FERS & CSRS Disability Retirement for Federal and USPS Workers: Fridays & Brief Cessation of Pain

It is an American tradition to look forward to Fridays — for the leisure which comes after; for the casual custom which is often invoked by corporations, both in dress codes as well as in demeanor; for the plans which are made with friends, family or with the pleasure of solitude and quietude.  But where such a tradition is violated by an insidious pall, where expectations of fun-filled activities are replaced by the need for recuperative slices of immobility and sleep, then it may be time to consider a different option in life.  

Chronic medical conditions; medical conditions which are progressively deteriorating; degenerative conditions which impact and prevent one from looking upon Fridays as the bridge to leisure, and instead is merely a temporary respite for recovery back to a functional level of capacity where one may merely operate and endure for another week — these are indicators that alternatives to the present way of surviving must be considered.  

Federal Disability Retirement from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management is a benefit which is intended to allow for the Federal or Postal employee to embrace a time of recuperation, and yet to consider the option of working at a second vocation in the future.  It may not be the “perfect” solution to all, but it is certainly preferable to the life of Fridays and beyond which merely encapsulate a dreaded sense to foreboding for the subsequent Monday.  

OPM Disability Retirement, whether under FERS or CSRS, is an option which is viable, and one which is part of the compensatory package that all Federal and Postal employees signed up for when they became Federal and Postal employees.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

Federal & Postal Service Disability Retirement: Agency Support

Sometimes, the question comes up as to whether or not it is important to have the blessing or support of the Agency or the USPS, when filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS or CSRS. My answer to such a question is fairly uniform and redundant:  this is a medical disability retirement; it is unwise to proceed to apply for Federal Disability Retirement benefits on the assumption that your Supervisor or Agency will be supportive, for there is no guarantee as to what “supportive” means (they may have a completely different understanding or definition of the concept than you do — something which you probably learned over many years of working in the Federal Sector), and further, the primary focus from the perspective of the Office of Personnel Management, is upon the medical evidence presented and how the medical condition impacts one or more of the essential elements of your job.  The Supervisor’s Statement should be minimized in importance and relevance, as much as possible, by ensuring that the rest of the disability retirement application is “excellent”.  By doing this, you neutralize any undue dependence upon an Agency’s alleged “support” of your application.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

OPM Disability Retirement: Applicant’s Statement & Essential Elements

When an applicant for FERS & CSRS Federal Disability Retirement benefits begins to craft his or her Applicant’s Statement of Disability, certain foundational questions must be considered before composing the historical, emotional, substantive and impact-descriptive narrative.  For instance, to the legal criteria, To be eligible for Federal Disability Retirement Benefits, one must show that one’s medical conditions prevent one from performing one or more of the essential elements of one’s job — the initial and most foundational question obviously is:  What are the “essential elements” of one’s job? 

Now, that may seem like a simple — even simplistic — question.  One needs only to look at the official position description and pick out the major factors of the position.  If only it were that easy.  For, there are many “implicit” essential elements which are not explicitly stated, and it is often those unspoken, “un – described” elements, which are directly impacted by one’s medical conditions and disabilities, which must be creatively woven into the narrative of one’s disability statement.  Always remember to take care of the “foundational” issues first; thereafter, the narrative can extrapolate from the major factors of the position description.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire