Federal employees and their advocates told NBC News that they’re not satisfied with the “Byzantine” process of filing claims with the Office of Workers’ Compensation Program or having to wait weeks — sometimes months — to get approval for procedures recommended by doctors.

Chris Godfrey

Joe Mansour, a workers’ compensation specialist for the American Federation of Government Employees, said OWCP does not provide sufficient information to injured workers.

“When an employee is injured, they’re on their own,” Mansour said.

Two anonymous union representatives reportedly told NBC they advise their members to file claims under their health insurance first and to avoid the comp system entirely or wait to make a claim after they’ve received medical treatment.

NBC reports that the 182,303 claims filed in fiscal year 2022 represent a 62% increase compared to the 112,807 claims filed in 2013.

The Labor Department has hired 281 new claims examiners and 55 medical treatment adjudicators.

OWCP Director Chris Godfrey said in a statement that the current administration has taken steps to improve the program and that his agency continues to look for new ways to make it work better for injured workers.