Workers' Compensation Specialist

Summary

The mission of DFEC is to administer the Federal Employees' Compensation Act (FECA) (5 U.S.C. § 8101 et. seq.) by developing and adjudicating new claims for benefits, managing ongoing claims, authorizing and paying medical and compensation benefits to injured worker and survivors, and helping injured employees return to work when they are able to do so. Position is in the Bargaining Unit.

Duties

• -Primary point of coordination, contact, oversight, and problem resolution for compensation payments and insurance benefits. -Provide expert technical advice, support, and recommendations to agency management officials, claims examiners, fiscal operations specialists, administrative staff and federal agency personnel on interpretation of policies, programs, regulations, and statutes concerning insurance benefits. -Serves as the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB/Federal Employees Group Life Insurance (FEGLI)/Federal Employees Dental and Vision Insurance Program (FEDVIP) point of contact for the program's claimants, beneficiaries, insurance carriers and federal agencies. -Serves as a liaison for the Department of Labor's Solicitor's Office on all matters related to third party subrogation payments and surpluses. Assists claims staff with tracking surpluses and administering benefits while surplus is in place. -Pulls reports from Treasury and enters appropriate fiscal data in the compensation system. Posts cash receipts received in the National office to Fund Control Register. These monies come from a variety of different sources such as medical provider, third party recoveries, employing agencies, claimants and OPM. Analyzes reports from the Office of Personnel Management's FEHB Centralized Enrollment Clearinghouse System (CLER). Conducts reconciliation actions on all identified discrepancies -Analyzes operations and, as necessary, develops procedures and processes to help prevent internal fraud and abuse, and improve accountability and efficiency. -Resolves unusual, delicate, or time-sensitive situations, e.g., those involving congressional inquiry or coordination outside the agency. Resolves the most complex and sensitive insurance benefit case issues with unique situations normally not covered under operating norms or procedure -The incumbent may provide guidance and training to branch employees and claims staff on procedures related to FEHB/FEGLI/FEDVIP benefits and how they impact compensation payments. -Reviews policies, practices, written guidance and records to ascertain compliance with DOL and government-wide policy. Identifies areas for improvement and provides guidance and instruction to assist in making improvements. -Keeps accurate records and creates reports for tracking payments to groups specifically identified by the Branch Chief.

Qualifications

IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Position titles alone cannot be used to determine if you are qualified. Please list dates in MM/DD/YY format. This is imperative in determining if whether you have at least one year of creditable specialized experience. Dates will not be assumed. GS-12: Applicants must have 52 weeks of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade level, GS-11 in the Federal Service. Specialized experience is demonstrating skill in applying, analytical and evaluative methods and techniques to problems, questions, and/or issues in the areas of fiscal operations and knowledge of the regulations, policies and precedents in relation to disability and survivor compensation payments. Examples of specialized experience include: 1) overseeing and carrying out a broad range of related duties, e.g., evaluating the adequacy and accuracy of compensation and benefit payment systems in relation to claims insurance premiums; 2) providing advice to management and serving as a liaison to other stakeholders including claimants, insurance carriers and other federal agencies; 3) identifying abnormal conditions and initiating corrective actions on insurance premiums and compensation payments.

Education

There is no educational substitution at the GS-12

How to apply

Persons who are deaf, hard of hearing, blind, or have speech disabilities, please dial 711 to access telecommunications relay services. To apply for this position, you must complete the initial online application, including submission of the required documentation specified in the Required Documents section. Your application and ALL required supplemental documents MUST be received by 11:59 pm Eastern Time on the vacancy closing date to receive consideration. Important - Save your information before the 30 minute system timeout! For help, go to USAJOBS Help Center. STEP 1 - Create USAJOBS Account on www.usajobs.gov, including Resume and Saved Documents. For each employment period, include start/end month & year and note full-time or part-time (if part-time, include # of hours worked per week) otherwise, your application may be considered incomplete. NOTE: In alignment with the Presidential Memorandum titled Merit Hiring Plan, dated May 29, 2025, applicants may only submit a resume limited to two (2) pages. Only the résumé uploaded under the 'Resume" document type in USAJOBS will be reviewed. If the resume submitted exceeds two (2) pages, the application will be deemed ineligible for further consideration. STEP 2 - Complete the 1st part of the application process (USAJOBS). Once you have identified a job on USAJOBS that you wish to apply for, click on the job title and then click the Apply button. For questions about the vacancy, contact the Agency Contact at the bottom of the announcement. Proceed through the steps noted at the top of the USAJOBS page. You will be able to select a resume and documents from your USAJOBS Account that you can submit as a package as part of your DOL application. In the final step, once you have certified your application, click the Continue to agency site button. STEP 3 - Complete the 2nd part of the application process (DOL). On the Department of Labor (DOL) page, create a DOL Account if you have not already and click Apply to this vacancy. Continue through the progress steps at the top of the DOL page. The 2nd progress step is where you answer the vacancy-specific questions. The 3rd progress step Documents is where you submit the required documents (only if applicable to you) specified in the Required Documents section of this vacancy. STEP 4 - On the Review and Submit step, verify each section of your application is complete and correct. In order to submit your application, you must have a check mark next to each section listed. If there is an X, return to the appropriate section and follow the prompts. When it is ready for submission, certify your application and click the Submit Application button. STEP 5 - Edit Application as needed by 11:59 pm Eastern Time of Closing Date by returning to USAJOBS, clicking the vacancy, then Update Application. If you are required to complete any USA Hire Assessments, you will be notified after submitting your application. The notification will be provided in your application submission screen and via email. The notification will include your unique assessment access link to the USA Hire system and the completion deadline. Additionally, in USAJOBS you can click "Track this application" to return to your assessment completion notice. Access USA Hire using your unique assessment link. Access is granted through your USAJOBS login credentials. Review all instructions prior to beginning your assessments. You will have the opportunity to request a testing accommodation before beginning the assessments should you have a disability covered under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended. Set aside about 2 Hours to take the USA Hire Assessments however, most applicants complete the assessments in less time. If you need to stop the assessments and continue later, you can re-use your unique assessment link. Your responses to the USA Hire Assessments will be reused for one year (in most cases) from the date you complete an assessment. If future applications you submit require completion of the same assessments, your responses will be automatically reused. Visit the USA Hire Applicant Resource Center for practice assessments and assessment preparation resources at https://support-usahire.opm.gov/hc/en-us. To update your application, including supporting documentation: During the announcement open period, return to your USAJOBS account, find your application record, and click Edit my application. This option will no longer be available once the announcement has closed. For more detailed information on applying for positions with DOL click here to view the U.S. Department of Labor, How to Apply website.