In preparing, formulating and filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS or CSRS, clarification of the direction, purpose and choices/options available is often helpful in compiling an effective and compelling Federal Disability Retirement case.
Often, there is hesitancy in preparing the application, and such hesitancy and pause are a sign that there is a part of the Federal or Postal worker who is hoping that the medical condition will either resolve itself, or that somehow — in some nebulous and obscure thought-processes — procrastination will result in resolution and continuation in the career one has chosen.
Narrowing the options with a perspective of reality-based evaluation of one’s situation, however, is important in taking the initial steps. “Preparation” constitutes thinking about the various options, including questioning the circumstances of one’s medical history, present reality, and future expectations.
Thus, some questions might be: Can I continue to work at this job until retirement? If I continue to work at this job till retirement, will my health have been impacted so detrimentally that I will be in a debilitated state such that “retirement” would be a meaningless goal? What is my doctor saying? Will my doctor support me in an application for Federal Disability Retirement benefits? How is my agency acting/reacting? Will they continue to tolerate less than full performance and productivity? What are my choices — work till retirement, file for Disability Retirement, or walk away without anything?
Such narrowing of choices and options, through proper questioning, is the initial preparatory step in preparing, formulating and filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits, whether under FERS or CSRS, from the Office of Personnel Management.
Sincerely,
Robert R. McGill, Esquire
Filed under: Reflections of an OPM Disability Retirement Lawyer | Tagged: a difficult decision an ill federal worker must make: filing for disability, applying for federal disability, civil service disability retirement, disability retirement at the USPS, disabled federal employees and narrowing down their options, doctor's statements of disability, doubts about applying for feca benefits, Federal Disability, federal disability lawyer, federal disability retirement, federal injury blogs, FERS disability retirement, filing for OPM disability retirement, hesitancy in applying for fers deisability benefits, if your health is more important than your job, just narrowing your options putting your health always as a priority, legal services for federal and postal workers all across america, making a difficult decision in life: filing for opm disability retirement, medical decision is more important than economic decision, OPM disability retirement, owcp disability retirement, performance issues with disability federal employment, Postal disability, postal service disability retirement, pursuing your own interests first, second thoughts about continuing with your present federal career, taking a hard look at your own situation: working with disabilities for the us government, the injured federal worker and facing the inevitable: time for medical healing, USPS Disability, usps disability retirement blog, your doctor's opinion and the federal disability medical form, your treating doctors |
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