Duties

The position serves the National Capital Area (NCA) and the Northeast Region (NER). The primary responsibility is administering the Federal Employees Compensation Act (FECA) program.

• Provides non-routine advice, guidance and information to injured employees and their supervisors on the full range of the Federal Employees' Compensation Act (FECA) program benefits and procedures.
• Works closely with a variety of Department of Labor personnel and other related parties to facilitate claims processing, collect required documentation and provide relevant information.
• Manages workers' compensation case files as a Complex Case Manager.
• Independently performs preliminary review of employees' workers' compensation claim forms, supervisor reports of on-the-job injury.
• Maintains contact and liaison with the OWCP, government and private physicians, attorneys and other parties involved in claims development and adjudication.
• Develops and presents briefs to managers and staff of serviced activities to provide status of claims.
• Reviews forms, documents, and letters created by coworkers for completeness and accuracy before they are submitted to DOL/OWCP or the employee.
• Serves as liaison with critical persons and groups both inside and outside of the organization.
• Provides training to supervisor and employees on practices and regulations of the FECA.
• Case manage all new claims from the time of injury through return to duty and the closure or denial of the claim by DOL. This includes but is not limited to investigating and analyzing all data gathered, making decisions and taking appropriate actions to dispute, controvert or accept claims as presented.

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• U.S. Citizenship required.
• Appointment subject to background investigation and favorable adjudication.
• Meet Selective Service Registration Act requirement for males.
• Complete the initial online assessment and USA Hire Assessment
• Selectee will be required to participate in the Direct Deposit Electronics Funds Transfer Program.
• Any individual who is currently holding, or has held within the previous 52 weeks, a General Schedule position under non-temporary appointment in the competitive or excepted service, must meet time-in-grade requirements (must have served 52 weeks at the next lower grade or equivalent in the Federal service). Time-in-grade requirements must be met by the closing date of this announcement. Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal civilian employees applying for reinstatement as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment.
• You may be required to operate a government (or private) motor vehicle as part of your official duties. Prior to your first official motor vehicle operation, and again every year thereafter (or more frequently if management determines such need exists), you will be required to sign an affidavit certifying to your possession of a valid State issued driver's license that is current and has not been revoked, suspended, canceled, or otherwise disqualified in any way to prohibit your operation of a motor vehicle. You will also submit a photocopy of your valid State issued driver's license prior to your first official motor vehicle operation, and again every year, or more frequently if management determines such need exists.
• If you are a new employee or supervisor in the Federal government, you will be required to complete a one-year probationary period.
• You may be required to travel overnight away from home up to (2) nights per month. You must obtain a government charge card for travel purposes.
• You may be required to complete training and obtain/maintain a government charge card with travel and/or purchase authority.
• You will be required to complete a Confidential Financial Disclosure Report, OGE-450 on an annual basis.

Qualifications

All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement-02/03/2022-unless otherwise stated in this vacancy announcement.

Credit will be given for all appropriate qualifying experience. For current Federal employees, if hours worked per week are not included on your resume, you must submit a non-award SF-50 as part of your application to be used to validate your work schedule and determine the amount of specialized experience that you will be granted. An award SF-50 will not be acceptable documentation for which to consider your amount of qualifying experience . For all other applicants who are not current federal employees, your resume must state either "full-time" (or "40 hours a week") or "part-time" with the number of hours worked per week to ensure proper crediting of specialized experience.

For periods of time that reflect military service, the DD-214 or Statement of Service is sufficient to meet the full and/or part-time hours requirement as the service dates will be reflected.

To qualify for this position at the GS-11 grade level, you must possess one of the following minimum qualifications by close of the announcement:

EXPERIENCE: At least one full year of specialized experience comparable in scope and responsibility to the GS-09 grade level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). This experience includes activities such as: analyzing and interpreting Workers' Compensation Program laws, regulations and policies to provide advice and guidance to managers and employees on injury or illness compensation claims and processes. You must include hours per week worked.

-OR-

EDUCATION: Successful completion of at least Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree, or 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree, or LL.M., that is related to the field of work. You must include transcripts.

-OR

Successful completion of a combination of education and experience as described above. For example, I have six months of the specialized experience equivalent to GS-09 (50 percent of the experience requirement for GS-11) and 45 semester hours or 68quarter hours of appropriate directly related graduate education (50 percent of the education requirement). The total must equal at least 100 percent to qualify.
You must include transcripts.

Volunteer Experience: Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community, student, social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

Education

To qualify based on education, you must submit a legible copy of transcripts from an accredited institution with your name, school name, credit hours, course level, major(s), and grade-point average or class ranking. Transcripts do not need to be official, but if you are selected for this position and you used your education to qualify, you must provide official transcripts before you begin work.

If you are using education completed in foreign colleges or universities to meet qualification requirements, you must show that your education credentials have been evaluated by a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign education programs and such education has been deemed equivalent to that gained in an accredited U.S. education program; or full credit has been given for the courses at a U.S. accredited college or university.

Additional information

A selectee receiving a first appointment to the Federal Government (Civil Service) is entitled only to the lowest step of the grade for which selected. The display of a salary range on this vacancy shall not be construed as granting an entitlement to a higher rate of pay.

Physical Demands: The work is primarily sedentary. It requires sitting, walking, standing, bending, and carrying light items and books, computer products, files, etc. The work may required travel in conjunction with attendance at meetings and training/conferences away from the workplace.
Working Conditions: Work is performed in an adequately lighted and heated office.

The National Park Service has determined that the duties of this position are suitable for tele-work and the selectee may be allowed to tele-work with supervisor approval.

Travel, transportation, and relocation expenses will not be paid. All travel, transportation, and relocation expenses associated with reporting for duty in this position will be the sole responsibility of the selected employee.

If you are unable to apply online or need to fax a document that you do not have in electronic form, view the following link for information regarding an Alternate Application. Click the following link for more information, https://help.usastaffing.gov/Apply/index.php?title=Alternate_Application_Information .

Reasonable Accommodation Requests:

• If you believe you have a disability (i.e., physical or mental), covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended and Americans with Disabilities Act 1990 as amended, that would interfere with completing the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be granted the opportunity to request a reasonable accommodation in your online application. Requests for Reasonable Accommodations for the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments and appropriate supporting documentation for Reasonable Accommodation must be received prior to starting the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. Decisions on requests for Reasonable Accommodations are made on a case-by-case basis. If you meet the minimum qualifications of the position, after notification of the adjudication of your request, you will receive an email invitation to complete the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. You must complete all assessments within 48 hours of receiving the URL to access the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, if you received the link after the close of the announcement. To determine if you need a Reasonable Accommodation, please review the Procedures for Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for Online Assessments here: https://help.usastaffing.gov/Apply/index.php?title=Reasonable_Accommodations_for_USA_Hire
  • If you are requesting a reasonable accommodation to the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, submit documentation to support your request, including the Reasonable Accommodation Request Form found here.