• Home
  • About Me
  • Contact Us
  • Copyright
  • Credentials

OPM Disability Retirement

Entries RSS | Comments RSS
  • Pages

    • About Me
    • Contact Us
    • Copyright
    • Credentials
  • Archives

  • Categories

    • Accommodation and Light Duty (40)
    • Advantages of Federal Disability Retirement (27)
    • Agency’s and/or Supervisor’s Actions (44)
    • Application, Appeals, and Other Medical Documentation Submitted To the OPM (44)
    • Burden of Proof (30)
    • Clarifications of Laws or Rules (161)
    • CSRS Disability (1)
    • Eligibility Criteria (18)
    • Evaluation Of Your OPM Disability Claim – How Do I Know If I Have A Strong Case? (18)
    • Fables, Stories and Analogies about CSRS and FERS Medical Retirement Benefits (79)
    • Federal Disability Judge-Made Decisions Quoted (35)
    • FERS Disability (10)
    • Important Cases, Legal Updates and/or the Current Process Waiting Time (49)
    • Life after Federal Disability Retirement (21)
    • LWOP and Sick Leave in OPM Disability (12)
    • Mental/Nervous Condition (49)
    • Miscellaneous (179)
    • OPM Disability & OWCP Workers Comp Filings (45)
    • OPM Disability & SSA Social Security Disability Benefits (40)
    • OPM Disability & VA Benefits (4)
    • OPM Disability Actors (289)
      • OPM Disability Actors – The Agency (54)
      • OPM Disability Actors – The Applicant (79)
      • OPM Disability Actors – The Attorney (55)
      • OPM Disability Actors – The Doctor (54)
      • OPM Disability Actors – The Human Resources Office (17)
      • OPM Disability Actors – The MSPB Administrative Judge (6)
      • OPM Disability Actors – The OPM Representatives (31)
      • OPM Disability Actors – The Others (9)
      • OPM Disability Actors – The Supervisor (13)
    • OPM Disability Administrative Law (Statutory and Non-Statutory Law) (13)
    • OPM Disability and a Hostile Working Environment (11)
    • OPM Disability Application (187)
      • OPM Disability Application – SF 3112 Disability Retirement Application Package (29)
      • OPM Disability Application – SF 3112A Applicant's Statement of Disability for CSRS and FERS (62)
      • OPM Disability Application – SF 3112B Supervisor’s Statement for CSRS and FERS (9)
      • OPM Disability Application – SF 3112C Physician's Statement for CSRS and FERS (15)
      • OPM Disability Application – SF 3112D Agency Certification of Reassignment and Accommodation Efforts for CSRS and FERS (7)
    • OPM Disability Process (160)
      • OPM Disability Process – 1st Stage: OPM Disability Application (36)
      • OPM Disability Process – 2nd Stage: OPM Reconsideration Stage (28)
      • OPM Disability Process – 3rd Stage: MSPB Stage (17)
      • OPM Disability Process – 4th Stage: Petition for Full Review at the MSPB (4)
      • OPM Disability Process – 5th Stage: Federal Circuit Court of Appeals (2)
    • OPM Disability Retirement & EEOC Complaints (4)
    • OPM Medical Questionnaire (8)
    • Post-Application Issues (19)
    • Pre-Application Considerations (454)
    • Professional & Expert Witnesses (5)
    • Reasonable Medical Treatment and Compliance Issues (6)
    • Reflections of an OPM Disability Retirement Lawyer (2,121)
    • Resigning or Being Separated From a Federal Agency for Medical Problems or Other Reasons (34)
    • SF 3112 Forms (11)
    • Specific Medical Conditions (29)
    • The Job of a Federal Disability Attorney (80)
    • Theory and Practice: Tips and Strategies for a Successful Application (204)
    • U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) (21)
    • U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) (81)
    • U.S. Postal Service (USPS) Disability Retirement (36)
    • Uncategorized (362)
    • When the OPM Application Is Approved (14)
    • When the OPM Application Is Denied (95)

Federal Disability Retirement Attorney: The Second, Reconsideration Stage

Posted on March 26, 2015 by Federal Disability Retirement Attorney

It is not a reflection upon the validity of one’s medical condition; a denial from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management can mean multiple things, not the least of which may include:  insufficient proof failing to rise to the level of satisfying the preponderance of the evidence standard.

Federal Disability Retirement applications are compiled in a myriad of manners; yes, the standard forms themselves tend to compel a certain semblance of conformity, but ultimately the strength of a case will depend upon the supportive documentation attached, and here is “the rub”:  there still exists the “human element” in the reviewing analysis of a Federal Disability Retirement application.

Yes, certain sets of legal criteria are applied (but who and how are they interpreted in their application?); and while satisfaction of the legal criteria is supposed to be determined by the general principle of “preponderance of the evidence“, who and what complies with meeting such a standard?  How is such satisfaction determined?  Such questions, of course, imply a human element in the administrative process of an OPM Disability Retirement review, and whether we like it or not, reveals an underlying connection to imperfection and fallibility.

There is no mathematical algorithm of mechanistic applications which will completely correct the underlying problems inherent in human review within the context of a bureaucratic process.  Fortunately, however, the process itself contains a self-corrective device: different stages and levels of review, which allows for the Federal employee or the U.S. Postal worker to provide additional supportive documentation in order to reinforce and strengthen one’s Federal Disability Retirement case.

There are limitations, however, and that is why “corrective action” at the Second, Reconsideration Stage of the administrative process of Federal Disability Retirement is just that — it is to “correct” the mistakes, lapses and inherent lack identified in the original Federal Disability Retirement packet.  The “limitations” are set by law, and are determined by how one characterizes one’s medical conditions in the Statement of Disability as perpetuated on SF 3112A.

Care should always be taken, of course, in the initial preparation of a Federal Disability Retirement application, whether the Federal or Postal employee is under FERS, CSRS or CSRS Offset, and before it is forwarded through one’s agency to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.  But in the end, one must recognize that the entirety of the administrative process is one which involves multiple stages of a bureaucratic procedure, and the Second, Reconsideration Stage is merely another level of self-regulating refinement to ensure that the human element, including mistakes and misapplication of the law, is expunged to the extent possible, and instead, that the objective application of the law is uniformly dispensed in order to reach a statistically acceptable algorithm of fairness and impartial determination.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

Filed under: OPM Disability Process - 2nd Stage: OPM Reconsideration Stage | Tagged: a proven trial-and-error methodology to get you qualified for federal disability retirement under fers or csrs, a top fers federal disability retirement attorney, additional evidence of medical conditions during appeal with fers medical retirement attorney, administrative actions against federal employee whose claim was denied, administrative fers medical retirement attorney, advice from an usps medical retirement attorney after a denial of benefits, american federal employee's medical retirement attorney, appealing an unfavorable decision from the opm with a top fers disability retirement lawyer, appealing denial refusal from op with fers medical benefits lawyer, appealing or refiling for federal disability retirement under fers/csrs, application and appeal stages for federal employee disability retirement, articles by postal medical retirement lawyer about the second appeal process in a fers disability retirement claim, asperger’s syndrome and fers disability retirement benefits denied to federal employee, attorney for federal governement employees with disabling conditions, attorney representation before the office of personnel management (opm), awol for excessive sickness & opm medical retirement, awol for sickness disabled postal government employee, benefits on opm usps disability retirement, benefits payments for federal and postal employment with disabling conditions, benefits under opm medical retirement laws, claiming disabilities opm for usps workers, correcting and strengthening your federal disability retirement claim after an initial denial, csrs & fers attorney for disabled employee wrongful termination, csrs and fers annuity payments for postal employees, csrs disability retirement attorney, csrs light duty attorney, dealing with a federal disability retirement denial of benefits, dealing with the OPM bureaucracy, definition of physical disabilities in fed government employees opm laws, degenerative lumbar disk fers medical attorney, depression and anxiety fers attorney, disabilities services opm attorney, disabilities that qualify for opm medical retirement, don’t give up with a first denial of medical benefits from the opm, federal disability employment and chronic medical conditions, federal disability retirement appeal attorney for fers health limitation claims, federal disability retirement appeal under fers, federal employee with physical limitations and a denied claim appeal fers lawyer, federal fers disability retirement attorney, fers and csrs postal employee terminated medical reasons in need of opm impairment retirement lawyer, fers disability attorney helping tampa area federal employees and the rest of the country, fers disability crohn's cases, fers disability retirement reconsideration, fers lawyer assistance with doctor's narrative report, fers med claims, fers retirement with ptsd, fers sf 3112 for stress leave, future opm medical insurance benefits, getting additional medical evidence for the opm medical retirement appeal, getting approved with fers federal disability retirement attorney, getting updated medical records for reconsideration opm stage, government attorney for opm med claims, health retirement benefits for federal government employees, how an attorney can help you in the second stage of the opm medical retirement process, how to file for opm early out for incapacity annuity payments, how to qualify for fers annuity payments for postal employees, how to sign up to get opm disability retirement if I am a federal employee, is the american way to give up after losing the first round of the federal disability process?, legal advice from top attorney working to get disability retirement even after the office of personnel management denies claim, living a healthier life with postal medical retirement, long lwop sick leave for stress lawyer, long sick leave because of stress in the federal government, long term incapacity postal medical retirement, louisiana state postal injury lawyer, lower back injury fers disability appeals lawyer, lwop for sickness or fers medical retirement benefits, lwop payments danger advice from top fers disability attorney, mail carrier with mental disabling conditions seeks postal lawyer specialized only with opm medical retiremen, mail-processing buyouts of postal employees with incapacities, medical fers claims, opm disability process filing complains attorney, opm owcp medical retirement lawyer for injured postal workers seeking early out, partial disabling condition opm employee attorney, pension denied for disabling conditions and hiring a successfull fers attorney, post office attorney for fers medical pension annuities, pro disabled or injured federal employee fers opm attorney, pro employee fers opm attorney, retirement opm attorney for incapacitated postal workers, second stage opm disability retirement process, securing opm med benefits with federal lawyer, some further thoughts on the opm reconsideration stage, specialized opm disabilities attorney for postal & government employees, standard opm application to get a pension benefits with the u.s. postal service, successful federal attorney representation for government employees, successful federal employee attorney representation, the opm case worker at the second stage of the federal disability retirement process, the second stage of the federal disability retirement process, us government fers employee lawyer, us postal service owcp, usps attack on postal workers' sick leave rights forcing them to medical retirement filing, usps awol med or mental reasons, USPS disability retirement, usps employee with insomnia issues retirement, when the opm denies your federal disability retirement application | Leave a comment »

Federal Disability Retirement Benefits: The Day After

Posted on December 29, 2014 by Federal Disability Retirement Attorney

Long term healing for Federal and Postal employees with Federal Disability Retirement

Days after Holidays and vacations often magnify the troubles existent prior to; for, delay merely kicks the proverbial can down the unknown pathway of self-delusion, but in the objective world which surrounds us, our subjective attempts to manipulate reality through diversionary tactics of procrastination, merely results in the cumulative compounding of problems unresolved.  Medical conditions tend to do that.

Ignoring them fails to cure; self-medicating it without a proper diagnosis can further complicate the underlying condition and their manifested symptoms; and merely putting on a brave front rarely resolves the issue.  For Federal and Postal employees who find that they suffer from a medical condition, such that the medical condition prevents the Federal employee and the U.S. Postal worker from performing all of the essential elements of their positional duties, Federal Disability Retirement is an option to consider — not for purposes of resolving the medical issue itself, but for the underlying problem of time and attendance.

Medical conditions need time to heal; they require more than mere 3-days alliances of coinciding weekends and vacations.  Instead, Federal Disability Retirement allows for the Federal and Postal worker to take stock of one’s needs, attend to them, then move on in another vocation for the brighter future of a promising tomorrow. Federal Disability Retirement is a benefit offered through one’s employment with the Federal government, and is filed with the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

As the day after often encompasses the problems of today, compounded by the unresolved issues of yore, so attending systematically to the proverbial elephant in the room will begin to resolve the incremental magnification of that which was conveniently ignored and bypassed during those sleepless nights of unwanted worry.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

Filed under: Miscellaneous | Tagged: a Christmas gift you didn’t find below the tree: living a pain free life with federal medical benefits, a new year’s beginning with federal disability retirement, advice form top usps federal attorney, aggressive federal disability attorney helping in cases of opm disability claims, an option that was always there for the injured postal worker, annuities under fers medical retirement laws, applying for fers disability retirement with leading attorney expert in the field, applying for opm federal disability, attorney accredited fers medical retirement, attorney specialized with federal disability retirement cases, choices for fers government employee after disabling condition, circumstances and a sense of emergency prior federal disability retirement filing, csrs & fers medical incapacity insurance for federal and postal employees, defense department federal disability retirement benefits, disabling condition on leo federal agent under federal disability retirement, disabling health conditions fers government attorney, dod defense attorney at law, dod homeland security employee with disabilities seeking federal incapacity attorney, dol workmans compensation incapacity retirement attorney, early out for medical conditions under fers, employees with disabilities and the best federal attorney in the field, experienced federal disability attorney for fers health limitation claims, failing the fitness for duty examination law enforcement government, feca fers medical ret lawyer, federal disability employment and chronic medical conditions, federal fers attorney, federal government employee in trouble for excessing sick leave, federal owcp attorney medical conditions, fers government employee attorney, fers medical retirement for Department Of Homeland Security employee, fers postal employee terminated medical reasons in need of opm impairment retirement lawyer, filing for government incapacity retirement with leading fers attorney, financial compensation for federal employees for injuries on & off duty, from owcp to fers medical benefits, future fers medical retirement benefits, future opm medical insurance benefits, government attorney for opm med claims, health retirement benefits for federal government employees, how to file for opm early out for incapacity annuity payments, how to qualify for fers annuity payments for postal employees, how to sign up to get opm disability retirement if I am a federal employee, if sick leave runs out while waiting to get better consider federal incapacity retirement, immediate federal retirement for incapacitation from the opm, law enforcement disabled employee working in springfield va, law office blog on federal disability retirement issues, leading federal attorney helping postal employees with disabilities to qualify for early federal government retirement, legal representation for both federal and postal employees, leo federal agent opm medical annuities, light duty job offer after a disabling condition in the usps no adequate for long term healing, living more healthy life with fers medical benefits, lower back injury fers disability retirement lawyer, lwop for sickness or fers medical retirement benefits, medical conditions fers attorney, mentally disabled employees filing for federal disability retirement benefits, national representation to all federal government employees and postal workers in opm claims for incapacity, owcp feca workmans compensation fers & opm disability retirement benefits, owcp regulations in early out for having disabling conditions, peace of mind when going from feca owcp to opm incapacity retirement, pension for disabling conditions federal attorney, physical impairment federal government attorney for fers and csrs, procedures for getting federal disability under fers, qualifying for federal disability if your medical condition is beginning to affect your work quality, retiring from opm after disabling conditions, should I take feca owcp or federal medical retirement, sick leave fers credit and federal disability questions, sick leave while on pip in the usps federal employment, taking the option of federal disability retirement benefits, trying to qualify for fers opm early out with federal disability retirement filing, Us Department Of The Treasury opm disability retirement attorney, usps federal attorney for postal employees with disabling conditions, va homeland security government employee with excessed sickness, Washington dc federal government medical retirement, when a medical condition doesn’t heal while on federal service, when federal disability retirement is not a choice but the choice, when you really need a federal disability retirement lawyer!, where do I file for federal disability retirement?, where I can find an attorney specialized in opm medical retirement, winning a federal disability retirement claim, workers comp federal attorney, worry not about the things you don't have any control during the federal disability retirement process | Leave a comment »

FERS & CSRS Disability Retirement from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management: Crisis Points of Urgency

Posted on December 23, 2014 by OPM Disability Retirement Lawyer

Additional responsibilities unexpectedly piled on tend to magnify it; life’s inevitable bumps often reveal it; mere negative news may even confirm it; and medical conditions certainly quantify it.  The “it” referenced by each subject signifies the crisis point and juncture of necessity; and the underlying substratum which forms the common element throughout, is the medical condition which impacts upon a person’s life.

Thus, for most healthy individuals, the daily stresses of life, the unexpected flat tire, the transmission blown which costs beyond what was budgeted for; a foolhardy act by one’s child, resulting in a legal process; even a project gone badly at work, where blame is ascribed to an unfair and unjustifiable degree — all can be tolerated by the manifold capacity of the human spectrum of dealing with life’s turmoils; but add the ingredient of a medical condition, where the physical and psychological stamina of will and stability are tested and stretched beyond one’s limits, and suddenly a crisis develops.

Further, holidays tend to exponentially exacerbate and take things out of proper balance and perspective. For Postal and Federal employees who are under FERS, CSRS or CSRS Offset, the sudden need to file for Federal Disability Retirement benefits, especially during a time of added stresses and untold and private points of crisis, is often real and the compelling circumstances of immediate urgency. But it is always the long-term view which must be maintained, despite the desire to give in to a sense of existential doom of an immediate collapse, where time, space and cognitive dimensions suddenly stampede into that flashpoint of unsettled coalescence.

OPM Disability Retirement for the Federal or Postal worker should always be planned, and seen as the way towards a brighter future. For, while the present circumstances of one’s life may seem like the collapse of a lifetime, it is the sense of future boding, of a plateau of quietude as one approaches a lonely path in the dawn of one’s life, which should be taken in order to secure that hope for tomorrow.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

Filed under: Reflections of an OPM Disability Retirement Lawyer | Tagged: a balanced and well-prepared opm medical retirement application, a crisis of identity and turmoil after a disability in the postal service, a tough identity crisis during federal employment due to unbearable health condition, accessing information about opm medical retirement after an injury or medical condition in the government workplace, adversity and turmoil for disabled federal employees when they cannot longer perform the essential elements of their jobs, advice from top attorney working to get disability retirement from the office of personnel management, articles about reaching a crisis after a disability with the postal service, attorney dealing with opm, attorney specialized in opm fers and csrs medical retirement, basic legal information about opm disability retirement benefits, can a federal employee file for immediate retirement for injuries with the office of personnel management?, choices a federal or postal employee have when filing, chronic stressed federal employee seeking opm disability attorney, civil service disability retirement attorney to file application with the office of personnel management, civilian employee searching for information on medical retirement from the us office of personnel management, claim with owcp and opm disability lawyer, coping with health issues while on federal employment, csrs disabling condition and filing with the office of personnel management, definition of disabilities under rules from the office of personnel management, denied owcp in usps now filing for opm medical retirement, department of defense military civilian employee seeking specialized attorney for medical retirement from the office of personnel management, difference between incapacity pension for opm or fers employees, disabling conditions under fers disability rules, dol owcp harassment complains and opm medical retirement, donated sick leave for fers employee waiting for answer from opm claim, facing a huge organization as the opm when filing for fers medical incapacity insurance, fers benefits for depression, FERS Disability, fers disability retirement from the opm, fers separation and opm incapacity retirement, fers usps worker with physical impairment, filing claims application with opm fers disability attorney, filing for sick leave for short term disabilities and for opm disability retirement for long term disability, government attorney for opm med claims, help with csrs disability retirement, homeland security employee in virginia info on opm medical retirement, how to file for opm early out for incapacity annuity payments, how to sign up to get opm disability retirement, immediate retirement for fers employee, immediate retirement for incapacitation from the opm, legal advice from opm fers attorney, leo agent opm medical annuities, life before opm disability retirement, medical pension payments from the office of personnel management, medical retirement with the office of personnel management (opm), mental stability for postal worker with opm benefits after federal service, mentally disabled employees from the office of personnel management, motivated fers attorney helping in cases of opm disability claims, my life after retirement with opm incapacity benefits, national representation to all federal government employees and postal workers in opm claims for incapacity, need help with opm application to retire for health issues, office of personnel management (opm) medical retirement, OPM disability, opm excessive medical absences, opm medical retirement washington dc, options usps impairment, pension for disabling conditions fers attorney, persuading the office of personnel management to approve your government employee medical retirement claim, physical impairment federal government attorney for fers and csrs, postal workers choices, retiring from opm after disabling conditions, sick leave fers credit and opm disability questions, trying to qualify for fers opm early out, usps owcp choices, when a medical crisis leads to an urgency in the lives of federal employees, where I can find an attorney specialized in opm medical retirement, workers comp or fers health retirement, workman’s compensation early out medical retirement, workmans compensation fers & opm disability retirement benefits | Leave a comment »

  • More on FERS Disability Retirement

    • eZineArticles.com Article: The 1 Year Statute of Limitations
    • Federal Disability Retirement Laws, Medical Conditions, and the Intersecting Complications with OWCP, Social Security and FERS & CSRS
    • Federal Disability Retirement: The Full Arsenal of Weapons
    • FedSmith.com Article: Revisiting "Accommodation"
    • FedSmith.com Article: Sometimes the Process is just as important as the Substance of an Argument
    • Latest PostalReporter.com Article: Causation in a Federal Disability Retirement Case
    • Understanding the Complexities of the Law
    • USPS Disability Blog: The National Reassessment Program, the Agency and the Worker
  • Other Resources for Federal and Postal Employees

    • Articles Published in the Postal Reporter
    • FAQs on OPM Disability Retirement
    • FERS Disability Attorney Profile at Lawyers.com
    • Main Website on Federal Disability Retirement
    • OPM Disability Blog
    • The Postal Service Disability Retirement Blog
  • Seven False Myths about OPM Disability Retirement

    1) I have to be totally disabled to get Postal or Federal disability retirement.
    False: You are eligible for disability retirement so long as you are unable to perform one or more of the essential elements of your job.  Thus, it is a much lower standard of disability. 

    2) My injury or illness has to be job-related.
    False: You can get disability even if your condition is not work related.  If your medical condition impacts your ability to perform any of the core elements of your job, you are eligible, regardless of how or where your condition occurred.

    3) I have to quit my federal job first to get disability.
    False: In most cases, you can apply while continuing to work at your present job, to the extent you are able.  

    4) I can't get disability if I suffer from a mental or nervous condition.
    False: If your condition affects your job performance, you can still qualify. Psychiatric conditions are treated no differently from physical conditions.

    5) Disability retirement is approved by DOL Workers Comp.
    False: It's the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) the federal agency that administers and approves disability for employees at the US Postal Service or other federal agencies.

    6) I can wait for OPM disability retirement for many years after separation.
    False: You only have one year from the date of separation from service - otherwise, you lose your right forever.

    7) If I get disability retirement, I won't be able to apply for Scheduled Award (SA).
    False: You can get a Scheduled Award under the rules of OWCP even after you get approved for OPM disability retirement.
  • Calendar

    August 2022
    S M T W T F S
     123456
    78910111213
    14151617181920
    21222324252627
    28293031  
    « Jul    
  • Top Posts

    • FERS Disability Retirement from OPM: Presenting the Best Case
    • OPM Disability Retirement under FERS: When Fluff Rules
    • Recurring Issues of Disability Accommodation, Light & Limited Duty, and the Form Filling of the OPM SF 3112D PDF File
    • FERS Disability Retirement from the OPM: Failures
    • FERS Medical Retirement from OPM: The Technical Application
    • Federal OPM Disability Retirement: The Office of Personnel Management (OPM)
    • FERS Medical Disability Retirement: Larger Than Life
    • Medical Separation and Retirement under FERS or CSRS: The nose beyond which
    • Federal Disability Retirement: The Socratic Method
    • Federal Disability Retirement from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management: A Choice of One
  • Archives

Blog at WordPress.com. WP Designer.

  • Follow Following
    • OPM Disability Retirement
    • Join 177 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • OPM Disability Retirement
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar