When a Federal or Postal employee files for Federal Disability Retirement benefits, and obtains an approval from the Office of Personnel Management, under FERS he or she will receive 60% of the average of one’s highest three consecutive years of pay, then 40% every year thereafter until age 62, at which point the disability annuity is recalculated based upon the total number of years of Federal Service, including those years that the disability retirement annuitant has been on Federal Disability Retirement. Thereafter, the now “former” Federal or Postal employee has the capability to work at another, private-sector job, and earn up to 80% of what one’s former Federal or Postal job currently pays, on top of the disability annuity that one is receiving.
While some may wonder whether this is a “fair” benefit, especially in these trying economic times, it might be wiser to consider whether or not it is prudent to consider the economic incentives inherent in such a system. For, by allowing for the Federal or Postal Disability Retirement annuitant to go out and attempt to earn income in another, different kind of job, it allows for continuing productivity, payment of taxes and FICA back into the “system”, as opposed to limiting the individual to merely receiving a government benefit. As all of “economics” is ultimately based upon incentives to the working population in order to encourage a system of the highest extent of productivity, this system creates an economic incentive to those who are merely disabled from performing a certain kind of job. They can continue to remain productive — just in a different kind of job from the one in which he or she is disabled.
Sincerely,
Robert R. McGill, Esquire
Filed under: Reflections of an OPM Disability Retirement Lawyer | Tagged: 80% federal disability rules applies to earned income only, a federal system that promotes productivity, a second opportunity for injured federal workers, a system that encourages disabled federal employees to remain productive, accommodation opportunities outside the federal workplace, advantages of fers disability retirement, attorney representing federal workers for disability throughout the united states, civil service disability retirement, CSRS disability retirement federal attorney, disability retirement benefits, disability retirement fers and a second opportunity to work, disability retirement for federal employees, disabled federal employees with different abilities, eligibility advantage of opm disability versus dol workers comp, federal disability law blog, freedom and business opportunities under federal disability retirement, freedom and business opportunities wile on federal disability retirement, high-3 term opm not lwop, incentives to light duty employees to remain productive, legal services for federal and postal workers all across america, medical and future employment opportunities for disabled federal workers, medical benefits for civilian federal workers, OPM disability lawyer, opportunities for disabled federal workers outside federal employment, opportunities for self-employment while in opm disability retirement, owcp disability retirement, post federal employment opportunities for the disabled postal worker, Postal Service disability, salary average of one's highest three consecutive years, The 80% OPM Disability Rule, the high-3 computation for medical retirement for ill federal workers, us postal service disability benefits, usps disability benefits, USPS disability retirement benefits, what happens when your opm disability claim is approved, when the federal agency doesn't accommodate |
well what if owcp claims examiner are committing a crime in their office against injured workers and they keep stalling and never letting me move ahead ever with losing my right leg above the knee. i have senator ron wyden working on this amu klobachar another senator and now since jan .2011 a letter yes from president obama looking into this issue of fraud on these claims examiner if you know who else i can contact let me know . I WANT TO KNOW .