Airbnb, Lyft, Uber, gig economy and OWCP

For any time that you are claiming workers compensation pay, you must be very careful about engaging in ANY type of other "employment" like activity. In a FECA claim, OWCP will take a very broad view of your activities and interpret anything that you are doing for money, or that someone normally would be paid to do, as working. You are claiming workers compensation pay because you cannot do your regular job, so if you also work or do anything work like, there can be severe criminal penalties. Any such activity must be disclosed. If the work activity existed prior to your date of injury and is dissimilar to your federal job, you may be able to continue performing that activity in a manner similar to what you were doing before the work injury. However, even if it would have been permissible to engage in that activity, the failure to disclose it could also give rise to a crime simply for failing to disclose something you were allowed to do. If you are off work getting workers compensation pay, you cannot pick up other work without disclosing you are doing that, and likely having your workers comp pay reduced by that income.