP claim form (CA-1 or CA-2, depending on the nature of the injury) is completed by the employee, reviewed by the employee’s supervisor, and filed with the OWCP district office for review and disposition.  If the claimant is determined eligible under FECA, he/she receives payment and the Agency is notified of claim payment.  Agencies may dispute claim assignment and related chargeback costs at any time during the claim processing and report period as follows:

• Initial Submission:  Once the initial CA form is filed with and processed by OWCP, OWCP sends the Agency a postcard (Form CA-801) indicating that the claim has been filed.  If an Agency receives a CA-801 that it believes to be incorrect, it should notify OWCP in writing within 60 days.
• Quarterly Chargeback Report: OWCP provides each Agency with a quarterly listing of the cases and charges that will appear on its yearly chargeback bill in the Quarterly Chargeback Report.  If after review, an Agency identifies an error in the Quarterly Report, the Agency should request a change through the OWCP district office.  The request should be made within 90 days of receipt of the report.
• Annual Chargeback Bill: If after reviewing the annual chargeback bill, the Agency identifies a disputed charge, the Agency must send a request for adjustment directly to the OWCP National Office. Any adjustments deemed appropriate by the National Office will be made on the Agency’s next-year billing statement.

Refer to the Overview of the FECA Chargeback Process flowchart for an overview of this process.

To minimize coding errors and subsequent chargeback discrepancies, it is suggested that AO-JCC staff responsible for reviewing and submitting CA forms and Agency personnel responsible for verifying chargeback reporting, follow the procedures outlined in remaining sections in this folder.

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Determine Allowable/Unallowable FECA Costs for AO-JCCs

To determine whether FECA costs for an injured federal employee are chargeable to Job Corps, the following conditions must exist:

Condition 1: The employee must be an AO-JCC staff member.

Only Agency employees who are injured while assigned to an AO-JCC are chargeable to Job Corps.  Agency employees who are not AO-JCC staff members must not be charged to the Job Corps appropriation; they are chargeable only to the employing Agency.

Condition 2: The injury/illness must have resulted while the staff member was engaged in activities reasonably related to the AO-JCC operations.

The injury/illness must have resulted while the staff member was engaged in activities reasonably related to AO-JCC operations.  To be chargeable to Job Corps, the injury/illness must have occurred while the staff member was primarily engaged in an activity reasonably associated with the operations of the AO-JCC.   If the staff member was not primarily engaged in such an activity, then the FECA costs are not properly chargeable to Job Corps.  The most common example of this is firefighting activities.  These activities are not related to operations of an AO-JCC, but are reasonably related to duties associated with the Departments of Interior or Agriculture (OWCP has set up emergency firefighter chargeback codes for these activities).

Condition 3: The proper OWCP Agency Code must be assigned on the original CA-1 or CA-2 form.

A compensation claim is identified as belonging to a particular Agency based on the OWCP Agency Code entered into OWCP’s data processing system when the case is created (form CA-1 or CA-2 is processed).   Therefore, to avoid or reduce chances of errors, the following OWCP Agency Code should be placed in the designated box, shown below, on page 2 of the CA-1 or CA-2 when filed with the OWCP district office.

The Agency OWCP codes are as follows:

• Department of Agriculture
  • Forest Service  8627
• Department of Interior
  • Fish & Wildlife Service  7530
  • Bureau of Reclamation  7507
  • Federal Park Service  7502

Refer to the Determine Allowable/Unallowable FECA Costs for AO-JCCs flowchart for an overview of this step.

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Verify Correct Chargeback Codes Prior to Filing Injury Reports with OWCP District Office

A compensation claim is identified as belonging to a particular Agency based on the agency code entered into OWCP's data processing system when the case is created (through CA-1 or CA-2 forms).   In an effort to reduce subagency chargeback errors, supervisors should fill in the OWCP Agency Code on the back page of the CA-1 form (or CA-2 form as applicable) prior to filing the form with the OWCP district office. 

An AO-JCC staff member must complete a CA-1 to claim an injury (or CA-2 for illness).  Once an injured staff member submits the CA-1 form to his supervisor, the supervisor must review the form and complete the applicable sections, including the OWCP Agency Code.

To determine the correct OWCP Agency Code, the supervisor needs to determine whether the injury/illness resulted while the staff member was engaged in activities reasonably related to the AO-JCC operations.  If so, the Job Corps OWCP Agency Code (shown in section 7.2 above) should be used.  If not, then the supervisor should contact the local OWCP district office to determine the correct OWCP Agency Code.

Once the correct OWCP Agency Code is determined, the supervisor must enter the code on the applicable claim form and file it with the local OWCP district office. No claim forms should ever be sent to OWCP without an OWCP Agency Code.

Refer to the Verify Correct Chargeback Codes Prior to Filing Injury Reports with OWCP District Office flowchart for an overview of this step.

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Identify Subagency Chargeback Errors After Initial Claim is Filed

Once the initial form is filed with and processed by OWCP, OWCP sends the Agency a postcard (Form CA-801) indicating that the claim has been filed.  To prevent incorrect entries from appearing on the quarterly chargeback report and yearly bill, agencies should review CA-801 forms and report errors to their respective district offices as soon as possible.  If no objection is raised upon receipt of the form, OWCP will assume that the chargeback code is correct and will charge the costs associated with the case to that Agency's account.

If an Agency receives a CA-801 that it believes to be incorrect, it should notify OWCP in writing within 60 days. The district office will then review the disputed case to determine whether a keying or coding error occurred and correct the Agency Code if necessary.

Once an error is identified on a quarterly report, the Agency should check current personnel and payroll records as well as search the service record file and/or send an inquiry to the Federal Records Center.

Refer to the Verify Correct Chargeback Codes Prior to Filing Injury Report with OWCP District Office flowchart for an overview of this process.

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Request Changes to Quarterly Chargeback Reports

On a quarterly basis, OWCP provides each Agency with a listing of the cases  (Quarterly Chargeback Report) and charges that will appear on its annual chargeback bill.  The Agency has 90 days after report receipt to identify errors and request an adjustment be made to the Agency’s quarterly report.  This request, which is made to the OWCP District Director, must be accompanied by appropriate documentation, such as copy of an SF-50, service record card (SF-7), or response from the Federal Records Center.

OWCP reviews the case file and supporting evidence to determine whether an incorrect code was assigned.

• If the evidence does not support the Agency's request, OWCP will send the Agency a copy of the CA-1, CA-2, or CA-6 from the case file and explain the basis for its finding.
• If the evidence shows that the disputed case belongs on another Agency's account, OWCP will notify the new Agency and forward a copy of the CA-1, CA-2 or CA-6 from the case file.  Before changing the Agency Code, OWCP will provide the Agency 60 days to advance any arguments for disputing ownership of the case.  Due to the time needed to verify information and correct errors, problems brought to OWCP's attention during the fourth quarter of a fiscal year may not be corrected in time for that year's bill. If incorrect charges appear on the bill, adjustment will be handled as described in the Request Changes to Annual Chargeback Billing section.

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Request Changes to Annual Chargeback Billing

When an adjustment to the yearly chargeback bill is desired, the Agency must send the request directly to the OWCP National Office.  The request must be accompanied by either (1) documentation, which shows that the disputed charge did not involve an employee of that Agency, or (2) a complete explanation of the basis for the Agency's objection.  OWCP will make a decision and correct verified errors by crediting the next year's billing statement.

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Report FECA Costs for Closed AO-JCCs

If an Agency-operated center is closed or converted to a DOL contracted center, the FECA costs shall continue to be reported under the original OWCP code.

However, since the Agency will no longer be providing Job Corps with a center report, the Agency is required to create a new report to track FECA costs from the closed or converted AO-JCC.  The report must contain the following information:

• Closed or converted AO-JCC name and 2-digit alpha code
• Period included
• OWCP Agency Code originally reported
• AO-JCC staff member name
• AO-JCC staff member social security number
• Amount claimed per staff member

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⁵ Agency personnel include those staff on Job Corps centers operated by the Department of Agriculture, Forest Service; Department of Interior, Bureau of Reclamation; Department of Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service; Department of Interior, Federal Park Service.

⁶ Authorities: Title 5, United States Code, Chapter 81, Federal Employees Compensation Act (FECA); Title 20, Code of Federal Regulations, Chapter I, Parts 1 – 199; Publication CA-810.