An federal agency has a legitimate concern with respect to the work that is not being performed while a person is either out on sick leave or on leave without pay as a result of a medical condition.
On the other hand, Federal and Postal employees who have worked for a sufficient amount of time to be eligible for disability retirement benefits (18 months for FERS employees; 5 years for CSRS employees) have a legitimate expectation of bilateral loyalty — meaning that, inasmuch as the employee has been loyal in the performance of his or her job to the Agency, there is a reasonable expectation that the Agency will be loyal during times of medical hardship, and treat the employee with empathy and compassion.
At some point, greater friction begins to build as the time-frame keeps expanding; the Agency wants the employee back at work, or have the position filled. During the “friction” time, the employee has the leverage to have the Agency propose an administrative, non-adversarial removal based upon the medical inability of the employee to perform his or her duties. It is up to the attorney to persuade the Agency that the goal of the employee runs in the same goal-oriented direction as the Agency: the Agency wants the position; the employee wants disability retirement; both have a common end in mind — vacancy of the position so that the work of the Agency can be accomplished. On the other hand, resignation for the employee gives the employee nothing other than separation from the Agency; it gives the Agency everything it desires.
Sincerely,
Robert R. McGill, Esquire
Filed under: LWOP and Sick Leave in OPM Disability, OPM Disability Actors - The Agency, OPM Disability Actors - The Applicant, Resigning or Being Separated From a Federal Agency for Medical Problems | Tagged: agency's loyalty, attention federal worker - when the agency wants you to resign, disability retirement at the USPS, disability retirement benefits for fec employees, disability retirement for federal employees, disability retirement with the federal government, exhausting sick leave because of injury or illness, federal employees disability benefits in maine, ill postal worker, injured federal employee, long lwop for an injury or illness, long lwop sick leave for stress, long term disibility us postal service, LWOP in federal disability retirement, medical compensation for federal and postal workers, National Reassessment Process (NRP), no light duty jobs in the usps with the recession, Offer of Modified Assignment (Limited Duty) PS Form 2499X, OPM disability doesn't have to be job-related, OPM disability retirement, opm disability retirement blog, opm sick leave, Post Office disability, postal service disability retirement, resigning for OPM disability retirement, resources for injured federal workers, running out of annual leave all because of disabilities, separated from service, sick leave in OPM disability, to resign or not to resign, us postal service disability retirement, USPS disability retirement, usps lwop, usps postal medical retirement information, USPS Return to Work Certification, when the agency seeks non-adversarial removal, when the agency treats employees fairly well, when the postal service wants the resignation of an ill employee
