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Washington, D.C. —In order to reduce the costs of the federal workers’ compensation program, the government must do more to prevent the injuries that lead to claims, the leader of the nation’s largest independent federal union told a Senate committee today.

“A priority of any good employer, including the federal government, is to create a workplace where employees can be confident that they can perform their duties safely,” said Colleen M. Kelley, president of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU). “Through this objective, the government can best reduce the costs associated with workers’ compensation.”

Kelley submitted testimony today to the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management and the Federal Workforce in its hearing, “Compensation for Workers Injured in the Federal Workplace,” to examine the Federal Employees Compensation Act (FECA).

“NTEU welcomes a review of the FECA program, while always keeping in mind this is an issue of human dignity,” Kelley said in the testimony. “We believe such a review should be broad and comprehensive. By that, we mean that it should never start or be rigidly limited to benefit payments.

Instead, the first principle should be making the federal workplace safe by actions to move us towards the goal where no worker need come to work with the possibility it will be his or her last day on the job because of a workplace injury.”

In particular, Kelley emphasized NTEU’s opposition to proposals that would cut benefits and institute a forced retirement provision. Under FECA, an employee injured on the job and unable to work receives payments equal to 67 percent of his or her wages at the time of injury; the amount is slightly higher if the injured party has family obligations. Kelley pointed out that, once receiving payments under FECA, the injured party does not receive retirement contribution matches nor is able to make contributions to the federal Thrift Savings Plan.

Moreover, Kelley noted that FECA often fails to provide proper benefits to injured federal employees. For that reason, NTEU has endorsed the bipartisan Federal Workers’ Compensation Modernization and Improvement Act (H.R. 2465) that recently was approved by the House Education and the Workforce Committee. The bill increases the maximum scheduled award for facial disfigurement from the $3,500 cap set in 1949 to $50,000 and ties that amount to inflation in the future. There is also a proposed increase in the funeral expense limit from $800 to $6,000, with inflation indexing.

“NTEU is also pleased the House bill adds coverage for disability or death of a federal employee sustained in a terrorism incident,” Kelley said. “Representing employees of the [Internal Revenue Service] and the Department of Homeland Security, we know that they, as well as many other federal workers, are particular targets of terrorists.”

As the review of FECA continues, the NTEU president also reminded lawmakers of the union’s desire to work to find ways to reduce the costs, but she reiterated that the best way to make improvements is not by reducing benefits or denying claims, but by placing a greater emphasis on preventing the occurrence of injuries.

“A change in management practices and culture is needed,” Kelley said. “I don’t expect this is something Congress can legislate, but the first step is to end the myth that able-bodied workers are receiving FECA payments, and accept the fact that many injured workers would like to return to work and could do so with open-minded and innovative agency practices.”

NTEU represents 150,000 employees in 31 agencies and departments.