In preparing, formulating and filing a Federal Disability Retirement application under FERS or CSRS, the Federal and Postal employee should focus upon those aspects of the OPM Medical Retirement which are under his or her “control” — directly or indirectly — and not worry excessively about those things which are beyond one’s control or responsibility.
Thus, obtaining the proper medical documentation; accurately, succinctly and coherently formulating the Applicant’s Statement of Disability on SF 3112A, etc., are within the purview of one’s control and responsibility. Having the Supervisor complete the Supervisor’s Statement — SF 3112B — is part of the required final Federal Disability Retirement packet; what is contained within the parameters and confines of the form itself, however, is often beyond one’s control.
While one assumes that a Supervisor’s Statement will be completed with a fair amount of accuracy, it will necessarily contain a certain perspective, intent, and often a sense of “protecting” the agency’s interest and goals. Thus, the Supervisor will often overstate the extent of an attempted accommodation engaged in, real or imagined, in order to justify its actions concerning the Federal or Postal employee. Further, it will often mis-state the concept of “light duty” and how it relates to accommodating the Federal or Postal employee. In other sections of SF 3112B, it may over-state and exaggerate the employee’s conduct or impact of the medical conditions upon the Agency’s workload.
An exaggerated Supervisor’s Statement will often be helpful to a Federal Disability Retirement case. Don’t be too hasty in attempting to correct inaccuracies and differing perspectives; sometimes, the exaggerated statements are merely differences of opinions and viewpoints, and may in fact be helpful in obtaining an approval from the Office of Personnel Management.
In any event, a Supervisor’s Statement is beyond one’s control — and undue focus upon those issues beyond one’s control can detract from the greater mission at hand.
Sincerely,
Robert R. McGill, Esquire
Filed under: OPM Disability Application - SF 3112B Supervisor’s Statement for CSRS and FERS | Tagged: 3112b supervisor's narrative and its inaccuracies, an exaggerated supervisor's statements of disability, assessment for postal disability retirement from supervisor, attorney representing federal workers for disability throughout the united states, CSRS disability retirement federal attorney, don't worry too much about the opm disability claim supervisor's statements, federal supervisor response to employee work injury, fers disability application supervisor comments, FERS disability retirement, injured employees working under abusive supervisors, legal services for federal and postal workers all across america, OPM disability retirement, postal service disability retirement, postal supervisors and managers, postal supervisors' definition of accommodation, SF 3112B Supervisor’s Statement, supervisors and disabled employees in the US federal agencies, taking control of your federal disability application, the applicant's control of the opm disability application and process, the postal supervisor and the sf 3112b, trying to change things you have some control over, USPS disability retirement, worrying about things out of your control | 1 Comment »
OPM Disability Retirement: Focusing upon the Bridge
In preparing, formulating and filing a Federal Disability Retirement application under FERS or CSRS, the multitude of aspects in preparing the application will often lend itself to detracting and distracting from the primary elements of an effective application and presentation.
Thus, worries about what the Supervisor will or will not say; whether the Agency will mis-characterize a supposed “good deed” they performed by declaring it to be an “accommodation”, with the danger that such declaration and characterization will be accepted by the Clerk at the Office of Personnel Management as true, etc. — all of these take away from the essence of creating that important bridge between one’s medical conditions and the essential elements of one’s positional duties.
Because the vast majority of denials issued by the Office of Personnel Management are based upon “insufficient medical documentation”, an undue focus upon other elements of a Federal Disability Retirement application would not be an intelligent utilization of one’s time and effort.
While OPM will certainly argue that the Agency has “accommodated” the Federal or Postal employee (and use that term improperly 9 times out of 10); and while OPM will point to elements in a Supervisor’s Statement as a further basis for a denial; each such supplemental argument by the Office of Personnel Management is nevertheless based upon the centrality of a primary argument, in most cases: Insufficient Medical Documentation.
As such, it is prudent to focus one’s efforts upon the primary basis which provides the foundation for an effective Federal Disability Retirement application: The bridge between one’s medical conditions, and the essential elements of one’s job.
Sincerely,
Robert R. McGill, Esquire
Filed under: Theory and Practice: Tips and Strategies for a Successful Application | Tagged: accommodation issues in FERS disability retirement, all conditions listed in the application should explain the "nexus", attorney representing federal workers for disability throughout the united states, condition that prevents to perform the essential functions, conditions that prevent performing the essential elements of your fed job, explaining the "nexus" as one of the most important issues in the medical report, Federal Disability, federal disability retirement, fers disability application supervisor comments, FERS disability retirement, insufficient medical documentation for OPM disability, neutralizing negative statements from supervisor's statements in sf 3112b, Nexus between Medical Condition and Essential Elements, nexus between medical disability and job performance, OPM disability retirement, plenty of nexus or bridges examples in the sf 3112a, Postal disability, postal service disability retirement, primary elements of an effective fers disability application, representing federal employees from any us government agency, starting with generic information about the nexus, the ''insufficient medical documentation'' argument, the bridge that connects the two most important dots in an opm disability claim, the bridge you must build in your federal employee disability application, the federal disability bridge, USPS disability retirement, what is really important is the nexus of medical condition and job performance | Leave a comment »