FERS & CSRS Disability Retirement: Considerations Prior to Pursuing SSDI Aggressively

In filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS, one must file for SSDI and submit proof of such filing with the Office of Personnel Management at the time of approval of the Federal Disability Retirement application.  For CSRS individuals who file for Federal Disability Retirement, no such filing is required, precisely because the framework of a CSRS retirement/disability retirement is not tied into the Social Security system. 

Remember that, under FERS, when a Federal or Postal Worker files for Federal Disability Retirement benefits, all that is necessary is to fulfill the requirement of “filing” — meaning, that a receipt must be submitted evidencing the filing of an SSDI application.  One does not need an approval or a denial — merely a receipt showing that one has fulfilled the statutory requirement of filing.  Ultimately, of course, the Office of Personnel Management is seeking to discover whether or not the Federal or Postal worker is eligible for SSDI, and if so, that an offset will be triggered.  Because of the possible offset (and the potential repercussions of OPM refusing to reinstate the full FERS Disability Retirement benefits in the event of an SSDI/FERS disability retirement annuitant having reached a status of gainful employment — see my previous blog post), one needs to take into consideration all of the factors, circumstances, future goals and future plans, before one decides to “aggressively” pursue SSDI benefits.  

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) Disability Retirement: SSDI & FERS Offset (Continued…)

If a former Federal or Postal employee receives both FERS Disability Retirement annuity, as well as SSDI (with the proper offset), and finds a job, makes sufficient income to exceed the cap for SSDI — to the extent that Social Security finds that he or she is no longer “entitled” to SSDI benefits and suspends SSDI payments:  will the Office of Personnel Management recalculate the FERS Disability Retirement and reinstate the amount which was previously offset, to restore the full FERS Disability Retirement annuity?  The answer:  A number of recent cases have resulted in a “No”.  Petitions and Appeals are in the works. 

The reasoning and rationale of the Office of Personnel Management is that, because the individual is still “entitled” to SSDI benefits, but the benefits have merely been “suspended”, therefore the FERS Disability Retirement annuity is still offset by the “entitled” amount, not by what is actually received.  Pending the outcome of any Petitions for Review and Appeals to the U.S. Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, Federal and Postal Disability Retirement annuitants must be careful in deciding whether or not to actually pursue SSDI.  If one is planning to work at another job, with a reasonable expectation of exceeding Social Security’s cap for employment income, the fact that if one is restored to earning capacity, one’s FERS Disability Retirement may not be allowed to be recalculated to make up for the lost offset, should be taken into consideration.

Sincerely, Robert R. McGill, Esquire