OPM Medical Retirement Laws: Confirmation and Affirmation

The former is both a religious sacrament in Church doctrine, as well as a state of establishing that something is true or correct; the latter, an act or statement of support for that which was previously thought to be so.  Both imply a previous state of foreknowledge, or at least an indication of some prior existence of validity; it merely needed a further stamp of approval or attestation of verification.  And that is how most opinions are sought, aren’t they?  In our own minds, we already know the answer; the search for counsel is not for new revelation, but merely a confirmation of that which we know, and the affirmation of what is needed to be done.

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who suffer from a medical condition, such that the medical condition impacts the capacity and ability of being able to perform the essential elements of one’s positional duties, the recognition for the need to file for Federal Disability Retirement benefits through the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, whether the Federal employee or U.S. Postal worker is under FERS, CSRS or CSRS Offset, is determined far in advance of any phone call to an attorney for guidance and counsel.

The search for “advice”, as the term is loosely presented, is often to merely confirm that which is already known, and to affirm the process which has already been discovered.  For, the medical condition itself already tells the Federal or Postal employee of the necessity of filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits through OPM, and the agency’s unfriendly and often hostile response has established the harbinger of one’s future.

Like secrets between nations and skeletons in one’s proverbial closet, the preparation, formulation and filing of Federal Disability Retirement benefits through OPM is somewhat of a formality; it was known already for quite some time, but the Federal and Postal employee just needed to confirm and affirm the inevitability of necessity already revealed, but wanting of declaration.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

Federal Disability Retirement: Options

Often, in life, we believe that others walk around with esoteric knowledge unavailable and unreleased; it is considered from the viewpoint of what is, in philosophy, identified as an “epistemological privilege” — that as others have private thoughts which are inaccessible to us, so there must be a vast array of knowledge similarly situated.

Experience teaches us to become suspicious of others, as somehow the inner workings of power and wealth tend to bypass most of us, and the list of uninvited guests to cocktail parties reserved exclusively for the select few parallel a privileged club of partisan divides.  But the truism of life’s encounters also unleashes another candid tautology:  most things are quite self-evident, and Ockham’s razor is the general principle of prevailing determinism.

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who are puzzled, dismayed, confused and confined by a lack of awareness concerning one’s options when a medical condition begins to impact one’s ability to perform one or more of the essential elements of one’s job, information gathering should always be the first step in the process.

Perhaps conundrums will still arise, or confusion may develop resulting from a compounding aggregate of “too much” information “out there”.  Further investigation may be warranted; but in the end, most Federal and Postal employees realize that the options are limited, and the choices relatively uncomplicated.

Federal Disability Retirement remains a preferred option for many, filed through the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, whether one is under FERS, CSRS or CSRS Offset, over OWCP-based claims (because Worker’s Comp is not a retirement system, ultimately); beyond staying with the job (because it will normally turn out that doing nothing will only make the situation worse, in most instances); or expecting an accommodation or reassignment (not likely to happen, as agencies and the U.S. Postal Service rarely look out for the best interests of the Federal or Postal worker first).

In the end, options depend upon knowledge; for, as the corner ice cream shop of yesteryear had but two flavors, vanilla and chocolate, so the modern-day chain sensation may tout 50 or more; but we tend to always come back to the basics, where we find that multiplicity of additives does not make for real alternatives in life.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

OPM Disability Retirement for Postal Workers & other Federal Civilian Government Employees: The Ronin

The Bushido Code of Honor and OPM Disability Retirement

The ronin is a masterless samurai; he is one who was released from any obligations from the daimyo, or feudal lord, who retained the samurai for protection and was paid a stipend.  The literal translation of the term is often ascribed as a “wave man”, or one who is let go to travel adrift amidst the turbulence of the ocean waves.

In modern usage, it refers to an individual who is between jobs, but can still imply vagrancy or unstable character.  For the injured/ill Federal and Postal employee, filing for Federal OPM Disability Retirement through one’s agency (if still on the rolls of the Federal agency or otherwise not separated for more than 31 days, as the law stipulates) in intermediate transit to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, or directly with the U.S. Office of Personnel Management if separated from Federal Service for more than 31 days, the pervasive sense of being like a ronin can be overwhelming.

When once the samurai was retained by a feudal lord of known standing and reputation within a geographical definition, the stature and status of the samurai was unquestioned; it was a bilateral benefit — the samurai walked with the name of the retainer’s aura about him, protecting him from slights and serious confrontations because an attack upon him would be considered as an assault upon the name of the daimyo; and, conversely, the feudal lord benefited from the fear engendered by the presence of the two-sworded protector, the warrior who follo.

With stated purpose and deliberateness, the samurai applied himself to protect and expand the vast holdings of the daimyo.  Like the Federal and Postal employee who has worked these many years for a specific agency or the U.S. Postal Service, whether under FERS, CSRS, or CSRS Offset, the samurai who suddenly loses the favor of his retainer, is set adrift.  The Federal and Postal worker often holds on to the last vestiges of favor, even when the tie and connection have been severed, precisely because to be set adrift amid the waves of life is a scary thought.

But filing for OPM Disability Retirement for the Federal or Postal worker should be considered an opportunity, and not a loss; it allows for the Federal or Postal employee the time to regain one’s health, and then to seek the retainer of choice in the private sector and make a stipend up to 80% of what one’s former position currently pays.

Federal Disability Retirement does not retain the stigma of being masterless; rather, unlike the ronin of old, it does the very opposite, and allows the Federal Government employee or Postal worker to become the master of one’s own destiny.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire