• Home
  • About Me
  • Contact Us
  • Copyright
  • Credentials

OPM Disability Retirement

Entries RSS | Comments RSS
  • Pages

    • About Me
    • Contact Us
    • Copyright
    • Credentials
  • Archives

  • Categories

    • Accommodation and Light Duty (40)
    • Advantages of Federal Disability Retirement (27)
    • Agency’s and/or Supervisor’s Actions (44)
    • Application, Appeals, and Other Medical Documentation Submitted To the OPM (44)
    • Burden of Proof (30)
    • Clarifications of Laws or Rules (161)
    • CSRS Disability (1)
    • Eligibility Criteria (18)
    • Evaluation Of Your OPM Disability Claim – How Do I Know If I Have A Strong Case? (18)
    • Fables, Stories and Analogies about CSRS and FERS Medical Retirement Benefits (78)
    • Federal Disability Judge-Made Decisions Quoted (35)
    • FERS Disability (10)
    • Important Cases, Legal Updates and/or the Current Process Waiting Time (49)
    • Life after Federal Disability Retirement (21)
    • LWOP and Sick Leave in OPM Disability (12)
    • Mental/Nervous Condition (49)
    • Miscellaneous (178)
    • OPM Disability & OWCP Workers Comp Filings (45)
    • OPM Disability & SSA Social Security Disability Benefits (40)
    • OPM Disability & VA Benefits (4)
    • OPM Disability Actors (288)
      • OPM Disability Actors – The Agency (54)
      • OPM Disability Actors – The Applicant (79)
      • OPM Disability Actors – The Attorney (55)
      • OPM Disability Actors – The Doctor (53)
      • OPM Disability Actors – The Human Resources Office (17)
      • OPM Disability Actors – The MSPB Administrative Judge (6)
      • OPM Disability Actors – The OPM Representatives (31)
      • OPM Disability Actors – The Others (9)
      • OPM Disability Actors – The Supervisor (13)
    • OPM Disability Administrative Law (Statutory and Non-Statutory Law) (13)
    • OPM Disability and a Hostile Working Environment (11)
    • OPM Disability Application (187)
      • OPM Disability Application – SF 3112 Disability Retirement Application Package (29)
      • OPM Disability Application – SF 3112A Applicant's Statement of Disability for CSRS and FERS (62)
      • OPM Disability Application – SF 3112B Supervisor’s Statement for CSRS and FERS (9)
      • OPM Disability Application – SF 3112C Physician's Statement for CSRS and FERS (15)
      • OPM Disability Application – SF 3112D Agency Certification of Reassignment and Accommodation Efforts for CSRS and FERS (7)
    • OPM Disability Process (160)
      • OPM Disability Process – 1st Stage: OPM Disability Application (36)
      • OPM Disability Process – 2nd Stage: OPM Reconsideration Stage (28)
      • OPM Disability Process – 3rd Stage: MSPB Stage (17)
      • OPM Disability Process – 4th Stage: Petition for Full Review at the MSPB (4)
      • OPM Disability Process – 5th Stage: Federal Circuit Court of Appeals (2)
    • OPM Disability Retirement & EEOC Complaints (4)
    • OPM Medical Questionnaire (8)
    • Post-Application Issues (19)
    • Pre-Application Considerations (454)
    • Professional & Expert Witnesses (5)
    • Reasonable Medical Treatment and Compliance Issues (6)
    • Reflections of an OPM Disability Retirement Lawyer (2,080)
    • Resigning or Being Separated From a Federal Agency for Medical Problems or Other Reasons (34)
    • SF 3112 Forms (11)
    • Specific Medical Conditions (29)
    • The Job of a Federal Disability Attorney (80)
    • Theory and Practice: Tips and Strategies for a Successful Application (204)
    • U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) (21)
    • U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) (81)
    • U.S. Postal Service (USPS) Disability Retirement (36)
    • Uncategorized (363)
    • When the OPM Application Is Approved (14)
    • When the OPM Application Is Denied (94)

Federal Disability Retirement: The “uh-oh” moment

Posted on January 26, 2019 by Federal Disability Retirement Attorney

They come in various shapes and sizes; sometimes, the “moment” is just after something is said and regret begins to insidiously creep into one’s conscience, knowing that the statement made will come back to haunt.  At other times, it is an event, perhaps beyond one’s control, and the seismic shift of tectonic undercurrents cannot be avoided or ignored.

The calamity comes in sizes and shapes — not necessarily of geometric proportions or dimensions — but of the “shape” of the mistake and the “size” of the mishap, and in comparison to whether or not damage-control can actually be effectuated.

Perhaps it is a simple walk in the forest and you become lost in thought; you look up and realize that you have wandered off from the rest of the group and you have no idea where you are.  You look up at the sun and try to remember whether, as a Tenderfoot or some level of a past Boy Scout, you can recall the position of the sun —or was it the stars?  With no compass and no inkling of what to do, with the grumbling groans of a stomach beginning to fester with hunger, you say to yourself under your breath,”uh-oh.”

Or, you are at some gathering and your boss is standing within earshot and a woman is speaking rudely and obnoxiously at some servers and you say, without thinking, “Who is that obnoxious person speaking so rudely?”  There is silence.  It turns out to be the boss’s wife.  The boss looks at you, and you know that any future promotions, any chance of any advancement of any sort with this company will be obstructed by this person who has sworn to be your enemy forever — even though, in the silence bespoken of everyone standing around, what you said was true and irrefutable.  You mutter to yourself, “uh-oh” — for, even though truth may be a shield against most ills in life, the one time it will not protect you is against a boss who must defend his maiden’s honor.

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who suffer from a medical condition such that the medical condition prevents the Federal or Postal worker from performing one or more of the essential elements of one’s job or position, it may be time to prepare, formulate and file an effective Federal Disability Retirement application, to be submitted ultimately to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, whether the Federal or Postal employee is under FERS, CSRS or CSRS Offset.

It is a complex process and one where — if attempted without the guidance of an attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law — may be replete with multiple “uh-oh” moments of various shapes and sizes.  Perhaps such “uh-oh” moments will not be like the seismic calamities of being lost in the forest, or even of offending the boss into becoming an enemy-for-life; but as OPM is known to nit-pick and try everything to deny one’s Federal Disability Retirement application, it is best to try and minimize every “uh-oh” moment so that the “uh-oh” is instead replaced with its corollary: “uh-huh”.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

Filed under: Reflections of an OPM Disability Retirement Lawyer | Tagged: 100% va disabled and usps, anxiety usps lawyer, approval for owcp medical retirement benefits, attorney federal long term disability insurance, best lawyer for medical retirement from post office, can you get medical retirement with sleep apnea? yes if it’s a problem with main tasks and responsibilities in your federal job, deficiency in service due to disability on a job, delaying the opm disability filing until the last moment, did your fers disability get denied? what to do next, disability retirement fers separated, disciplinary threats for medical sick leave in the usps, expecting a fair and through review of your postal medical claim, failing usps fitness for duty examination, federal disability retirement cover letter guidelines from top fers attorney, federal job offered does not meet work restrictions, federal job related stress leave, federal laws for federal employees who have abusive supervisors causing stress and anxiety, federal manager abuse of authority with disabled employees, federal retirement for physicians medical maintain yourself cool even when you feel your agency is not treating you fairly during the opm disability retirement process, federal workers compensation and heart attack, fighting agency’s effort reassignment to physically challenging position, filing for disability retirement federal government, filing for usps early medical out, forced to retire early due to mental illness exacerbation in federal employment, getting terminated before getting a chance to apply for fers disability retirement, herniated disk neck medical retirement on federal employment, how long for usps disability? around 6 to 8 months but it can vary a lot more, how to apply for early retirement for health issues in post office, how to sign up for medical retirement from post office, how your agency or the post office will probably react after you present to them your medical claim, is herniated disc a disability under post office and federal employee retirement rules? yes it is if work is affected, it’s very common to suffer from work-related repetitive motion injury at usps, keeping the opm disability retirement a purely administrative process and not necessarily an adversarial process, legal assistance sf 3112 forms and process, leo fitness for duty examination tips, multiple sclerosis disability federal government attorney, opm hostile work environment giving me anxiety and stress need guidance, opm injury report, opm retirement disability check up forms, owcp claim denied now what?, owcp complaints department, owcp termination of benefits – what can I do now?, post office disability pay taxable but you can work, post office windows clerk retirement with stress, postal service light duty letter, proposal against disabled employee for being removed from federal service, ptsd disability retirement for federal employees, reasons to terminate feca benefits, retirement post office clerk with disabilities, schedule award documentation in support of medical narrative owcp attorney, simultaneous fers med. retirement and dol schedule cash award, standard form 3112 legal assistance lawyer blog, termination before opm medical retirement, termination disabilities postal lawyer, unreasonable reasonable accommodation which won’t help federal employees with physical restrictions, usps disabilities resignation forms and why you should study better options, usps disability benefits attorney, what illnesses or injuries qualify for dol owcp injury cash award and medical ret.?, when a job offer does not meet doctors work restrictions in a federal job, which count toward regular retirement opm disability or workers comp?, windows clerk anxiety public phobia early retirement | Leave a comment »

  • More on CSRS & FERS Disability Retirement

    • eZineArticles.com Article: The 1 Year Statute of Limitations
    • Federal Disability Retirement Laws, Medical Conditions, and the Intersecting Complications with OWCP, Social Security and FERS & CSRS
    • Federal Disability Retirement: The Full Arsenal of Weapons
    • FedSmith.com Article: Revisiting "Accommodation"
    • FedSmith.com Article: Sometimes the Process is just as important as the Substance of an Argument
    • Latest PostalReporter.com Article: Causation in a Federal Disability Retirement Case
    • Understanding the Complexities of the Law
    • USPS Disability Blog: The National Reassessment Program, the Agency and the Worker
  • Other Resources for Federal and Postal Employees

    • Articles Published in the Postal Reporter
    • FAQs on OPM Disability Retirement
    • FERS Disability Attorney Profile at Lawyers.com
    • Main Website on Federal Disability Retirement
    • OPM Disability Blog
    • The Postal Service Disability Retirement Blog
  • Seven False Myths about OPM Disability Retirement

    1) I have to be totally disabled to get Postal or Federal disability retirement.
    False: You are eligible for disability retirement so long as you are unable to perform one or more of the essential elements of your job.  Thus, it is a much lower standard of disability. 

    2) My injury or illness has to be job-related.
    False: You can get disability even if your condition is not work related.  If your medical condition impacts your ability to perform any of the core elements of your job, you are eligible, regardless of how or where your condition occurred.

    3) I have to quit my federal job first to get disability.
    False: In most cases, you can apply while continuing to work at your present job, to the extent you are able.  

    4) I can't get disability if I suffer from a mental or nervous condition.
    False: If your condition affects your job performance, you can still qualify. Psychiatric conditions are treated no differently from physical conditions.

    5) Disability retirement is approved by DOL Workers Comp.
    False: It's the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) the federal agency that administers and approves disability for employees at the US Postal Service or other federal agencies.

    6) I can wait for OPM disability retirement for many years after separation.
    False: You only have one year from the date of separation from service - otherwise, you lose your right forever.

    7) If I get disability retirement, I won't be able to apply for Scheduled Award (SA).
    False: You can get a Scheduled Award under the rules of OWCP even after you get approved for OPM disability retirement.
  • Calendar

    June 2022
    S M T W T F S
     1234
    567891011
    12131415161718
    19202122232425
    2627282930  
    « May    
  • Top Posts

    • Federal Disability Retirement Law: Loss of Social Cues
    • FERS/SSDI Offsets: Major Precedent-setting Case
    • About Me
    • Federal Worker Disability Retirement: Agencies & SF 3112C
    • Postal and Federal Disability Retirement: No Need for an Apology
    • OPM Disability Benefits: The Eyes Which Betray the Laughter
    • OPM Disability Retirement: "Doing the best we can"
    • Federal & Postal Disability Retirement under FERS: Performance, Conduct or Attendance
    • FERS Disability Retirement: The Dream Fading
  • Archives

Blog at WordPress.com. WP Designer.

  • Follow Following
    • OPM Disability Retirement
    • Join 178 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • OPM Disability Retirement
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar