There is hope; then, there is hoping for hope. Hope alone is the ability to see the distance between Point-A and Destination-B; Hope for hope is the capacity to picture in one’s mind that one may be able to view that distance between A and B.
Few of us are in the former category; for those in the latter, it is the little step between the two that remains a wide chasm that keeps growing each day. The concrete plans that are made; a sense that there is a destination which is reachable; an idea to strive for, a meaning to live by and a clear perspective upon which one may abide by — these give hope.
It is when one lacks that hope, but is yet hopeful to attain it — that means that the spark of life, however faded or jaded, still remains, albeit in a flickering, fragile existence. Perhaps it is as a result of a trauma; or the chronicity of a problem, a disabling medical condition that progressively and steadily deteriorates, where the soul becomes so battered and wounded that one is on the verge of giving up any hope for hope.
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 may be time to consider filing an effective Federal Disability Retirement application, to be ultimately submitted to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.
It is a long and arduous administrative process, and the process itself often picks apart a person’s hopeful reserves. But it is a process which carries with it a hope for hope — away from the harassing nature of the Federal Agency, away from the constant battle against Postal Supervisors and Managers; and, in the end, it is the hope for hope that reinvigorates the belief that there is life beyond a career that has been slowly extinguishing the flickering hope that keeps one going.
Sincerely,
Robert R. McGill, Esquire
Filed under: Reflections of an OPM Disability Retirement Lawyer | Tagged: a problem with feca is that when it ends you may not be longer eligible for medical retirement, abuse of authority federal government supervisor taking action against ill federal employees, attorney dealing with cases when dol feca owcp have been denied multiple times, back pay when qualifying for opm medical retirement, columbia district fers medical retirement lawyer, disability retirement attorney for federal employee recently removed, disability rights opm medical retirement attorney, disabling conditions fers lawyer, fers disability retirement attorney, fers medical retirement for special agents in the federal government, fers retirement for stress and depression, filing a complaint against workers compensation in eeoc for denying benefits, forum board fers disability lawyer, getting help with preponderance of evidence in a federal medical incapacity retirement case, how to resign from a civilian dod position for medical disabilities, ice owcp medical retirement benefits lawyer, lawyers serving disabling federal employees wash d.c. area, light duty policy when unavailable for off duty injury federal government employment, medical records fers owcp disability retirement lawyer, monterey ca area fers disability lawyer, need assistance doctor opm standard disability form letter, offer of light duty as an accommodation not real accommodation for federal employee retirement purposes, opm employee termination medical inability to perform duties, opm form 3112 medical retirement law office, opm medical retirement attorney, opm medical retirement california, opm medical retirement lawyer, opm medical suspension removals, postal disabilities lawyer, question to attorney McGill: how long do you have to work to qualify for civil service retirement, quitting federal employment due disabilities, removal medical inability to perform federal position attorney, removal of government employee with mental disabilities, suspension of disabled employee fers disability lawyer, temporary limited duties forms and advice from opm annuity pension attorney, termination sick leave usps attorney, the law blog of attorney Robert McGill, the worst problem of workers compensation is that owcp-feca is not medical retirement and it will end, us postal service shared services private attorney light duty, using sick leave before resigning federal employment for disabilities, usps awol for excessive sickness, when hostile workplace causes depression in the federal government workplace, when opm denies your disabilities claim, when there is an unfair termination of federal employee with cognitive limitations contact best fers employee advocate, workers compensation sending me to referee exam to deny benefits | Leave a comment »
OPM Disability Retirement Help: Different Standards
To overdress is almost always acceptable; to underdress — well, while it may be acceptable, you may have to endure being the subject of curiosity and quiet whispers of raised eyebrows.
There are different standards for every occasion, endeavor, event or engagement; some high, others low; a few enforced without exception while still maintaining a sense of decorum and the rest of them left to ignored apathy where anything goes. Some private clubs seem to thrive upon the exclusivity of standards maintained so high that few can meet the exceptionalism applied, while those more accessible to the public allow for flagrant violations with nary a nod or a wink.
It is when the context becomes the content that eyebrows become raised, and the higher the brow the more exclusive the thinking. For the rebel, it is always difficult to try and convey the notion that one must adapt and change with the circumstances — that standards are applied, and you must recognize those standards and act accordingly.
For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who suffer from a medical condition such that the standards set have now failed to be met — whether at the personal level or the professional — it might be time to consider filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits, whether the Federal or Postal employee is under FERS, CSRS or CSRS Offset.
Whether through a recognition of the standards set for yourself — which is often higher than what is acceptable by others — or because you are beginning to get the hints that your agency or the Postal Facility has become dissatisfied with your work performance, your attendance or excessive use of sick leave; whatever the reason, the plain fact is that the medical condition itself is always the basis for determining the need to alter and modify one’s personal and professional standard.
Don’t be too hard on yourself. The standard you used to apply before the onset of a medical condition should not be the same one that is applied to your present situation, and you should therefore consider that the standard of maintaining one’s health is the present priority exclusively, no matter what your Federal Agency or your Postal Facility tries to have you believe.
Consult with an attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law, and determine whether you “meet the standards” to apply for Federal Disability Retirement benefits through the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. They may be different than what you think.
Sincerely,
Robert R. McGill, Esquire
Filed under: Reflections of an OPM Disability Retirement Lawyer | Tagged: applying the sufficient documentation test to a standard in an opm disability retirement case, awol for medical reasons federal employment, biased disability reasonable accommodation committee in post office and what my options are, blog information from fers attorney end of federal employment for disabled us postal workers, dealing with supervisors negative comments on request for fers disability retirement, different laws and standards of disability, disability leave for postal employees, disciplinary actions and disabilities discrimination fers attorney, disciplinary actions for awol medical leave fers lawyer, excessive sick leave postal employee lawyer, federal employee fers disability for crohns disease, fers benefits if resign for physical or mental impairments, fers opm attorney expert on the usps long term disability application process, fers retirement for stress and depression, fers retirement form 3107 disabling conditions, forced fers medical retirement by us postal service, getting permanent benefits when you have a partial disability which won’t allow you to work in the federal government with efficiency, hiring an attorney excessive sick leave federal employee, how to apply for postal medical retirement benefits, how to resign from a civilian dod position for medical disabilities, how to resign from the postal service if I have a disabling condition, if a postal employee on owcp doesn’t expect to recover from an illness or long term injury, improper standard opm disability retirement, law blog on tips to complete sf 3112 attorney for federal employees, legal standards to be met in an opm disability application, limited duty mail handler with back injury, mail carrier postal employment light duty, opm disability retirement tsa employee, opm disciplined for using excessive sick leave, opm medical retirement filing after resignation from federal employment (be careful there is one year limit only), partial disability benefits federal worker, postal clerk with repetitive type of injuries, postal service letter to sign for disabilities, postal sf 3112 disability application package, qualifying for a disability retirement under opm fers, question to attorney McGill: how long do you have to work to qualify for civil service retirement, recovering from arthritis after employment in the u.s. post office, requesting advance long term leave for postal mail handler, resignation and medical retirement with usps medical retirement attorney, separation from federal employment medical inability to perform position chores, statutory legal standard of disability or impairment, stress traffic control medical retirement lawyer, top fers disability attorney serving now fers disability cranberry pa employees and surrounding areas, tsa.gov transportation security administration medical retirement attorney, us postal service shared services private attorney light duty, watch out for the federal employee medical retirement 80% rule, when sedentary postal positions for light duty won’t work, when there is an unfair termination of federal employee with cognitive limitations contact best fers employee advocate, workers comp with usps long term sickness | Leave a comment »