The actual filing of a FERS Disability Retirement application with the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, whether under FERS or CSRS, can be rather anti-climactic, precisely because the prospective anticipation is merely beaten down by the long wait and the extended period of inactivity.
Thus, in the prior two phases of the administrative process — the “preparation and formulation” part of it — the engagement in obtaining and completing the forms, presenting in written form and putting the entire Federal Disability Retirement application together, creates an appearance of progressively working towards a goal. Once filed — if still with the agency or within thirty one (31) days of being separated from the Federal Agency or the U.S. Postal Service — the agency must complete their portion.
Depending upon whether it is with the local Human Resources Office or the District Human Resources Office will often determine how efficient or helpful they are. If a Federal or Postal employee has been separated from Federal Service for over thirty one (31) days, of course, then it must be filed directly with the U.S. Office of Personnel Management in Boyers, Pennsylvania.
Filing a Federal Disability Retirement application is both a physical act, as well as a psychological barrier to be broken; as to the former, it is a relatively simple matter of sending it in; as to the latter, it constitutes an important step in recognizing and acknowledging the necessity of attending to one’s medical needs for recuperative purposes, whether because of physical or psychiatric medical concerns which require an alteration of employment demands.
Sincerely,
Robert R. McGill, Esquire
OPM Disability Retirement, Et Cetera… 