OPM Medical Disability Pensions: The Life We Lead

The life we lead may not be the one we chose; or, more likely, the life we “now” choose to lead — if we even have a choice.  One might argue that we always have a choice; the only real question is:  Are we willing to pay the price for the choices we make?

Often, we fall into things.  Human beings are complex creatures; the person we were years ago rarely is identical to the “now” of that individual.  Perhaps that explains the divorce rate in this country; of commitments encompassing “till death do us part” are rarely embraced, anymore.

And the choices which are out there make for compounding effects when it comes to the life we lead.  Decades ago, society imposed greater structural restrictions:  School teachers who were found to possess any tinge of moral turpitude would be dismissed and disgraced; heads of companies who divorced were summarily terminated; and those thought to hold rather unconventional opinions were shunned and often isolated.  Is this a good thing?

The perfection of a median — a point “in between” the two ends of a spectrum of excesses, or often referred to as the Aristotelian view of a good life — is often the balance to be sought.  The life we lead is, too often, solidified by the youthful indiscretions of excesses embraced in youthful vigor; whereas, in later years, regret tends to soften our extravagant early years.

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who have come to a point in later life, where the Civil Service job which once required extreme energy, daily commitment and a stark challenge to even the healthiest of individuals, but now, in later life, medical conditions have reached a critical juncture where they are no longer compatible with continuation in that job — it is perhaps time to consider preparing, formulating and filing an effective Federal Disability Retirement application through the U.S. Office of Personnel Management under FERS.

Contact a FERS Medical Retirement expert, that is, a U.S.-licensed attorney who specializes in the practice area of Federal Disability Retirement Law, and consider the life you lead and want to lead — now.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill
Lawyer exclusively representing Federal and Postal employees to secure their Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

 

OPM Retirement for Mental or Physical Incapacity: The Process

There is the “process”, and then there is the actual substance of the case.  Often, we are not able to engage ourselves in the substance of the case without having some idea about the process, first.  How it works; where it goes to; how long it takes; who decides it; what happens if it gets denied; what should be done first; “what ifs”; etc.

Not knowing the process often paralyzes us from beginning the process itself, just as not know which came first — the chicken or the egg — if allowed to have actually interfered with the evolution of the universe, would have never produced a single species in nature.

That is why people turn to an “expert” in any given field.

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who require filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS because of a medical condition preventing them from continuing in their careers, contact a FERS Attorney who specializes in FERS Disability Retirement Law, for both an understanding of the “process” as well as initiating the substance of the case.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

OPM Disability Retirement under FERS: Learning a New Language

Perhaps, with modern technology, there is little need — or incentive — to do so.  There are “apps” for foreign languages, translation of phrases, and electronic dictionaries to convert concepts from one’s native tongue into esoteric languages of foreign origins.  And, like testing one’s knowledge and memory, something has been lost with the rise of technological ease.  No longer is it necessary to try and communicate by trial-and-error combined with over-exaggerated hand gestures, universal sign languages and facial expressions of grave frustrations.

No — we all just turn to our Smart Phones and allow for technology to perform the working of learning a new language.

In some instances, however, not even modern technology can assist in learning a “new language” — such as the language of Federal Disability Retirement Law.  For, in many senses, a Federal or Postal worker attempting to file for Federal Disability Retirement benefits must indeed learn a new “language” — of the rules of eligibility; of what constitutes a legally viable accommodation; of foreign terms and legal concepts which must be understood and grasped before moving forward.

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who need to file for Federal Disability Retirement benefits, contact a “translator” who can assist and guide you in learning a new language — a Federal Disability Retirement lawyer.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

Postal & Federal Employees with Disabilities: Getting Started

Your eyes are closed but you are awake; the problem is getting started.  You sit and do all sorts of other work, but not the one which has a hard deadline or is the most important one; the problem is getting started.  There are multiple projects which have been left undone, or have not even seen the fruits of beginning labor; the problem is getting started.  You get the idea; no, you are not alone in the problem of getting started.

If procrastination is the locked door and motivation is the supposed key, the problem still remains when the chasm between vision and action remains untethered.

Medical conditions conspire to vanquish all of the logical arguments we make in our own heads: It’ll get better; maybe the Agency won’t notice that things aren’t getting done; people will understand; coworker’s know I have a medical condition, so I’m sure they’ll be empathetic; and on and on, we allow for the medical condition and the lack of getting started to somehow be left on the roadside as so much human detritus as litters the mind with scattered thoughts.  But we know it cannot go on forever.

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 Federal or Postal job, it is too often that point — of “getting started” — which prevents and delays what has already become necessary.

Call a Federal Medical Retirement Lawyer and start the OPM Disability Retirement process of getting started by allowing the Federal Employee Disability Retirement Attorney to get started for you.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

OPM Disability Retirement under FERS: The Typical Day

For some, it is a monotonous conversation which can be engaged in while being on mental autopilot: “How was your day?”  “Good.  Just another typical day.  And yours?”  “The same.”

It is that repetitive pablum of pointless conversations engaged in throughout households the world over — pointless, but necessary, in order to establish the comfort of monotony, which is what we all seek; we just don’t know it.  We think we desire excitement — though not too much of it; or of an atypical day — so long as we can rely upon a typical day following; or perhaps, for some, of a fresh relationship — so long as it does not infringe upon the ones we already have.

The “typical day” is one which is challenging — but not so much that we cannot meet the challenge; a day which may have some surprises — but not ones we could not have predicted; and, perhaps, a day which can be talked about without reverting back to the pablum of autopilot — so long as we can relax and not put too much energy into the conversation of the day.

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who suffer from a medical condition such that the medical condition prevents the Federal or Postal employee from performing one or more of the essential elements of one’s Federal or Postal job, there is no such thing as a “typical day”.  Each day is fraught with pain, anguish, unpredictable behavior on the part of supervisors and coworkers; unending harassment from one’s own agency; and the fear of a future yet to be decided.

Consult with an attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law, and begin to consider whether or not Federal Disability Retirement might return you from the atypical days of today, to those boring, typical days you once knew.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill
OPM Disability Attorney

 

Federal Employee Disability Retirement: Fight or Give Up

Those are the only two choices for most of life’s challenges and encounters: To fight for something, or to abandon it completely.  Of course, the “middle ground” is often preached — as in some sort of compromise, or to learn the “tools” of “conflict resolution”, etc.  But that all depends upon the conflict itself, doesn’t it?

Some issues of contentiousness simply do not accord a middle ground; there is no compromise for the mountain climber inching up the North Face of the Eiger — going back down is just as dangerous as struggling upwards, and so it is to either fight or give up, where the latter results in sure death and becoming a frozen corpse of another defeated detritus.

And in the Animal Kingdom — is there ever an alternative third way?  The predator who chases after its prey; flight for the prey is tantamount to a fight — i.e., to “fight” for one’s life by trying to outrun the predator; or, to give up.  There is no “rationalizing” with the cheetah or the lion; one cannot “reason” with the predator in an effort to try and dissuade it from devouring you for its lunch or dinnertime meal.

And so it is with the Federal employee or U.S. Postal worker who suffers from a medical condition such that the medical condition no longer allows the Federal or Postal employee from performing one or more of the essential elements of one’s Federal or Postal job — the choice is between fighting for the benefit or to simply give up.  There is no middle ground or “conflict resolution”; either the disability retirement is granted in full or not at all.

Further, resignation or termination from the Federal or Postal employment makes the choice as clearly defined in stark terms: continuation in the job is no longer an option, and inaction merely means you have given up because you only have one (1) year from the date of separation to file for Federal Disability Retirement.

If the choice is made to “fight” as opposed to “give up”, then it is best to have an advocate on your side and consult with a lawyer who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law.  For, if the choice is between fighting or giving up, and the Federal or Postal employee decides to take the former course of action, then give it your best shot by having an attorney who knows the process, cites the relevant law and prepares your case to give you the best opportunity at winning.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

Federal & Postal Disability Retirement: Options Unrealized

Is an option an option if it is unrealized?  “Unrealized”, of course, can have 2 different but subtle meanings — of not being known at all or — in a second sense — of known but just not actualized.  If a person is entirely unaware of an alternative course of action or a pathway delving into a different set of circumstances, can those other avenues be considered “options”?

They are, of course, options in a generic sense, but perhaps not yet individualized.  Take the following hypothetical: buried a foot below the ground is a hidden treasure, a trove of gold coins left behind by Spanish conquistadors many centuries before, now covered by layers of sediment and overgrown grass.

A detectorist (yes, from that cult-like following of a 3-series program) who has gone over the same ground multiple times, suddenly receives a positive signal of a potential find; stops, digs, and — becomes rich and famous.  When asked about it, he replies, “I had gone over the same area many times before and knew that something might be there, but didn’t want to realize my option because, to do so would then take the fun out of it.”  Huh?

Now, that person truly had an option — knowledge of a potential treasure and a choice to exercise the option to find it, but refraining from doing so.  Or, by contrast, the first-time detectorist who stumbles upon the same treasure trove at the first opportunity to cover that same ground — he had no “option”, but simply exercised it upon receiving a positive signal from his metal detector.

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who suffer from a medical condition such that the medical condition prevents the Federal or Postal employee from performing one or more of the essential elements of one’s Federal or Postal job, the options unrealized are often those that have never been told of, announced or even considered — like preparing, formulating and filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS.

Perhaps your agency or the Postal Service never apprised you of the benefit of Federal Disability Retirement; or, perhaps you were once told but completely forgot.  In either case, the options unrealized are the ones that can do you harm, and it is only if you take the necessary steps to realized the unrealized options that it can do a person any good, and the first step towards realizing an option unrealized is to consult with an Attorney who specializes in that option yet to be realized: FERS Disability Retirement Law.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire