FERS Disability Retirement: Facing the Day

It is quite obviously a different approach than “Seizing the Day” (Carpe Diem) — that popular pablum of motivational declarative which one encounters every now and gain.  Youth and health often frame one’s outlook; and for those with ongoing health issues, merely facing the day requires tremendous willpower and energy.

Then, when the issue is presented for Federal and Postal employees concerning the decision and need to file for Federal Disability Retirement benefits through the U.S. Office of Personnel Management under FERS, and the long, bureaucratic complexities involved, and the high likelihood that it will require fighting with OPM in order to get approved, it is all well and good to seize the day when you are not confronted with serious health issues, but when you are, it is merely facing the day which is the real challenge.

When all you feel like doing is crawling back into bed and assuming a fetal position until sleep comforts the mind (while the body reacts to the pain by magnifying the fatigue but failing to allow for any restorative sleep), facing the day must be assumed by sheer will and strength of reserve.

If legal assistance is needed in the process of preparing an effective Federal OPM Disability Retirement application under FERS, you should contact a Federal Lawyer who specializes exclusively on FERS Disability Retirement Law.  That is how the Federal or Postal employee may face OPM and transition from facing the day to seizing the day.

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 Medical Retirement: Resisting the Scatter Approach

Preparing a Federal Retirement application under the FERS system naturally lends itself to a “scatter” approach because it requires multiple facets in order to complete the complex bureaucratic process.  Like the tentacles on an unruly octopus, some facets must be correlated in sequential order, while others must be attended to simultaneously.

And because some portions must be completed by your Federal Agency (which is too often uncooperative and/or uncaring, and also it is sometimes downright antagonistic to the process as a whole) — and all the while being under pressure of an unreasonable timeline imposed by OPM, it is easy to despair and give up on the process entirely.

Perhaps that is how the system has been deliberately created — to make the process as difficult as possible in order to discourage as many Federal employees and Postal workers as possible.  To counter this, it is important to begin with a guiding principle — of the statutory criteria and case-law formulations which provide the overarching foundational premise — a legal cover letter which creates a successful roadmap for arguing your case.

Otherwise, the only alternative remaining is to succumb to the “scatter” approach — which is precisely what the U.S. Office of Personnel Management wants you to do so that they can deny the case based upon the incomplete aspect of any one of the unruly tentacles required.

Contact an Federal Disability Retirement Attorney who specializes in preparing, formulating, and filing a coherent, cogent, and effective Federal or Postal Disability Retirement case, and resist the “scatter approach”.

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 Worker Disability Retirement: The Unresolved Problem

It won’t go away on its own.  We might wish it did; we might try to “will it” away; or, one might consider just ignoring it.

There are, to be sure, some problems which resolve themselves.  Children and their emotionally-fraught years of teenage problems — they often resolve themselves through age and distance; although, in this day and age where greater danger lurks in the dark web of the ethereal world, the job of the parent often is to make sure the problems don’t compound themselves into irreversible calamities.

A limp, too, might resolve itself.  And if you step in some dog-doo — yes, over time, walking with it on different surfaces will eventually scrape it all off from the soles of your shoes.  But as with children and dog-doo, it is often a good idea to take the time and initiate some action which is aggressive, positive and deliberate.

Filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS requires just such an approach, because in the end, the chronic and debilitating medical condition is one of those unresolved problems.

Contact an OPM Disability Attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS through the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, and begin the deliberative process of tackling the unresolved problem.

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: Puzzles Which Need Solutions

We are taught that life is a series of puzzles which need to be solved.  Puzzles — whether a jigsaw puzzle that requires finding and fitting the right pieces together; a word-play puzzle requiring thoughtful conceptual input; or a “dimensional” puzzle which requires remnants of knowledge we once learned in Geometry Class — necessitate thoughtful input on our part.

A medical condition, too, triggers a puzzle — how to deal with it; how to respond; how to adjust; whether and to what extent it will impact our lives; and there it is again: a Puzzle which needs a solution.

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal Workers who suffer from a medical condition which impacts your ability to perform one or more of the essential elements of your Federal or Postal position, the solution to the puzzle is to prepare an effective Federal Disability Retirement application.

Contact and consult with a FERS Disability Attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law and begin to solve the puzzle of a medical condition.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

Federal Employee Disability Retirement Process: The Extrapolated You

You have a whole life, an entire story — a “novel” of sorts, with chapters beginning with your birth, paragraphs describing your accomplishments and sentences denoting your character.  A friend, neighbor or acquaintance comes along and picks up this novel, opens it to a random page and reads one sentence.  Perhaps that sentence, or partial-sentence, reads as follows: “…and people thought that his behavior was unacceptable.”

That person walks away with this single facet, not having read the rest of the novel, or perhaps not caring, or even worse — of wanting to hold onto that singular, “out-of-context” extrapolation of an impression wrongly held.  For, in the very next sentence, the paragraph reads: “It turns out that his behavior was entirely appropriate, and everyone who had thought otherwise had to admit to this basic fact.”

Such is a parallel scenario with the U.S. Office of Personnel Management in reviewing a FERS applicant for Federal Disability Retirement benefits — for, not only does OPM only see the extrapolated you based upon your FERS Disability Retirement application, but moreover, they are looking to selectively take extrapolated portions of your narrative as a disabled person, and are glad to take things out of context and deny your claim.

How to counter this?  By arguing and applying the Law.

Contact an OPM Disability Lawyer who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law, and begin at the outset to rebut and preemptively reply by citing the relevant law in preparing, formulating and filing an effective Federal or Postal Employee Disability Retirement application and present the “you” as more than the extrapolated you.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

OPM Medical Retirement for Federal Employees: Life Goes On

Americans make of politics the same as everything else we do: It becomes a passion with a responsiveness tantamount to life and death.  We do it in almost all else, as well, as in sports — if our team doesn’t win, it is as if the world has come to an end.

We do it in marriage — we put on a great show at tremendous expense to announce that it is an event which will last forever.  We do it in religion — where every denomination and every pokey-little church has a corner of truth in interpreting “the doctrine”.  We do it in Supreme Court nominations, who our Congressman or Senator will be, and in every other sector of life.  We act as if the world will come to an end — like Y2K, Climate Change and the Presidential Election.

But Life Goes On.

The “day after”, everyone else has to move on and make a living and deal with life, no matter who won, what occurred or which side prevailed.  And 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, dealing with the U.S. Office of Personnel Management is still a reality which must be faced.

So, recognize your priorities in life and realize that whatever happens, you will still need to consult with an OPM Disability Attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement, because no matter what, life goes on.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

FERS Employee Disability Retirement Benefits: Meaning

It is the centrality of being, the core of life and the essence of who we are, what we do and why we endure the hardships of daily living.  Without it, the soul drags, the body wanes, the mind begins to wander.  With it, there is the deliberative step, the bounce in one’s actions, the energy within and the purposeful glint in one’s eyes.

“Meaning” is what drives; its lack, like a balloon which has been punctured and is allowed to sputter aimlessly through the air.  Whether philosophy can solve the conundrum that is questioned; or that faith can endure a lifetime of disappointments; and of what it is “made up of” — whether in answering the most profound of questions, or merely enjoying the company of friends and family — we may never know.

Is there a “formula” to having it?  Can there be meaning in one’s life without close family or friends?  Is there a singular definition of what “meaning” means, or is it different for each individual?  Is it something to “find” or discover, or is it something that we are either born with, or not?

Work is certainly a part of it; for, as so much time is spent in working, one must be able to derive some meaning from a vocation —otherwise, we would end up admitting that a greater portion of our lives is spent in meaningless endeavors.

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 job, it often means [sic] that there is a loss of “meaning” in the job that one has because of the struggles one must endure in balancing family, personal obligations and work requirements.

Federal Disability Retirement may not be the answer to the loss of meaning; it does, however, allow for the Federal or Postal worker to secure a base annuity in order to make plans for the future.  And planning for the future is, at a minimum, a good start in finding that pathway for greater meaning in one’s life.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

OPM Disability Retirement for FERS Employees: Presumption of Orderliness

It is a peculiar presumption; for, in most other contexts, we presume the very opposite.  Yet, for whatever psychological basis of need or desire, we presume that there is orderliness in the lives of everyone else despite the chaos in our own lives.

We hide well for appearance sake, and perhaps that is the key: Everyone else seems to live an orderly, planned, well-managed life, and so the appearance itself is what maintains the sanity of society’s apparent orderliness.  Yet, when we hear about the chaos erupting in another’s person life — of a break-up between couples; of a life ruined for this or that incident; or even of a sudden medical condition that traumatizes a family member — are we really surprised?

In public we maintain a passive face; despite internal turmoil and private lives of hellish circumstances, we do our best to put forth a calm demeanor.  That is the unspoken rule, is it not?  Once out the door, the “deal” is that we leave the chaos behind and act “as if”.  To that extent, we are all great actors on the stage of public discourse; we just don’t get paid like the megastars in Hollywood, but nevertheless take on the lead role of the greatest movie series ever made: Life.

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who suffer from a medical condition which prevents the Federal or Postal worker from performing one or more of the essential elements of one’s Federal or Postal job, the time to stop “covering up” and “acting as if” has likely come to a crisis point.  The chaos of trying to hide the medical condition and acting “as if” everything is fine has now come to a point where life and acting coalesce: You must acknowledge the reality of the medical condition and stop trying to hide it because, in the end, your health is of greater importance than the appearance of orderliness.

Consult with an attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law and begin the discussion of bringing back not only a presumption of orderliness, but a reality based upon an earned annuity of financial security.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

Early FERS Medical Retirement: Inside Life & Outside Appearance

Each of us lives an insular life.  It is that “private” side of us which remains so at our option.

How much of it is allowed into the public arena, and to whom we may share with, those are dependent upon multiple factors — of desiring to; of releasing information about ourselves that may allow for one to become “vulnerable”; of secretive lies; of shameful pasts; of thoughts that may be considered imprudent or childish; of foolish past exploits that may embarrass; of actions committed that were long forgotten by everyone but the self; and many more besides.

Then, of course, there is the “Outside appearance” — the person who is a compendium and pieced-together puzzle.  That “person” is comprised of many facets: By those who “know” you at the office, but perhaps in a restricted, limited way; by neighbors and acquaintances; by closer family members; by people who may have only come in contact by telephone or the internet, etc.

How much of the Inside life and the Outside appearance overlap may be best illustrated by a Venn diagram — or by a multitude of concentric circles, depending upon who is asked about a particular person.  Some scrupulously guard the inside life; others, like an open book left unguarded and unmarked, allow for the two parallel streams to mix and mingle without thoughts of restricting access.

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 position, the concept of the “Inside life” and the “Outside appearance” is important to consider when entertaining the idea of filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits.

For, while the Federal or Postal employee may be suffering from a medical condition, how much of that “Inside life” has impacted the “Outside appearance” — i.e., the medical condition’s impact upon one’s performance, conduct or attendance — will be questioned by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management in determining the merits of the case.

It is, in a FERS Disability Retirement case, the “Outside appearance” that will be determinative, so that no matter the extent of pain or anguish experienced by the “Inside Life”, it is the “Outside appearance” which will be the facet of evaluative validity.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

FERS Medical Retirement: Judgment and Discretion

In many ways, the two are inseparable; for, to make good judgments is to necessarily have the proper discretionary approach, and to possess the quality of discretion is the foundation for making good judgments.  It is discretion which allows for good judgment; good judgment that is dependent upon discretion.  To lack discretion, however, does not mean that one will necessarily make a bad judgment; but then, as the old saying goes, even a broken clock is “right” twice in a 24 hour period.

The judgement to prepare and formulate an effective Federal or Postal Disability Retirement application, to be filed with the U.S. Office of Personnel Management under FERS, should be based upon sound discretion in determining the available resources: Is there supportive medical documentation? Is the Federal Agency or the U.S. Postal Service initiating proceedings to make staying in one’s job untenable? Has one’s medical condition come to a point where the Federal or Postal employee can no longer continue in one’s position?

These and many more questions are often at the heart of considerations in filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits, and consulting with a FERS Attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law is often the first test in determining whether one possesses the judgment and discretion to proceed on a path which will lead to a successful outcome.

For, in the end, judgment and discretion is just as much about understanding one’s limitations in knowing about something, as it is about knowing enough about something to have the judgment and discretion to seek good counsel and advice.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire