Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Disability Retirement: Etc.

It is a latin term; the full derivative is, “et cetera”, and is inserted at the end of a laundry list to mean, “And the rest”, “the list goes on”, “other likened things following”, etc.  Linguistically, it is a convenience of sorts, for it allows us to abbreviate instead of going on and on exhaustively.

Applied to individuals, it is the place in a sentence, a paragraph — a narrative — where we hope not to be.  Thus, in a conversation held by two women about men in general:

“So, what do you think about Bob?”

“Oh, you know the type.”

“Type?  Can you elaborate?”

“You know — they are rather uninteresting, like John, Terry, William, etc.”

Now, if you were John, Terry, William — or even Bob — you were at least recognized.  It is if you were relegated to the “etc.” that it becomes a problem.  You are the unnamed, irrelevant entity banished with the grammatical device of an appendage at the far end of a sentence.  You are not even a footnote.  You don’t even make it into the end pages of a large non-fiction work in the “notes” section.  You are a non-entity.

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who feel the way an “etc.” does because you are no longer relevant to your Federal Agency or Postal Service as a result of a medical condition which no longer allows you to continue in your career, consider Federal Disability Retirement.

Contact a disability attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law, where multiple issues of legal complexities may challenge you, such as the issues of accommodations, nexus between the medical condition and your job, reassignment — et cetera.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Lawyer

 

Federal Employee Disability Retirement: The Tiring Life

Yet, there is but one of those; unique, limited in duration, mortal and allegedly comprised of free will unfettered by the classical notion of pre-determinism; and yet, we all tire of “it” — of life’s trials and challenges unexpectedly and (so we say) unfairly posed.

Life is tiring; the tiring life we live possesses so many components to it: Of problems arisen; problems created; problems confronted; problems ongoing.  And like the popular arcade game of Whac-a-Mole, where the head of a problem pops up the moment you think you have resolved another, there seems to be an endless stream of misery no matter how hard we try.

Was life always this hard?  Let’s remember Thomas Hobbes’ famous (or infamous, however you want to characterize it) quote from Leviathan, that the “life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short.”  Yet, surely life and the conditions surrounding have improved since he wrote his Magnum Opus in the mid-17th Century — of advances in medicine, antibiotics that prevent simple infections that lead to death; of greater focus upon leisure activities instead of a constant striving to gather food just to survive (i.e., a short trip to the supermarket as opposed to hunting or farming for your own food); of entertainment wired directly into your living quarters; and many other advantages besides that are plentiful in modernity previously unthought of.

But that’s not the point, is it?  It is the tiring of life because of the constant struggle, whether of financial, ethical, personal or professional — that seems to confront us daily.  And when medical conditions deteriorate, it seems to exponentially compound even the slightest nudge of difficulties presented.  For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who suffer from a medical condition and whether the medical conditions prevent the Federal employee from continuing in his or her career, it may be time to consider preparing and filing a FERS Disability Retirement application.

The Tiring Life is one which we are all confronted with; and the truth is that we all live for those sporadic moments of peaceful joy.  But when a medical condition seems to take over every aspect of such periodic moments of joy, it is then time to consult with a FERS Attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement, lest the Tiring Life turns into a Life so Tiring that we end up making a wrong decision because of lack of knowledge or foresight.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

Disability Retirement under FERS: Balancing the Unfair Advantage

It is the advantage itself — whether by one side or of the other — which creates an imbalance to occur, and it is thus the greater weight on either side defines and constitutes the unfairness of it all.  A weighted scale; a pair of loaded dice (it was once the case that such a phrase — “pair of dice” — was unnecessary, because the singular of “dice” was die, and to identify ”dice” was to necessarily state the obvious that it was a pair; but in Modern Standard English, the word “dice” now represents both the singular as well as the plural; but we digress); a biased referee; a bribed umpire — do these all have something in common?

No, this is not an IQ Test (remember those questions where you are given a series of words and you had to either choose the one that would fit into the same category or exclude the one that was a misfit?), but it does symbolize the state of affairs in so much of life.

Where unfairness abounds, it is often the concealed aspect which tips the balance in favor of one side or another.  Thus do politicians allow for silent exceptions within the detailed language of legislation; undeclared biases determine advantages otherwise unidentified; insider information gives the unfair advantage to stock traders and members on financial boards and subcommittees; and the team which steals the rubric of the other’s signals and signs gains the advantage both in predicting future behaviors and battles.

In law, who has the unfair advantage?  Is it the entity who fails to explicitly define the criteria which determines success?

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who suffer from a medical condition such that the medical condition prevents the Federal employee from performing one or more of the essential elements of one’s Federal or Postal job, just remember that filing a Federal Disability Retirement application guarantees nothing.

The legal criteria inherent in the process; the administrative procedures which must be advanced; the supporting documentation that must be submitted; the answers on standard forms which must be completed — these are all within the purview of knowledge by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, and is not easily comprehended by the unwary applicant.

Seek the counsel and guidance of a FERS Disability Attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law and begin to balance the unfair advantage that OPM naturally and already possesses.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

Federal Disability Retirement: The Battle of Spring

There are various “battles” of historical import, including “The Battle of Britain”, “The Battle of the Bulge”, and many others besides, whether popularly so named or forgotten within the annals of history’s short memory.  Then, every year, around this time where April and May meld into a battle of morning frosts and potentially damaging tug-and-pull between winter’s discontent and spring’s yearning for the robin’s call, we wake up one morning and realize that the desolation of winter has finally passed.

Isn’t that how life is, often enough?  There is that in-between period, where tension remains and uncertainty abounds, until the final resolution appears unnoticed, like the unwanted friend who stays beyond the welcoming time of twilight conversations only to finally depart, and the unpleasantries exchanged during conversations left imagined fade into the inglorious memory of yesterday’s sorrows.

Medical conditions, too, are a “battle” of sorts, and create a tension that will not let go, will not release, and will not give up despite every attempt to ignore, placate and shun.  The stubbornness of a medical condition cannot be ignored; its impact, unwilling to be forgotten; and its tension, unable to be released.

That is why, 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, the tension and anxiety formed by the very existence of the medical condition is likened to the many “battles” that we face in life.

Perhaps it is a metaphorical observation; and like the allegories that give life-lessons, maybe there is an underlying meaning that can be extracted from the trials endured.

In the meantime, what the Federal or Postal employee needs to do, is to prepare, formulate and file an effective Federal Disability Retirement application, to be filed with the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, in order to release the tension that exists between work and life, work and medical condition, work and ….

The Battle of Spring will come and go, just like all of the other “battles” that have been fought throughout history; and this private battle against the medical condition itself is merely a private friction that also needs to be fought, on terms that create a more level playing field by consulting with an attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

FERS/CSRS Disability Retirement: Of tripe, tropes and trickling trivialities

One rarely thinks in terms of multiple stomachs, but certainly cows have them; but when we consider the tripe of language, we project only the inherent foolishness of man.  Of tropes, we may envision a higher calling; though, of course, figurative speech requires greater imagination and creativity, and the dullness of many falls back naturally into either the first or second stomachs of the bovine kind, and not merely to be digested and emitted through the natural canals of intestinal tracts, but by metaphorical heights of human depravity.  Then, of course, there are trivialities, and most of the drip-drip-drip sort, and never in voluminous waves of profundities, but merely superficial utterances of inane particles.

Much of everyday phenomena falls into one of the three categories; and of the first, it allows for wiggle-room into a fourth because of the dual definitions presented.  Indeed, there is great similarity between tripe and truth.  In actuality, farmers will tell us that the cow has only one stomach, but with four distinctive compartments, identified as the Rumen, the Reticulum, the Omasum and the Abomasum.  It is the last of the four which actually digests the food, but the first three allow for the complex mixing of saliva and digestive enzymes, the processing and breaking down of the products of the earth taken in – sort of like an organic factory.

That is the awe of it all, isn’t it –and the irony; for, we see the bovine creature, stoic with its forlorn eyes, standing in its own manure in order to be treated as an assembly-line receptacle in order to produce products to be shipped across the country, and contained within its multiple compartments comprises a reflection of the type of efficiencies which we attempt to mirror and copy.  And then, on top of it all, we slaughter and tear out the first two or three in order to create delicacies for those who prefer the delectable entrees of chefs known to make masterpieces out of common fodder.  Of tropes, of course, we categorize as thoughtful reproaches less evident because of their figurative requirements; but of trickling trivialities, we have to endure because much of society has become entrapped by the inane details of personal lives and stardom’s prurient interests.

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who are considering filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits through the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, whether the Federal or Postal employee is under FERS, CSRS or CSRS Offset, the beckoning call must come neither from tripe, nor tropes, nor even from trickling trivialities.

For, in the end, the need to file for Federal Disability Retirement benefits comes about precisely because the seriousness of the medical condition compels one to view other problems as mere trickling of trivialities; that the suffering, pain and anxiety created by the medical condition is no longer a figurative existence like the tropes of literature; and with great certainty, we come to recognize that the digestive processes of a tripe cannot cure the reflective need to change the produce of a world uncaring, even if it is sifted through the complex compartments of a bovine creature, leaving aside the inane foolishness of the world’s loss of character in a life still valued for future engagement.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

FERS & CSRS Medical Retirement: Seasonal Rhythms

We are completely disconnected from the imposition of nature’s imperatives; through artificial means, we extend the light of day in the name of productivity, and prevent and shut it out for the sake of lengthier restorative sleep; we defy slumber and seasons of cocoon-like hibernation with unnatural heat, and resist the middle of the day where scorching temperatures and required siestas in other countries are ignored and scoffed at.

The rhythmic beat of breathing and hearts, like the seasons of change or vicissitudes of weather, are mere obstacles to be overcome; and whether successful or not, we forge onward in any event, ignoring the cost of defiance and neglecting the reality that once, we were sons and daughters of a primordial world, part and parcel of the natural order, but like the two figurines who left and traveled east of eden, the past we abandoned behind became a burden quickly forgotten for the price of ransoming the ransacking of the world we rejected.  But the rhythm still remains, despite our best efforts to control and command.

For the Federal employee and the U.S. Postal worker who begins to suffer from a medical condition, such that the medical condition prevents one from performing one or more of the essential elements of one’s Federal or Postal position, the disruption from the artificially-created confines of the work environment is likened to the rejection and resulting turmoil from the natural rhythm of life.

In abandoning and becoming disconnected, we have created a different rhythm of living; and when that manufactured one is interrupted, where does one return to?  Medical conditions are often considered as mere irritants to our goals and teleological make-up; when, in fact, they are precursors and warnings foreboding nature’s tap on one’s shoulder.

Filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits may appear to be another artificial means of escaping, sort of like leaving the proverbial frying pan into the fire; but once we left behind the mythological state of nature, and into the social contract of a burdensome bureaucracy, the necessity in engaging the administrative process itself becomes our inevitable fate.

Federal Disability Retirement, for the Federal and Postal worker, whether under FERS, CSRS or CSRS Offset, is a benefit accessible precisely for those whose rhythmic entourage has been interrupted by the self-immolation of a disease or injury; and as rhythms go, the beat of the drummer which leads one away from the discordant band which plays upon the deterioration of one’s body, should provide the pathway towards preparing, formulating and filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits through the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, in order to head west back to the garden of eden one left behind, once upon a time.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

OPM Disability Retirement Law: Agency Adverse Actions

Calamities coalesce in concurrent coordinated couplings; often enough in life, when one action is engaged, another follows in reactive reflection.

For the Federal employee or U.S. Postal worker who has a medical condition, such that the medical condition impacts one or more of the essential elements of one’s job, the necessity to, or mere hint of the need to, file for Federal Disability Retirement benefits through the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, whether the Federal or Postal employee is under FERS, CSRS or CSRS Offset, often invokes a concurrent action on the part of the agency.

Whether such actions are mere coincidences (unlikely); retaliatory (a good chance); or deliberatively intentional (often enough) is anyone’s guess.  Trying to figure out the underlying motivation of agencies is merely a waste of one’s valuable time; what to do with the agency’s adverse actions, is the more productive approach to embrace.

The argument that finds some precedence for OPM in arguing against a Federal Disability Retirement case, is that somehow the Federal Disability Retirement application was merely a pretense to avoid termination, and thus is somehow invalidated.  But, in fact, the reverse can be argued as well:  Because of the medical condition, the agency’s adverse actions reflect the poor performance, the excessive taking of SL, LWOP, etc., and irrefutably confirms the validity of the Federal Disability Retirement filing.

What the agency’s adverse action states; how it is characterized; what surrounding correspondence exists; and the extent of one’s medical documentation around the time of the agency’s actions, and prior to, are all important components in preparing, formulating and filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits through the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire