OPM Disability Retirement System: The Numbness of Inaction

Much of our lives are spent on waiting; waiting upon others to complete their portion of a task as a precondition of doing our part; waiting upon a pet to finish their “business”; waiting in line to purchase an item; waiting online for whatever ethereal micro-data transfer to occur in electronic language akin to bitcoin transactions; and waiting to get beyond puberty, across the threshold into manhood so that one’s folly of actions haven’t damaged too severely the potentiality of one’s existence; and, in the finality of life, upon death and the hereafter.

Thus is youth waiting upon folly to end; middle age, a remorseful reflection upon wasted days; and old age the suffering from the want of yore.  And, of course, there is the waiting hours for those with medical conditions — in doctor’s offices for the verdict of a future or lack thereof; and for Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers, often a meandering loss of direction, waiting upon one’s agency for…often not more than administrative actions and sanctions leading to a “performance improvement plan” (what is generally referred to by its acronym, the “PIP”), and to proposed removals and other sanctions.

Free advice:  Don’t ever wait upon an agency to do its part in any right manner; always act without regard for the agency’s expected answer.  Otherwise, the wait will simply result in a crisis of time.  For Federal and Postal employees who suffer from a medical condition, such that the medical condition prevents one from performing one or more of the essential elements of one’s positional duties, waiting upon an agency for anything is but mere folly regurgitated from the days of one’s youth.

Sitting around bemoaning the lack of action by an agency, is tantamount to being a middle-aged crumple of impotence; and expecting that an agency will be patient during one’s days of trials is like being an old man in a nursing home waiting upon death.  If you haven’t figured it out by now, agencies and the U.S. Postal Service do what they want to do, when they decide they want to do it, whatever the “it” is.

Filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits through the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, whether the Federal or Postal worker is under FERS, CSRS or CSRS Offset, is a duty requiring affirmative action by the Federal or Postal employee, where the onus is entirely upon the Federal employee or the U.S. Postal worker.

As waiting is merely a time of inaction, so the numbness of sitting around waiting upon others occurs as a result of atrophy of life; and the numbness of inaction will merely magnify in the loss of mobility for the future, where a Federal or Postal worker sits with an expectation of a future void, until such time as one is prompted into an awareness that it is action which leads to consequential substance, and not the inaction of inertia.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

Federal Employee Disability Retirement from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management: Procedural Hurdles

Bureaucratic complexities have become a part of everyday life.  When societies become entrenched in administrative procedures, where the process itself is paramount over the substantive goals intended to achieve, and the proper filing of standard forms cannot be ignored lest the conformity of all is undermined by the exception of the singular; then, it is declared that progress has been made, the height of civilization has been achieved, and the pinnacle of human inventiveness has been reached.

Whether one agrees with the satire of bureaucratic conundrums or not, the reality is that the inherent complexities of government must be contended with, and attempting to subvert or otherwise evade the necessity of completing standardized procedural methodologies is an act of futility bordering on rebellion.

For injured/ill Federal employees and Postal Workers who must consider filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits, whether one is under FERS or CSRS, or even CSRS Offset, the importance of overcoming procedural hurdles cannot be overstated.  SF 3112A, SF 3112B, SF 3112C & SF 3112D must be completed for all Federal and Postal employees filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits, whether one is under FERS, CSRS or CSRS Offset; and for FERS Federal and Postal Workers, one must also complete SF 3107 (as opposed to SF 2801 for CSRS & CSRS Offset Federal and Postal employees).

And, while there are ways to provide additional addendum information beyond that which can fit within the neat spaces provided on the standard forms themselves, nevertheless, it is necessary to follow the rules and abide by the bureaucracy of conformity.  Yes, administrative hurdles are a headache and a difficulty to overcome; but, no, you cannot ignore them, as the reality of administrative and bureaucratic headaches is a constancy we must live with in a society deemed to be the pinnacle of human achievement and progress.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Attorney