How to Appeal a Federal Workers Compensation Decision

By Dr. Matt Gianforte, DC · Federal Injury Centers of Kansas City · Updated October 2026

Getting a denial letter from OWCP is discouraging. But a formal decision isn’t always the final word. FECA gives you three ways to ask for a review, and each one has its own deadline and its own rules.

This guide explains those three routes exactly as the regulations describe them, how they fit together, and what “new evidence” really means. We’re a medical clinic, not a law firm, so this is about how the process works, not legal strategy. For advice on your own case, talk with OWCP or a representative.

Start with the decision letter

Every formal OWCP decision contains findings of fact and a statement of reasons. It also comes with an attachment explaining your appeal rights (20 CFR 10.126).

Read both parts closely. The decision tells you why OWCP ruled the way it did, for example that the medical evidence didn’t explain how work caused the condition. The appeal rights page tells you which review options apply to that decision and where to send a request.

Write down the date of the decision. Every deadline below is counted from that date, not from the day the letter reached you.

The three ways to have a decision reviewed

Under 20 CFR 10.600, there are three methods: a hearing before an OWCP hearing representative, reconsideration by the district office, and an appeal to the Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board (ECAB). Not every option is available for every decision.

1. Hearing: request within 30 days

A hearing is a review by a hearing representative in OWCP’s Branch of Hearings and Review (20 CFR 10.615 to 10.622).

  • Deadline: your written request must be sent within 30 days of the date of the decision, as shown by the postmark or other carrier’s date marking (10.616(a)).
  • Two formats: an oral hearing, which the hearing representative may hold by phone, video or in person, or a review of the written record. You can ask to switch from an oral hearing to a written record review (10.616(b)).
  • New evidence is allowed. You can submit new evidence to the hearing representative (10.615). After an oral hearing, the record stays open for more evidence for 30 days unless the hearing representative extends it (10.617(f)). For a written record review, send your evidence and arguments with your request (10.618(b)).
  • Key limit: you can’t get a hearing on a decision if you’ve already asked for reconsideration of that same decision, whether or not reconsideration was granted (10.616(a)).
  • Withdrawing ends it. If you withdraw a hearing request, no further hearing requests on that decision will be considered (10.622(a)).

If you miss a scheduled oral hearing, you have 10 days after the hearing date to ask in writing for a new one and show good cause (10.622(f)).

2. Reconsideration: OWCP must receive it within 1 year

Reconsideration is a fresh review by the district office (20 CFR 10.605 to 10.609).

  • Deadline: OWCP must receive your application within one year of the date of the decision (10.607(a)). Note the difference: this one counts when OWCP gets it, not when you mail it.
  • What it must contain: it must be in writing, signed and dated, and it must do at least one of three things (10.606(b)): show that OWCP got a specific point of law wrong, make a relevant legal argument OWCP hasn’t considered, or include relevant and pertinent new evidence OWCP hasn’t considered.
  • Who reviews it: if reconsideration is granted, a claims examiner who didn’t take part in the original decision reviews the case on its merits (10.609(b)).
  • Late requests: OWCP will consider a request filed after one year only if it shows clear evidence of error in OWCP’s most recent merit decision (10.607(b)). That’s a hard standard to meet, so don’t count on it.

Two outcomes are possible. If the request doesn’t meet the standards, OWCP denies it without reopening the case. The only review of that kind of denial is an appeal to ECAB (10.608(b)).

If OWCP grants the request and issues a new merit decision, you may request reconsideration again or appeal to ECAB, but you may not request a hearing on that new decision (10.609(c)).

3. ECAB appeal: file within 180 days

The Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board is a separate board within the Department of Labor that reviews final OWCP decisions (20 CFR Part 501). It has three permanent judges and sits in Washington, DC.

  • Deadline: your notice of appeal must be filed within 180 days from the date the OWCP decision was issued (501.3(e)). The count starts the day after the decision date, and if the last day falls on a weekend or federal holiday, it runs to the next business day (501.3(f)(3)).
  • Late appeals: the Board may extend the time only for compelling circumstances beyond your control. An untimely appeal is dismissed (501.3(e), (g)).
  • How to file: attorneys and lay representatives must file electronically. If you represent yourself, you may file through the Board’s electronic system or by mail to the Clerk of the Appellate Boards (501.3(b)). DOL makes the appeal form, AB-1, available on the ECAB site.
  • No new evidence. The Board reviews only the evidence that was in the record when OWCP made its decision. Evidence that wasn’t before OWCP won’t be considered for the first time on appeal (501.2(c)(1)).
  • One forum at a time. OWCP and the Board can’t decide the same issue at the same time. Once an appeal is docketed, OWCP can’t issue a further decision on that issue until the Board gives up jurisdiction (501.2(c)(3); 10.626).

Some decisions can’t be appealed to ECAB at all, such as decisions about the amounts paid for medical services (10.625).

How the options fit together

This is gonna sound complicated, but it really isn’t once you see it laid out. The three routes are alternatives, not a ladder you must climb in order. You can go straight to ECAB without a hearing or reconsideration first.

But some choices close off others. Based on the regulations:

  • Asking for reconsideration of a decision ends your chance at a hearing on that decision (10.616(a)).
  • A decision after reconsideration can’t go to a hearing. It can go to reconsideration again or to ECAB (10.609(c)).
  • A denial of reconsideration without a merit review can only go to ECAB (10.608(b)).
  • Withdrawing a hearing request ends further hearing requests on that decision (10.622(a)).
  • While ECAB has the appeal, OWCP can’t decide that same issue (501.2(c)(3)).

Each new decision you receive comes with its own appeal rights and its own deadlines. A new decision doesn’t extend the deadline on an old one.

Which route fits your situation is a legal judgment. That’s a question for your representative or for OWCP, not for us.

What “new evidence” means

For a hearing or reconsideration, new evidence can make the difference. For an ECAB appeal, as noted above, the Board won’t look at it.

For reconsideration, the evidence must be relevant and pertinent and not previously considered by OWCP (10.606(b)(3)). A copy of a report OWCP already has doesn’t count, even if it’s sent again.

With medical evidence, relevant usually means it speaks to the reason for the denial. If OWCP said causal relationship wasn’t established, a new report that just repeats the diagnosis won’t fix that. What OWCP’s rules ask a physician to address (10.330) includes:

  • The history you gave and the physical findings
  • The results of diagnostic tests and a specific diagnosis
  • The physician’s opinion, with medical reasons, on how the diagnosed condition relates to your work
  • The extent of any disability and the prognosis

Representatives and fees

You can handle an appeal yourself, or you can appoint one representative in writing (10.700). A federal employee may serve only for an immediate family member or as a union representative, and can’t charge a fee (10.701).

Here’s what I need you to know about fees:

  • A representative’s fee for work before OWCP must be approved by OWCP before it’s collected (10.702(b), 10.703).
  • Fees for work before ECAB must be approved by the Board. Collecting a fee without Board approval may be a misdemeanor (501.9(e)).
  • You pay the fee yourself. OWCP doesn’t reimburse it (10.702(a)).
  • Fee arrangements based on a percentage of what you receive aren’t allowed in any form (10.702(a); 501.9(e)).

One more myth to clear up. An appeal isn’t a negotiation over a payout. Wage loss benefits are never paid as a lump sum, and a schedule award is paid as a lump sum only when OWCP decides it’s in your best interest (10.422).

How we can help

We don’t file appeals, and we don’t give legal advice. What we can do is the medical side.

Federal Injury Centers of Kansas City, led by Dr. Matt Gianforte, DC, provides care for injured federal workers in Shawnee, Kansas, and the medical documentation OWCP needs: CA-17 duty status reports, CA-20 attending physician reports and causal relationship narratives that address the specific medical questions in a decision.

Under FECA, chiropractic care is limited to manual manipulation of the spine to correct a subluxation shown by x-ray, plus the related exam and x-rays. We’ll tell you plainly what’s in scope.

Request a consultation or call (913) 355-6648. You may also find our posts on why OWCP claims get denied and what FECA is helpful.

Sources

This article is general information, not legal or medical advice. For decisions about your claim, contact OWCP or your representative.

About Dr. Matt Gianforte, DC

Dr. Matt Gianforte is a graduate of Palmer College of Chiropractic and the founder of Federal Injury Centers of Kansas City in Shawnee, Kansas. His team treats injured federal employees under FECA and provides the medical documentation OWCP requires.