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OPM Disability Retirement

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    • Accommodation and Light Duty (40)
    • Advantages of Federal Disability Retirement (27)
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    • Evaluation Of Your OPM Disability Claim – How Do I Know If I Have A Strong Case? (17)
    • Fables, Stories and Analogies about CSRS and FERS Medical Retirement Benefits (64)
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  • Past Blogs

  • Top Posts

    • Medical Retirement for Federal Employees: Getting Started
    • Contact Us
    • FERS Long Term Disability Benefits: The Edge of Doubt
    • FERS/SSDI Offsets: Major Precedent-setting Case
    • OPM Medical Disability Retirement under FERS: Messing Things Up
    • FERS Disability Retirement from OPM: Failure of Proof
    • Medical Retirement Benefits for US Government Employees: The Fears We Hide
    • Federal Employee Disability Retirement Help: From Pain to Paper
    • Federal Disability Retirement: Categories of Time
    • Long Term Disability Federal & Postal Employees: Different Arguments

Federal Worker Disability Retirement: The Tentacles of Time

Posted on April 4, 2013 by Federal Disability Retirement Attorney

Time and the negation of time is a concept which is virtually impossible to conceptualize, precisely because any thought about the concept necessarily requires the human mind to be present in the thinking process of the issue.

Thus, to consider a moment prior to the beginning of time is an intellectual act of futility, as such thought necessarily requires the imposition of one’s own mind in the moment of timelessness.  But if one grants that time must somehow involve motion, and that without movement of objects or thought, the very concept itself would become meaningless, then one can begin to comprehend the negation of time, and the requirements of such circumstances (e.g., a void, total darkness, inertia, etc.).

In the stages prior to consideration of filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, whether under FERS or CSRS, it is this state of inertia — of waiting for some movement, an indication of improvement of one’s medical conditions; of some change in circumstances, or the vain hope that things will alter for the better, which ultimately becomes damaging.  For, lack of movement or progress, in retrospect, is often the very loss of valuable time; and loss of time, when taking into account the further lengthiness of the process it takes just to prepare a Federal Disability Retirement case, then to wait for OPM to make a decision, only exponentially magnifies the time lost during the period of inertia and indecision.  The tentacles of time tend to take over the tendency to procrastinate.  Sometimes, a decision to move in and of itself is invaluable.

Deciding to file for OPM Disability benefits is a major, life-changing event; to remain in a state of inertia and negation of time is also a similarly profound event; it is just that, because there is no discernible motion of objects, it just appears as if time is standing still, when in fact the world around us continues to zip forward.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

Filed under: Reflections of an OPM Disability Retirement Lawyer | Tagged: accepting opm disability clients all across america, attorney representing federal workers for disability throughout the united states, civil service disability retirement, essential elements of jobs, fers disability blog, FERS disability lawyer, incrementing loss of time may mean delay or even failure to get your fers disability claim approve, light duty federal workers in danger of inaction, making a determination of eligibility: fers disability claims, MSPB and OPM disability retirement, negation of time and fers disability retirement, no reason to procrastinate your federal disability application, nobody will make the decision for you to file for opm disability, opm disability retirement - when procrastinating could means a deteriorating health, overcoming possible future problems in your fers disability application, overcoming the barrier that you don't have a disability, procrastinating the opm disability filing, taking a realistic approach to your medical conditions and your career with the us government, taking into account the time it takes to go through the fers disability process, the disabled federal employee and the price of inaction, the federal employee and when it's time for medical recovery and spiritual healing, the intense reservations and concerns of a disabled federal worker may drag him to inaction, the most complete blog on federal disability retirement, the negation of time and federal disability retirement, the risk of a federal employee's inaction after a disability, the time it takes to get your federal disability going through the waiting period to hear from the opm a decision, the time to make up a decision for filing disability with government, time considerations during the federal disability retirement village, time to deal with the fers disability claim, time/process issues in OPM disability retirement, USPS disability retirement, when it is time to move on, why procrastination won't help your federal employee disability retirement filing | Leave a comment »

Federal Employee Medical Retirement: The Human Narrative

Posted on March 31, 2011 by Federal Disability Retirement Attorney

Ultimately, of course, a Federal Disability Retirement application under either FERS or CSRS is based upon a “human narrative” — delineating, describing and revealing (sorry — I could not think of an appropriate third word in this attempted alliteration which begins with the letter “d”) an individual’s story of one’s medical condition, the impact upon such condition upon one’s ability/inability to perform the essential elements of one’s job, and the further impact upon one’s routine of daily living (yes, we tend to forget that third part on SF 3112A, which asks about how one’s medical condition impacts other aspects of one’s life).  

Is it a story which “touches” someone at the Office of Personnel Management?  If one reads enough of the denial letters from the Office of Personnel Management (and only an attorney who handles such cases would have access to denial letters other than the one which is addressed to a particular applicant), one begins to realize that the Case Worker at the Office of Personnel Management is merely applying a set of legal criteria in a mechanical, almost assembly-line like manner.  

There is very little humanity involved in the review and determination by the Office of Personnel Management.  Now, one may argue that there could not be “another way” of making a determination — for, to show human emotion, compassion, sympathy or empathy would be contrary to the mandate of “the law”, and that is probably true.  One hopes, however, that the human narrative which is described in the Applicant’s Statement of Disability touches — in some way — such that it triggers a determination of approval based upon the law.  This, because if it is merely “the law” which is applied by OPM, then that implies that one must “know the law”; and knowledge of the law is rarely shown, and even more rarely applied, by the Office of Personnel Management.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

Filed under: OPM Disability Application - SF 3112A Applicant's Statement of Disability for CSRS and FERS | Tagged: a human narrative and the federal disability law, a story of human suffering behind an opm disability application, attorney representing federal workers for disability throughout the united states, CSRS disability retirement federal attorney, essential elements of jobs, federal disability lawyer, FERS disability retirement, how will an opm disability specialist rate your disability claim, language and human condition in the 3112, law firm representing clients in opm disability law all across america, making a determination of eligibility: fers disability claims, OPM disability retirement, opm disability retirement and the story of human suffering, opm's reviews for federal disability elegibility, postal service disability retirement, representing federal employees from any us government agency, SF 3112A Applicant's Statement of Disability for FERS, story of human tragedy, the daily life of a federal worker struggling with a serious illness, the human side of the fers disability application, the impact of a human story, the law in federal disability retirement and the criteria of elegibility, the patient's own account on opm disability retirement, usps denial of injury compensation, USPS disability retirement, what to write in the 3112a? | Leave a comment »

  • More on CSRS & 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.
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