In filing for Federal or Postal Disability Retirement under FERS, one must, of course, file for SSDI. Whether you want to pursue SSDI aggressively or not, depends upon what one’s future plans will be. Remember that you can make (in addition to the disability annuity paid) up to 80% of what one’s former Federal or Postal job currently pays.
Thus, take the following hypothetical: An individual makes $60,000.00 per year, and files for Disability Retirement under FERS. In the first year, the individual’s annuity would be $36,000; and every year thereafter, it would be $24,000.00. On top of that annuity amount, however, the former Federal or Postal employee could go out and become employed, and make up to $48,000.00 per year at another job, on top of the $24,000.00 in disability annuity, for a combined income of $72,000.00.
Now, some might be critical of the fact that under the rules governing OPM Disability Retirement, one can actually make more total income — 120% — than before becoming qualified for FERS Disability Retirement. Some have called this a “windfall”. Instead, one should look at it this way: it is a thoughtful paradigm, because the system encourages a person to become productive in some other capacity. Moreover, that person further contributes to the system which he or she left, by paying Federal taxes through the “other” employment. Incentives work, and in this case, it makes economic sense for both the Federal government and for the disabled former federal or postal employee.
Sincerely, Robert R. McGill, Esquire
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Federal Employee Medical Retirement: Agency Tendency
A Federal or Postal Worker who has worked for any number of years, already knows (intuitively) what the Agency’s response is going to be when he or she files for Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS or CSRS: Self-protection, minimal cooperation, and a “know nothing” and “do nothing” approach. This is merely the tendency of most agencies. Every now and then, there is an exception to this general perception of how a Federal Agency will respond and react; normally, however, any such exception is merely a reflection upon an exceptional individual — a supervisor who is truly looking out both for the best interests of the agency, as well as for a Federal or Postal worker who deserves praise and cooperation as he or she enters into a difficult phase of life.
Agencies tend to respond in a “self-protective” mode; of covering itself; of being uncooperative, thinking that an individual who is filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits is (A) no longer of any use to the agency, (B) reflects badly upon the overall perception of the agency, or (C) is merely faking the disability. The truth of the matter is that a Federal or Postal employee who is filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits has probably exhausted all possible alternatives, and has killed him/herself in trying to continue to work. However, sympathy and empathy are two emotions which Agencies sorely lack in, both qualitatively and quantitatively; and as with all tendencies, it is good to be aware of them, if only to be on guard.
Sincerely,
Robert R. McGill, Esquire
Filed under: OPM Disability Actors - The Agency | Tagged: accepting opm disability clients all across america, adverse agency reaction, agency's loyalty, anticipating the agency's reaction after the opm disability filing, CSRS disability retirement federal attorney, don't always count with the support of an agency supervisor, exhausting all the alternatives for usps rehabilitation, expecting the worst from the postal service when reporting even an injury, fed up with the abusive usps workers comp system, federal agencies: falling into a self-protective mode, federal disability law blog, federal supervisor response to employee work injury, fers disability application supervisor comments, FERS disability retirement, how good is to have the agency's supporting your federal disability claim?, informing the agency about your fers disability application, injured at work and still owcp refused, law firm representing clients in opm disability law all across america, letting the agency know about your opm disability application, nationwide representation of federal employees, notifying the Agency, OPM disability retirement, opm guidelines for disability retirement, owcp disability retirement, postal service disability retirement, resources for injured federal workers, supervisors and disabled employees in the US federal agencies, tendencies among federal disability retirement actors, the agency's natural reactions to your application for federal medical retirement, the disabled federal employee and the minimal cooperation from the agency, uncooperation from the agency with opm disability paperwork, unfair agency's actions against light duty workers, usps disability blog, USPS disability retirement, USPS disability retirement benefits, what should you expect from the post office when faced with an opm claim, when supervisors show empathy and sensitivity, when the disabled federal worker gets the support she needs from agency, years in workers comp and still unable to work | Leave a comment »