OPM Standard Form 3112A: Applicant’s Statement of Disability:
The constraint of a standardized form, by its very appearance, is itself a self-evident anomaly of conformity; forms, by the very nature of their format, constrains and delimits the ability to respond. Space is limited, and it is intended to be that way.
By mandating the completion of specific forms in an uniform, consistent, and universally standardized approach, the applicant who must complete the form must by necessity conform to the regulated approach. Further, the appearance itself often lulls the individual into a certain mindset, such that the response is constrained, limited, and by necessity of conservation of space and in attempting to answer the specific question queried, of brevity and devoid of critical details.
Bureaucracies create forms, and the regulations promulgated in the preparation and response to such forms. For the Federal and Postal employee who must by necessity file for Federal Disability Retirement benefits, whether the Federal employee or the Postal worker is under FERS or CSRS, the forms needed to be completed in order to qualify for Federal Disability Retirement benefits through the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, are numerous, complex, and cumbersome.
Of the multiple forms which must be completed, the Federal and Postal employee must at some point encounter and face the most critical one of all: SF 3112A. The content of the form itself appears simple enough; the complexities inherent in the form is constituted almost by an endless array of a history of court decisions, opinions issued by the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, as well as by OPM issuances of denials in thousands of cases.
Just by way of example, after the very first question asked upon requesting the applicant’s name, date of birth and SSN, it makes a simple but profoundly limiting statement: “We consider only the diseases and/or injuries you discuss in this application.” That statement seems fair enough, and perhaps even reasonable. The single word which is operatively significant, one would assume, is in the word “consider”.
But beware; for, it is the next-to-last word in the statement which is the onerous thousand-pound boulder which can fall upon the head of a Federal or Post Office Disability Retirement applicant, unless one is very, very careful. It is the word, “this”, and the consequences of such a word must be given great weight, and consideration beyond what the legal ramifications will later reveal.
Just a word of caution to the wise, for those who intend on jumping into the proverbial waters of bureaucratic complexities without first dipping a cautious toe into the lake of fire.
Sincerely,
Robert R. McGill, Esquire
Filed under: OPM Disability Application - SF 3112A Applicant's Statement of Disability for CSRS and FERS | Tagged: a form sf 3112, a form where the federal employee will have to explain his or her disability to the agency and opm, a proper approach when preparing a federal disability retirement packet, a sf 3112-a from, about the sf 3112a form, accommodation type which you requested from agency or postal service, accommodations you requested from agency, advice in how to describe your illness or disease interferes with your duties opm, applicant's explanation of disabilities and injuries, applicant's statement of eligibility for the opm evaluation, approaching a statement’s of disability narrative opm form, attach medical records that show accommodation in the fers disability application, ca-1 form is not the same as sf 3112a, ca-7 form, complex strategies behind simple-looking fers disability forms, confused about these fers disability application forms, csrs 3112 disability retirement, csrs form medical counseling, familiarity with what information you need to provide before filling out disability forms under fers, fed fers disability retirement, federal disability program for the government employee, federal employee's statements of disability, federal finantial compensation application forms, fers disability retirement forms, fers disability retirement insurance, fers disability standard forms won't explain the basic legal and medical requirements of eligibility, fers form disability help, fers sf 3112a form, filling application forms which seek only limited information, form federal disability, forms needed for disability retirement with the federal government, forms needed to file for postal disability, help with the sf 3112 pdf form, how and when questions of the federal disability retirement application forms, how to describe your injuries or diseases in sf 3112a form, how to overcome legal limitations when filling out opm disability form 3112 schedule a, I need help to describe my injuries interferes with my attendance and job performance at the agency, if you need help with the 3112 forms, imposed by your disease or injury, is the sf 3112a fillable?, light duty requested to the agency, limitations government forms can impose on your ability to prove you fers disability claim, limited duty given by postal service question in sf 3112 form, looking for sf 3112a samples? focus instead on understanding the legal and medical requirements which the 3112 series won’t provide, medical condition listings in narrative 3112 opm, medical disability forms fers, medical fers disability, medical opm 3112a form, medical records that show accommodation under fers, medical sf 3112 form, more than sf 3112 samples you need to know the requirements needed to qualify, one of the two most important forms I need to get to retire from the federal government medical reasons, opm disability evaluation, opm disability forms, opm disability insurance, opm form disability, opm form restrictions from illnesses at home, opm standard form 3107a, postal service employee light duty forms, postal standard form 3112a, postal standard forms for medical retirement, postal worker's statements of disability, retired from the postal service under disability, retirement disability form 3112a for federal workers, Sample forms Federal Disability Retirement application, schedule a of sf 3112, section a of the sf 3112, sf 3107 federal employee's statements of disability, sf 3107 pdf, sf 3107 schedules a b and c, sf 3112, SF 3112 disability retirement forms, sf forms in federal disability retirement, sf standard forms disability compensation federal employment, sf-3112-a, standard form 311a 2 series, standard form sf 3107a, standard forms 3107 & 3112 for disability retirement, the disability form the federal applicant or attorney must prepare, the most important questions you should ask your lawyer about fers disability, the statements of the federal employee are important for fers disability retirement purposes, they ask you questions about your agency if they granted accommodation, us postal service disability retirement, using for federal workers disability retirement, what application do a federal worker has to fill out to get disability retirement?, what form do I need when I am seriously injured while working for the federal government, when the ca-1 application is denied for not being a work related injury, when was requested light duty by your federal employee, why is so important to know the legal and medical information needed to qualify, work conduct interferes with disability in federal government workplace, you don't have to give only the limited information that are requested in federal government disability forms, your pay status from working without accommodation in fed agency | Leave a comment »