Medical conditions test the value of a worker; for, while people may engage in theoretical discussions of “cost-benefits analysis“, where the cost of X is compared and contrasted to the benefit of Y, such that the hypothetical analysis results in a business decision based upon pure economic need — the reality of such an approach rarely gets a true test beyond such dinner table discussions. But when a Federal or Postal Worker begins to suffer from a medical condition, such that the medical condition visibly impacts one or more of the essential elements of one’s job, then the economic paradigm of a cost-benefits analysis is applied, whether overtly or in a more subtle, inconspicuous manner.
The agency may recognize the need to allow for temporary suspension of certain positional duties — travel may be taken up by some other employee; heavy lifting may need an additional helper; telecommuting may be a viable option. The cost of such temporary measures is felt in the work left undone; the benefit is accrued by the experience, wisdom, and knowledge of the disabled retained worker. In rarer occasions, a formal request for an accommodation may be submitted by the Federal or Postal Worker, and an administrative process of attempting to provide a legally viable accommodation may ensue; but that is a rare process, indeed.
The reality of accommodations in the Federal sector is one of practical need versus the trouble such attempts bring; for the Federal or Postal Worker, whether under FERS or CSRS, the true option left is to file for Federal Disability Retirement benefits from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Such an option results from an agency being tested — and loyalties revealed.
Sincerely,
Robert R. McGill, Esquire
Filed under: Accommodation and Light Duty | Tagged: a common fallacy: I won't qualify for disability retirement if the federal agency accomodates me, accommodation of federal employees, an attorney who will defend injured federal workers aggressively, attorney defending postal employees, cost-benefits analysis of accommodation efforts in federal employment: theory and practice, defending your rights to fers disability benefits, disability retirement at the USPS, disability retirement opm legal accommodation, essential elements of jobs, failing to provide limited duty to injured workers, federal civilian workers comp disability, federal disability and the agency's certification of accommodation, federal employee disability, federal employees and disability according to the law, federal employment injury on the job and return to work, federal government employment and job offers for those with different abilities, ineffective accommodation in the federal workplace, injuries in the federal workplace and unreasonable accommodations, injury compensation and light limited duty, job reasign, legal accommodation for Postal workers, legal accommodation under fers disability rules, legal representation for injured federal workers, light duty and accommodation before opm disability retirement, light duty and reasonable accommodation, light duty in the Postal Service, light-duty job offer, limited duty and accommodation of disabled federal employees, limited duty assignments united states postal service, limited duty postal service, limited jobs for light duty employees, medical condition modified job offer, medical retirement from the federal government even with accommodation?, minor job adjustments are not accommodations under fers disability law, neither the agency nor the postal service will usually understand the legal concept of accommodation in the 3112d, no real accommodation efforts for most disabled employees, no real cost-benefits analysis implementation and the reality of accommodation in the federal workplace, offer of modified assignment (limited duty) ps form 2499x, OPM disability application tips and strategies, OPM disability retirement, owcp and unable to return to work, owcp disability retirement, owcp modified job offer, post office light duty, postal family medical leave act and reassignment of job cases, questions the agency will answer for you in the 3112d, real accommodation and rehabilitation efforts in the federal sector, reasonable accommodation of federal workers, Standard Form 3112D, the disabled federal employee will probably have to accept some job offers but..., the disabled federal worker and accommodation issues at the workplace, the employing agency's understanding of legal accommodation and light duty, the federal agency must address the accommodation issue with the 3112d, the medical condition and the essential elements of job connection, the tricky issue of accommodation in the federal workplace, the truth is that federal agencies will rarely accommodate a disabled federal employee under opm disability retirement rules, usps accommodation, usps light duty is usually not real accommodation under opm disability rules, usps sf limited job offer, when the federal government doesn't accommodate you, why in opm disability law most accommodations are not accommodations | Leave a comment »
Federal and Postal Disability Retirement: Coherence
A Federal Disability Retirement packet must be coherent. This may appear to be “self-evident”, but there have been many disability retirement packets which, upon a denial and a review at the Second, Reconsideration Phase of the process, lack the coherent coordination which results in a credible disability retirement packet. Coherence results from the simple review of the entirety of the information submitted to the Office of Personnel Management: The applicant’s personal statement; the medical records and reports; the position description; any additional statements or attachments.
Now, there are certain elements of a Federal Disability Retirement application which cannot be controlled — such as the Supervisor’s Statement (SF 3112B) and the Agency Certification of Reassignment and Accommodation Efforts (SF 3112D). However, while one may not be able to “control” the coherence of those elements which are the purview of the Agency, there are certain steps which can be taken to preempt such uncontrollable injections from the Agency.
Regardless, it is normally not the SF 3112B or 3112D which makes for the incoherence of a Federal Disability Retirement submission; more often than not, the culprit is the Applicant him/herself.
Sincerely,
Robert R. McGill, Esquire
Filed under: OPM Disability Application - SF 3112 Disability Retirement Application Package | Tagged: accepting opm disability clients all across america, agency's influence in disability retirement, agency's influence on the opm disability claim is limited, assessment for postal disability retirement from supervisor, beware of the applicant's statement of disability, building a credible disability retirement application, civil service disability, consistency in the whole federal disability retirement package, CSRS disability retirement federal attorney, disability retirement for federal employees, federal disability and the agency's certification of accommodation, federal disability attorney, federal disability law blog, federal employee disability, fers disability application supervisor comments, fers disability blog, getting a solid foundation from which to build your fers disability case, importance of the narrative report on opm disability, law firm representing clients in opm disability law all across america, legal representation for injured federal workers, nationwide representation of federal employees, one coherent federal disability retirement application, OPM disability application tips and strategies, OPM disability lawyer, OPM disability retirement, opm disability retirement consistency, OPM Reconsideration Stage, owcp disability retirement, Postal Service disability, pragmatic methodology, preparing a federal disability retirement application, representing federal employees from any us government agency, resources for injured federal workers, Second Step OPM Appeal, the applicant's control of the opm disability application and process, the limited power of a supervisor in the fers disability retirement process, the most important form in the federal disability retirement package: sf 3112a, USPS disability retirement benefits, why all the forms and documents of your fers disability claim must be logically connected, why the applicant's statements is such an important document in a fers disability claim, your supervisor and federal disability retirement | Leave a comment »