OPM Disability Retirement Attorney: Uncharacteristic Behavior

It is the clash between an expectation and the actualization of an encounter, which determines one’s perspective of self-fulfillment of a belief, or a resulting dismay from failure of verifying the basis of a paradigm.  Characteristic behavior is thus that type of human encounter which meets with, or exceeds, one’s predetermined paradigm of what one has already believed to be so; to act out of that previously considered belief system, by definition makes it fall outside of the realm of such expectation.

For the Federal employee and the U.S. Postal worker, the bureaucratic complexity of the entire administrative process of preparing, formulating and filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits through the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, whether the Federal or Postal employee is under FERS, CSRS or CSRS Offset, is normally not a surprise, and meets with or even exceeds, the expectation of an already-formed paradigm of what constitutes the “characteristic behavior” of the system as a whole.

It is the anomaly of the century when efficiency, helpfulness and pleasantries prevail throughout the process of filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits, where one hears with surprise and shock that it was “uncharacteristic”.  Sadly, that tells us something.  While somewhat unfortunate, we must always remember that the road of every bureaucratic process is paved with personalities of every type.  We tend to lump the entirety of an administrative process into a single cup and cauldron of judgment, but the reality is that there are multiple categories, just as there are different types of people throughout the universe, distinctly compartmentalized into:  helpful; friendly; efficient; nasty; backstabber; fair; unfair; loyal; unpredictable; just to name a few.

The process of filing a Federal Disability Retirement application through OPM can be a stressful one, if only because it is based upon an obvious stressor to begin with:  a medical condition which impacts one’s ability to perform one’s Federal or Postal job.  But it is not the bureaucratic process itself which adds or detracts from the inherent complexities of the process, but the behavior — characteristic or not — of those who must help along the way or hinder the necessary transition of the Federal or Postal employee, from one of active Federal or Postal employee to that of disability annuitant.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

Medical Retirement for Federal Workers: The Chance of Winning

To characterize the filing of a Federal Disability Retirement application under FERS or CSRS, from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, in terms of the percentage chances of “winning” is a natural occurrence.  While not strictly or metaphorically similar to a sports event, or a duel or challenge between two opponents, nevertheless, to obtain an approval is considered a “win” and to be denied throughout the entire administrative process is considered a “loss”.

Thus, attorneys also view their careers in such terms — of placing each case either in the “win” column, or its only polar opposite, the “loss” column.  This is a competitive society; one in which most things are characterized in such a way, and to bemoan the reality of viewing it that way would be a waste of energy, time and focus.

To win, then, is the ultimate goal (obviously), and therefore one must attempt to quantitatively increase one’s chances that the Federal or Postal employee will “win” a Federal Disability Retirement application under FERS or CSRS.  Yet, the approach and methodology of too many Federal and Postal employees who prepare, formulate and compile his or her OPM Disability Retirement application, reflects the very opposite approach.  To “win”, as in every other competitive arena of life, requires preparation, planning and purposeful strategies.

For a Federal Disability Retirement application, it requires proper and effective medical documentation; a narrative stated in “connecting the dots“; and a readiness to reply to the legal challenges which are likely to be forthcoming.  If the Federal or Postal employee is going to characterize a OPM Disability Retirement application in terms of being a competitive activity, then it needs to be approached as such.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire