OPM Disability Retirement: Of Progress

It is doubtful that it actually occurs; for, every step forward in civilization always seems to be met with forces which revert back two steps, or perhaps even three.  As a general rule, things tend to get worse, not better.

It is possible that the pinnacle of human achievement has already been reached, and anything beyond is simply a downhill trajectory from the apex of that human point of achievement.  Or, is it merely a matter of perspective?  Is history a linear progression, where improvement builds upon improvement — or merely of wishful thinking?

Technology always promises that the next gadget will make our lives even better — happier, more fulfilling.  We know that not to be the case — or, should know.  Russell’s definition of “the good life” went as follows: “The good life is one inspired by love and guided by knowledge.”  There is much truth to that statement, but the problem in modernity is twofold: Love, once defined by human interaction in face-to-face encounters, has now been replaced by virtual contact; and knowledge, which was based upon “truth”, has been supplanted by insular opinions without any need for an objective basis.

In the end, of course, “progress” has nothing to do with technology, and everything to do with human thought — of how we value life and whether & how “love” is viewed.

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who suffer from a medical condition such that the medical condition no longer allows for continuation in the career of your Federal or Postal job, progress can only come about through the effective preparation, formulating and filing of a Federal Disability Retirement application under the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS), a benefits retirement plan which is processed through the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

And of progress?  Do not look for “love” from your agency; but of knowledge — seek and hire an OPM Medical Attorney who specializes in FERS Disability Retirement Law.

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 Disability Retirement Law: Place in the World

It is one of the hardest things to find.  The old metaphor of “finding a needle in a haystack” is easier than finding your place in the world.  What education to attain; of finding a lifelong partner to share your hopes, dreams and disappointments; of what career to choose; of which relationships to foster, and those to sever; and of activities worthwhile, others to abandon; these, and the global compendium of present choices and future conduits to embrace — these all, in their aggregate, result in one’s “place in the world”.

Modern life makes it difficult.  It used to be, half a century ago, that if you walked into an ice cream parlor, you had 3 choices — Vanilla, chocolate, and maybe a third.  Nowadays, there are so many flavors that it makes for paralysis of thought.  Part of the problem, beyond the infinite range of choices, is that the transience of life is available everywhere and opportunity to break the mold of generational stodginess is no longer an obstacle.  The antiquated idea that the children of X would “follow in the footsteps” of X — by tradition, by custom, by limitations of choices and “just because” — is no longer even considered.  Does anyone know what it means, anymore, to “follow in the footsteps” of your father?

Transience is to modernity as the horse & buggy was to the modern-day car, or as it is today, the EV, or electric vehicle.  It is difficult, these days, for a child to find his or her place in the world, precisely because there is no longer any stability of choices, along with an endless array of choices.  As multiple philosophers have stated many times, if everything is available, then the very concept of “everything” becomes a nothingness.

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, “finding one’s place” must be revisited, even in later life, because one’s place in the Federal or Postal job is in danger of becoming lost.

To find “another” place in the world, you may have to file an effective Federal Disability Retirement application under FERS through the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, precisely because one’s medical condition has meant a loss in your place in the world, and discovery of a new place may be a necessity.

Contact a Federal Disability Attorney who specializes in OPM Disability Retirement Law, and begin the new process of finding another place in the world before the availability of such places becomes a place of nothingness in this world of everything.

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 Disability Retirement Application: Preparing It Well

All three words possess substantive content.  It is rarely so — look at any sentence or phrase and there is often much to edit, cut out entirely, ignore or condense to reach an economy of words.  A “thought” can actually be an abbreviation of a lengthy paragraph, or even of a sentence; but the title, “Preparing it well”, is as fully condensed as any phrase can be.

For, look at each word: Prepare — to work diligently, thoughtfully and with great care so that the end product will accomplish the mission and purpose desired.  It — whatever the “it” refers to, it is the very mission for which the preparation is being engaged, and the foundational purpose for which one is striving to achieve.  And the final word — “well” — to prepare the it in the most effective, efficient and excellent manner.

And when all 3 words coalesce and achieve the fruition for which they indicate: A successful end-product.

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who suffer from a medical condition such that the medical condition compels and necessitates the preparation, formulation and filing of an effective Federal Disability Retirement application under FERS, through the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, the three words as stated herein apply: Preparing it Well.

If you want to meet the criteria of the Federal Disability Retirement Law, it must be so, and you should contact a disability attorney who specializes in that field of law so that the purpose for which you aim may be attained.

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.

 

Federal Employee Disability Retirement: The Steps Themselves

When you hear a scream, witness an assault, observe the smoke or visually ascertain the flames spewing from the upper floor of a building, do you respond by trying to scale the face of the building?  Or, is the more effective — and intelligent — approach in the rescue attempt, to call the fire department, get a ladder, ascend the fire escape, locate the stairwell, etc.?

The steps themselves are in important component of a building’s structure; for, they were built and installed as part of the architectural formulation with a specific purpose in mind — so that people can come and go, enter and exit, use for regular, exigent and emergency reasons, etc.

Similarly, when an administrative process is engaged in, should one simply go “full hog” and begin attacking the paperwork, filling out furiously the forms which need completion, and not worry about the “steps” which should be taken?

In the administrative process entitled, “Filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits”, there exists a coherent, logical, systematic procedure which will heighten and enhance the chances of an approval from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.  In order to access those steps themselves, contact an OPM Disability Retirement Attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law and use them to effectively file a Federal Disability Retirement application under FERS.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire
Federal Disability Retirement Lawyer

 

Postal & Federal Employee Disability Retirement: The Theme

Every story has a theme.  It is the topic, the “subject”, or just an idea — that recurs throughout the narrative.  For David Copperfield, perhaps it was the constant struggle between ignorance and knowledge; for Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye, maybe the phoniness of the life we lead in contrast to the author’s personally horrific experiences during WWII.

Every person’s life has a them; most of us, unfortunately, fail to recognize it, and it is this very failure which often leads to the repeated mistakes made throughout.

The story of one’s Federal Disability Retirement application should have a theme — one which is woven throughout one’s narrative in a Federal Disability Retirement application, especially in the Applicant’s Statement of Disability as delineated on SF 3112A.  Beset with dealing with the medical issues themselves, the Federal or Postal worker will often fail to recognize the theme — perhaps it is one of constant struggle for the past year; or, the progressive deteriorating as reflected in the medical notations here and there.

Whatever the theme of one’s story, a FERS expert in Federal Disability Retirement Law will be able to squeeze from the quietude of one’s story, the theme which overrides and pervades throughout.  Contact an OPM Disability Attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law and begin to formulate your theme which will persuade OPM of the validity, poignancy and necessity of your Federal Disability Retirement application under FERS.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

Federal & Postal Worker Disability Retirement: Form-filling

There are the two sets of Standard Forms in a Federal Disability Retirement Application: The SF 3107 series, and the SF 3112 series.  Both are necessary in order to file for Federal Disability Retirement benefits.  The first set (SF 3107) merely requests basic information throughout the multiple pages — i.e., name, address, organization, date of birth, social security number, questions on life & health insurance, etc., as well as certifying the summary of your entire federal service, etc.

It is the second set of forms (SF 3112) which is specifically pertinent to the Federal Disability Retirement process — questions involving your medical conditions (beware of what and how to list them); what impact the medical conditions have upon the Federal or Postal job that you do (the need for establishing a “nexus” between the two); as well as any accommodation efforts provided by your agency (know what the term “accommodation” as a legally viable attempt constitutes, for many people are confused about the issue).

Ultimately, Federal Disability Retirement is far more than mere form-filling; for, most anyone can fill out the first set of forms (SF 3107 series); it is the second set (SF 3112 series) which inherently sets out the basis of a viable Federal Disability Retirement application under FERS.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

Federal & Postal Disability Retirement: The developing case

Some things need time to develop; “news stories” are often those animals — of events that are “still developing”; or of relationships and stories, ideas and categories of things still in stages yet of potentiality and not of actualized inertia. Children develop; medical conditions, as well, are always in stages of potentiality — whether of a worsening condition or even of getting better.

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who are in that “netherworld” of a developing case, where a medical condition is beginning to prevent the Federal or Postal worker from performing one or more of the essential elements of one’s Federal or Postal job, there is often nothing more frustrating than the feeling of being in a state of suspended animation — “suspended” because you know not what your status will be tomorrow or the next day; in “animation” because, although everything is still moving about and around, it is your career, your health and your life which is questioned and considered as questionable.

The developing case often involves multiple issues — of whether you have a doctor who will be supportive of your case; of whether you have the necessary time in service in order to be eligible; of whether you have given it enough time — and multiple other issues that, perhaps, cannot be affirmatively answered.  In such an event, guidance by an experienced attorney is needed in order to direct the Federal or postal employee through the maze of complex legal obstacles in preparing, formulating and filing an effective Federal Employee Disability Retirement application.

Like most of life’s struggles, the developing case needs to be planned and prepared well, and consultation with an attorney who specializes in FERS Disability Retirement Law is crucial to the successful outcome of a goal which is known, but cannot quite be reached because the path towards that goal is yet developing.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

Attorney for Federal Disability Retirement Claims: King for a day

There are, then, those highs and lows which everyone experiences; of days when one has successfully maneuvered through the pitfalls of the day, and where troubles, problems and difficulties have been either overcome or avoided — both of which amounts to the same thing in most instances.  To be King for a Day — is it a mere feeling that obfuscates the reality of one’s situation, or a reality based upon a metaphor hanging on a cliff of a proverb?

The world for the most part leaves the rest of us the crumbs off of the tables of the wealthy and powerful; the sense that we have any real control over our own destinies is tested when something goes wrong, and we try and correct it.  The rest of the time — of being King for a Day — is to just make us feel like we have any such control on any given day.

Take the Federal or Postal employee who struggles with 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 — some days, when the medical condition subsides or it is merely one of those “good” days, it may feel that destiny is within the palm of your hand and that the day’s brightness allows for a future with the Federal Agency or the Postal Service.

But then the inevitable “setback” occurs, and the cycle of the “bad day” comes along.  Then, one day the Federal Agency, with its co-conspirators of supervisors, managers and some coworkers, or the Postal Service with the same cabal of backstabbers, begins to initiate adverse actions with steady and incremental deliberation — of leave restrictions; unreasonable and baseless denials for extended leave or FMLA; letters of “warnings” and even placement on a PIP; and then one asks, Whatever happened to that feeling of being King for a Day?

Life is full of struggles and difficulties; we rarely are able to get a full handle on the future course of unanticipated troubles, and that is why preparing, formulating and filing an effective Federal Disability Retirement application, to be submitted through the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, whether the Federal or Postal employee is under FERS, CSRS or CSRS Offset, is so important to get started early and well on the right track.

Being King for a Day is never the solution to the lengthy process of life’s misgivings; for, in the end, it is the Court Jester who hears all and counsels well, just like the lawyer who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law.  If only King Lear had listened to the Fool — what disasters he would have avoided!

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

OPM Medical Disability Retirement: The complexity of 2

It is the solo flight that presents the escape of simplicity; inclusion of another, and suddenly the complexity of responsibility, duty, obligation and sense of “ought” becomes a part of the entire equation.  At first, it may be love born upon an equal plane; any sense of disproportionality is easily ignored, quickly deflected and unselfconsciously dispensed with; but over time, the complexity of 2 begins to creep in.

It is neither insidious nor inherently negative by artifice; rather, it is the most natural of sensibilities, arising from a knowledge that reliance upon one another not only acknowledges and validates the vows of matrimony, but moreover, the eternal commitment each makes to the other forever forges the bonds of undiluted friendship, like kindred spirits floating in some ethereal universe unperturbed by distractions of consternation consecrated upon the altar of destruction.

Have you ever observed the interaction of singularity?  That is correct – it is simple and uncomplicated.  The asides are mere reflections of one’s own troubles; the soliloquys stated without puzzlement or obfuscation.

Then, if you add a second, the complexity of 2 comes into play – of misunderstandings, miscommunications and loss of solidarity in the oneness of judgment.  What if there are three?  Then, suddenly not only are there relationships between the first and second, but between first and third, second and third, as well as the tripartite interaction between all three simultaneously.  And of four?

The exponential complexity that arises from adding one more to each magnification of interrelationships enhances beyond the mere introduction of another, but creates a havoc beyond the singularity of such an entrance.  Why is this?

One would, on a purely conceptual level, likely argue that since the simplicity of 1 remains so, ergo the combination of each should logically retain such lack of complication.  But such an argument based upon theoretical argumentation and rationality elliptically conducted in an antiseptic environment and context fails to recognize the innate complexity of each human being.

That is why, in preparing an effective Federal Disability Retirement application, to be submitted to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, whether the Federal or Postal employee is under FERS, CSRS or CSRS Offset, the simple-enough questions posed and queried on Standard Form 3112A, Applicant’s Statement of Disability, can never be characterized as “easy” or “straightforward”.

Why?  Because there is the complexity of 2 – or more.  For, while the questions themselves are answered by the singular Federal or Postal employee, there are multiple facets of that same employee which requires a response – the Federal or Postal employee in the status of an employee who suffers from a medical condition; the relationship between the medical condition and the positional requirements of the Federal or Postal job; the Federal or Postal employee in the capacity of his or her personal life; the introduction of the diagnosed Federal or Postal employee with a specific medical condition.

Do you see the complexity?  It is, as always, the complexity of 2.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

Federal Disability Retirement Benefits: Remorseless solitude

How often is there a cry to be “left alone”?  By how many people, in what quantifiable slice of life and order of living despite obligations and responsibilities that may be abandoned, do we embrace those periods of remorseless solitude?

We are commanded to be “social animals”, by way of anthropologists who devise intricate paradigms of cultural historicity and ancestral heritage from mere fossils of partial bone fragments; via condemnation by psychologists who warn of the danger of those who are “loners” and become lost in the deviation of secluded thoughts and fantasies of vengeful imaginations; and by Mom and Dad who worry that the teenager who locks the door and surfs the enticements of the Internet undermines the very fabric of societal cohesion, and allows for deviancy to determine the dice of droll durations.

And so the guilt resides with a negation; for, when we do not interact, socialize and remain in the company of others, we are considered as rogues, antisocial occultists who harbor resentments like hermits who climb into caverns of caustic catacombs to care only of remorseless solitude.

Yet, in this din of modernity, where the endless cacophony of drumbeats, raised voices and electronic media bombardment ceaselessly invading, interrupting and interceding, where has the delicacy of inviolable solitude gone to?  At what point does self-reflection, thought, the play writer’s  “aside” and the soliloquy that contemplates the role of one’s self in the expansive universe become a self-possessing journey of mere selfish egoism?

Instead, we allow that being constantly “connected” with one another – through social media, Texting, Facebook, Instagram, Skyping and all of the other multitudinous methodologies of electronic communication and “connectivity” have become normalized, such that that which used to be a productive use of the proverbial “down time”  – enjoying the remorseless solitude by writing, or reading, or just reflecting —  is now considered strange and dangerous, while its opposite – of becoming obsessed with the persistent din of socialized life – is considered the normative ordinariness of daily living.

Remorseless solitude is the delicious walk in the woods alone; of meditating upon the quietude of a morning’s red dawn; and of communing with nature, whether in one’s backyard or in the outbacks of nature’s delight.

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who are forced and compelled into a status of remorseless solitude – not by choice, but by reason of a medical condition which targets the Federal or Postal employee into being “that person” who is considered the outcast, almost as if diagnosed with leprosy or some other horrible communicable disease – the isolation and separation by being identified with a person with a disability will have its negative effects.

Preparing, formulating and filing a Federal Disability Retirement application, whether the Federal or Postal employee is under FERS, CSRS or CSRS Offset, will not make things at the Federal agency or the Postal facility any better, until an approval is received from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.  Then, once the Federal or Postal employee becomes a Federal Disability Retiree, perhaps you can enjoy that period of remorseless solitude that previously had been involuntarily imposed upon you by casting you as that deviant occultist no longer part of the mythical “team”.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire