Federal Disability Retirement Law: The Finish Line

What is there, at that end which you strived so hard to reach?  We often confuse the end-goals and mix up the purposes engaged.  What is the purpose of the finish line?  Is it merely to reach and cross it?  Does a runner engage in the activity merely to cross the finish line, or is there a greater purpose beyond the mere crossing?

Certainly, for an alien from another planet — or even to a child where explanations have not yet been sufficiently comprehensible because of a lack of context and he or she is merely an accidental spectator not yet attuned to the “ways of the world” — watching men and women strain and struggle to reach a white line and collapse upon crossing it, is a specter of strangeness and peculiarity.

Was it for the health benefits of jogging and running?  Was it to win a prize — a ribbon, a trophy, some cash?  Or was it merely for the fun of competition — to train, to discipline, to achieve?  And what of metaphorical finish lines?

The “race of life”, the “marathon to achieve”, etc. — you know, the motivational constructs which allegedly compel us to greater heights of competitive highs.

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who retain an image of a “finish line” — of reaching those magical numbers which declare to everyone, “I have made it!” — it may be that other factors intercede, interrupt and prevent you from achieving that goal of being able to cross that proverbial “finish line”.

What would be the point if, upon reaching the finish line, you collapse and die?  Or, end up in a wheelchair, debilitated and unable to enjoy those “golden years”?

People often mix up and confuse the purpose for the goal with the crossing of the finish line itself: Reaching the finish line is not the same as answering the “why” of getting there.  If your health is deteriorating and you are only destroying yourself in the very effort to reach that finish line, it is time to consider preparing, formulating and filing an effective OPM Disability Retirement application under FERS.

And yes, while being on Federal Disability Retirement, those years you are on it count towards your total number of years of Federal Service when it is recalculated at age 62, so that you are essentially building up your retirement systems while being on Federal Disability Retirement.

Contact a FERS Attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law, and consider what the options are so that you don’t confuse and conflate reaching the finish line for the greater purpose of why and how you want to get there.

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.

 

FERS Disability Retirement Benefits: Dangerous Presumptions

There is a difference between the explorative use of language, as in the time of Shakespeare — and the current use of language in careless and unfettered ways.

Language has become imprecise; words and phrases are easily bandied about without clearly and concisely defining terms; and so opinions often fly past one another without mutual comprehension, understanding, knowledge or even relevance.  Terms, words, phrases and entire conceptual constructs all of a sudden seem to suddenly appear, with dangerous presumptions attached to them which are barely and rarely discussed and defined.

Take, for example, the phrase, “social justice”.  When one individual uses the term, is the meaning clearly defined and understood by everyone else?  Has everyone educated themselves by — for example — reading John Rawls’ work, A Theory of Justice?

It is, ultimately, the dangerous presumptions which mark the downfall of any successful endeavor, and for Federal and Postal employees who are intent upon filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits because of a medical condition that prevents the Federal or Postal employee from continuing in his or her career, contact an attorney who specializes in FERS Disability Retirement benefits before moving forward.

It is, in the end, the dangerous presumptions — of thinking that you know what the terms of the process mean or are understood as — which can defeat a Federal or Postal Disability Retirement application.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

FERS Disability Retirement Benefits: Jobs versus careers

We make a distinction between the two, do we not?  One merely “lands” a job, whereas we “pursue” a career, implying the arbitrary nature of the first and the delectable interest shown in the second.  Yet, the bifurcation of the two is never so stark as night and day, but can often be clouded in the grey of differences: Obviously, a “job” can be a career, and careers can take on many jobs in the upward advancement of one.

Thus, one can begin as a clerk, move into management, and ultimately become the President of a company; and while each job is distinguishable from the other, the entirety of the whole constitutes a “career” that one pursued.  Yet, we make the distinction especially when we are in “dead-end” jobs — those employment situations which disallow for advancement either in pay or in responsibilities (although, in some dead-end jobs, the responsibilities continue to expand without any increase in pay, which defines why it is a “dead-end” job because, in the end, you will end up dead by working too hard without a living wage).  And, while jobs in their totality and/or continuum of advancements may lead to a career, can a career become merely a job?

That question is rarely, if ever, asked, because careers are generally thought to be an elevated form of the lesser stature of “a job”, and as the higher standard cannot be subsumed or subjugated to the lower, it is normally not a valid consideration.  Yet, we talk in those terms, don’t we?  We hear statements like, “My career has stalled” or “His career has hit a glass ceiling”, or even, “Her career is going nowhere”.

Medical conditions, of course, can be a key element in the interference of a “career”, and in some sense, of transforming a career into a mere job.

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 his or her positional duties, it may be time to recognize that one’s “career” has become a “job” precisely because of the medical condition.

The medical condition is the factor and element which has “stalled” one’s career, and it is time to then prepare, formulate and file an effective Federal Disability Retirement application, to be filed through the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

Consult with an experienced Attorney who specializes in FERS Disability Retirement Law in order to maneuver through the complex bureaucratic maze.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire
Federal Employee Disability Lawyer

 

Federal Disability Retirement: The world of others

Sometime between birth and self-awareness, there comes a point of consciousness where recognition that this is a world of others becomes unavoidable.  Perhaps it is that critical juncture where an adjustment is then made, or not, which determines whether or not children revert back to the insularity of inner worlds, or compromise and allow for greater interaction with the outer universe, despite the inherent dangers presented.

The sense of “I” as opposed to the outer universe likely comes first, but the two are so intertwined that they cannot develop without one another — the self is unable to distinguish the distinction unless there is the “other” to posit as a contrast to the self.

The World of Others is a frightening thought; for, the implications are that control of one’s own world is potentially endangered by active agents uncontrolled by one’s own will; when a foreign will is introduced into the equation, we lose control of our ability — and as importantly, our confidence — that events small and great can be shaped with predicability.

As adults, we take for granted the world of others; we are thus taught at an early age to worry only about things that we have control over, and let the rest go — lest the unfettered universe of the world of others, so expansive and without boundaries, would place so much stress upon our cognitive capacity to worry and be concerned, that a mental breakdown might occur as a result.

Look at people who are deemed “control freaks” — they are constantly anxious because they must always maintain the world around and manipulate each and every aspect of tangential lives.  In the end, the microcosm of control is of limited means; the will of others can only be boxed in when weaker personalities submit to stronger ones, but even then, the unpredictability of human nature reveals the ineffectiveness of unfettered dominance.

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who suffer from a medical condition and must necessarily “deal” with the World of Others — Agency actions; Postal harassment; adverse actions and retaliatory impositions — in a manner that distracts from the singular goal of trying to regain and maintain one’s health, filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits may be the best solution.

The World of Others cannot ultimately be controlled; what you have is the ability and capacity to control your own fate and destiny, and preparing, formulating and filing an effective Federal Disability Retirement application through OPM is one such step that is within your control.  Now, as for what the U.S. Office of Personnel Management does and doesn’t do — that remains in the World of Others, and perhaps you should consider having an attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law handle that aspect of the World of Others.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

Medical Retirement under FERS & CSRS: The “rush” job

There is a difference, of course, between a “rush” job and a “sloppy” one; and while the two can be one and the same, there are circumstances where the former is necessary but does not necessarily have to result in the latter.

Procrastination is often the harbinger of sloppiness, and having to “rush” at the last minute is normally a natural and inevitable consequence of it.  Most events, issues and problems arising in life are never real emergencies; we make of them so because we allow them to fester and grow, like those molds left in petri dishes once reserved for science experiments that become fodder for science fiction novellas.

Medical conditions have a way of adding to complexities and delaying circumstances otherwise traveling on a normal course of events; things just tend to “pile up” like dishes first left in the sink, then another few, until suddenly one realizes that the stack that began with a single unwashed plate is now a tottering semblance of the Leaning Tower of Pisa, and another emergency to attend to.

Suddenly, everything needs to be done yesterday; and what was once something that needed to be done sometime in the obscure future, demands attention today, yesterday and the day before that.  What one does not know, or is not aware of, of course, is often ignored, and deliciously cast aside — for ignorance is bliss and not recognizing what is slowly evolving in the dark corners of the unreachable abyss, though harmful, is better left unknown.  Or so we think.  Wrongly, as it turns out.

Like medical conditions left undiagnosed, we go through life happily ignorant; or like actions of a Federal Agency while the Federal or Postal employee is taking too much time off to go to medical appointments or trying to get better — is it better not to know what supervisors and managers are discussing behind one’s back?

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who have waited and waited, hoping that one’s medical condition will get better, will somewhat improve, or otherwise disappear altogether, and who have now exhausted all SL, AL and the patience of the Agency or Postal Facility in taking LWOP, perhaps a PIP is in sight, or the “end” is nigh and an adversarial action is “in the works”; or, perhaps none of that is but a faraway matter to be concerned with.

Whatever the circumstances, life brings about emergencies, and maybe even triggers a “rush” job; but always remember that the end-focus is to prepare, formulate and file an effective and persuasive Federal Disability Retirement application, to be filed with the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, whether the Federal or Postal employee is under FERS, CSRS or CSRS Offset, and the “rush” job that is suddenly an emergency needs to be tempered by excellence, lest sloppiness hinders the efficacy of rushing that which is important for one’s future.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

Early Retirement for Disabled Federal Workers: The approximation

How do we learn to approximate?  Or, more approximately, how do we learn when it is appropriate (or inappropriate) to approximate?

When and how did we learn that there is a distinction with a difference between an engineer constructing a tall building and a chef adding a few more spices than what the recipe calls for — that consequences derived from the difference between approximation and precision make a world of difference?  Or even the amateur chef in mistaking a sprinkle of salt for a cupful, or of a judge in the Olympics who shrugs his or her shoulders and says, “close enough”, when the difference between a fraction of a second or an approximation thereof means the awarding of a gold, silver or bronze medal?

How close is the enemy?  Approximately a mile or so away, give or take a few hundred yards…could mean the difference between victory or defeat.

How old is the earth?  Multi-billions of years, give or take a few, or count the genealogy of religious texts and multiply them accordingly.  Any consequences for believing one paradigm over another, and aren’t both merely approximations, anyway?  How precise can a science be when the claim is made that X is 500 billions years old?  Could it not be 499 or 498 billion years old, instead?  In terms of percentages of being “off”, it is minor; but in gross numbers, a billion here or a billion there could mean quite a difference; just look at the investors of Facebook who recently lost a good portion of their portfolio.

Approximations are fine, but they need to be tempered by conditions and circumstances, and for Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who suffer from a medical condition where the medical condition begins to prevent the Federal or Postal employee from performing one or more of the essential elements of one’s Federal or Postal job, to “approximate” where precision is required may not be the best approach in putting together one’s Federal Disability Retirement application.

Of course, “the law” is never a precise endeavor, and cannot come close to requiring an engineer’s reliance upon mathematical calculations nor even of an architect’s blueprint for constructing an archway.

However, precision of legal argumentation; proper wording of medical narratives; careful positing of legal citations — these are all approximations which, in their aggregate, accord a greater precision in preparing an effective Federal Disability Retirement application, to be submitted to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management in enhancing the greater chance of an approval for each stage of the process, as it is precisely the greater approximation of precision that allows for lessening the imprecision of that which comes closest to the approximation of a science in a non-scientific discipline.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

 

Medical Retirement for Federal Employees: The ‘Why’ of life

Why do we do that which we do?  Do other species engage in such reflective self-assessments, or do they just perform the act without positing the query?  Or course, there is the antecedent question of whether the question itself is asked in the linguistic modality which we embrace; or, is there another form of a more subtle nature that other animals correlate and learn from without a long utterance ending with a grammatical interrogative?

Perhaps, in the mere instinctive alteration of actions future-oriented displays the capacity of other species to “learn” from past mistakes and potential dangers allowed by careless indifference, and such changes in behavior itself by fiat already answers the query of ‘why’.  Thus, the question asked in the silence of one’s subtle modification in behavioral psychology constitutes, for other species, that self-assessment, and the mere fact that a public declaration is not made, does not necessarily prove that we are unique because we persistently ask such questions without ever answering them.

Is that why human folly persists through the ages, perennially, without alteration, without revealing any wisdom gained, understanding embraced or comprehension manifested?  Do we think that because we ask the question itself, without ever coming to a consensus of answers, that we are therefore more sophisticated, more intelligent and wiser than our earthly companions as well as our predecessors?  Is a question unanswered of any value if we never gain any knowledge or greater comprehension of the universe within which we occupy, merely because of the asking or the utterance of the interrogative?

Language often becomes the “stopper” – that appearance and semblance of an act which is merely an utterance of inactivity, but because of the significance and relevance which we place upon it, is often and mistakenly thought of as an accomplishing feat.  Misjudging mere words in the interrogative form for substantive sincerity of actions often leads to inertia and being stuck in the mud of life.

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who are suffering 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 question asked will often paralyze, and the ‘Why’ that is never answered can invite one upon the treadmill that never goes anywhere.

It is the step beyond the question that makes all the difference, and preparing, formulating and filing an effective Federal Disability Retirement application, to be filed with the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, whether the Federal or Postal employee is under FERS, CSRS or CSRS Offset, is the substantive answer that follows upon the perennial question that is never answered, never satisfied, and forever posited:  Why?

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire