I sincerely hope that the proposed VERs which will be issued in the next couple of weeks will be economically viable and rewarding for those who qualify. I say this because the primary criteria proposed for qualification involves those who are at least 50 years of age with at least 20 years of service, or any age with at least 25 years of service. Anyone who has dedicated his or her life for a minimum of 20 years deserves something comparable to “full retirement” benefits. My suspicions are raised, however, only because the motivating factor behind the offer is to target employees in specific locations where reductions in force or restructuring will be taking place — i.e., from the Post Office’s perspective, those places where greater “efficiency” can be obtained, at the cost of a person’s lifetime dedication and service to the Federal Government. I realize that Adam Smith’s economic truth will always be at play — that self-interest leads to unintended consequences which, in a capitalist system, results in collateral benefits of employment, wide economic impact, etc. But just make sure that, just as the Post Office is looking after its own interest first, that each Postal employee looks after his or her own interest, similarly — first. Look at the VER carefully. Compare it to disability retirement benefits carefully — not only in terms of “today’s” dollar value, but also into the future.
Sincerely,
Robert R. McGill, Esquire
Filed under: Agency’s and/or Supervisor’s Actions, U.S. Postal Service (USPS) Disability Retirement | Tagged: Analyzing short- and long-term VER benefits, careful consideration of VERA (early retirement), civil service disability, CSRS disability lawyer, disability federal workers, disability retirement at the USPS, disability retirement opm, federal disability attorney, federal employee disability, federal employee disability benefits, federal employees disability benefits, federal workers comp, FERS medical retirement, ill federal employee, Is 2009 USPS VERA comparable to a "full retirement"?, OPM disability in a tough economy, OWCP long term disability, Post Office disability, Postal disability retirement, Postal VER, postal workers injury attorney, the economy and federal disability retirement, USPS disability retirement, USPS self interest, VER 2009 (Voluntary Early Retirement), VER important cost-benefits analysis, Voluntary Early Retirement (VER) | Leave a comment »