Postal and Federal Disability Retirement: The Vicious Cycle

The circle is the sign of perfection; from the center, the equality of distance to the perimeter of the geometric figure; it also represents an endless cycle, whether of a process, a routine, or of life itself.  The qualitative nature of the circle, however, can be quite different from individual to individual.  Thus, for some, it is described as a “vicious cycle”  — where the circularity of a process feeds upon itself.

Entrance into the repetitive viciousness of the cycle often begins with an interruption, an incident or an issue which does not get immediately resolved in a positive manner.  For the Federal or Postal employee whose options have become limited because of a medical condition, the circularity of the vicious cycle involves the attack, counterattack and adversity engaged in between him/herself and the agency for which he/she works.  Thus, going head-to-head with the agency in a repetitive, endless cycle is an obvious indicator that it is time to contemplate Federal Disability Retirement.

In preparing, formulating and filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, whether under FERS or CSRS, the issue of an agency’s attitude towards the whole process should be taken into account — NOT as to the impact that the agency may have upon filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits, but rather, on the more important issue of whether one has a choice to file or not.

That endless cycle — that perfect geometric circle?  It also represents the truism that once the roller coaster begins, it self-perpetuates, and keeps going on the same, repetitive, circular, and endless path of adversity and persecution.  Only the Federal or Postal employee him/herself has the power to get off from the endless cycle — by filing for Federal Disability benefits.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

Disability Retirement for Federal Workers: Once the Decision is Made

It is often the decision itself which is the greatest hurdle in preparing, formulating and filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, whether under FERS or CSRS.  The decision itself is the all-encompassing beginning point, the obstacle which must be reviewed, analyzed, discussed, and ultimately overcome.

Once that decision is made, then the floodgates open with respect to the approach, the procedural issues, the time-frame within which to file, the garnering of support from one’s doctor; the legal avenues and pitfalls which must be confronted; the financial burden which must be faced and adjusted to; contending with issues at work; whether to inform the agency’s Human Resources office at this point or when the Federal Disability Retirement application has been prepared and is ready for submission; whether and what to discuss or hint at with one’s supervisor; which medical information to include or merely weave throughout the narrative of one’s Applicant’s Statement of Disability; the problem of quantifying in a substantive manner one’s medical conditions; how best to characterize the essential elements of one’s job; the connecting of all of the dots; the building of the nexus between one’s positional description and the medical conditions suffered.

These are merely a few of the issues which must be confronted once the decision to proceed is made.  Federal Disability Retirement is an important decision to embrace; it should be treated in accordance with its important status.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

Medical Retirement for Federal Workers: Narrowing the Options

In preparing, formulating and filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS or CSRS, clarification of the direction, purpose and choices/options available is often helpful in compiling an effective and compelling Federal Disability Retirement case.  

Often, there is hesitancy in preparing the application, and such hesitancy and pause are a sign that there is a part of the Federal or Postal worker who is hoping that the medical condition will either resolve itself, or that somehow — in some nebulous and obscure thought-processes — procrastination will result in resolution and continuation in the career one has chosen.  

Narrowing the options with a perspective of reality-based evaluation of one’s situation, however, is important in taking the initial steps.  “Preparation” constitutes thinking about the various options, including questioning the circumstances of one’s medical history, present reality, and future expectations.  

Thus, some questions might be:  Can I continue to work at this job until retirement?  If I continue to work at this job till retirement, will my health have been impacted so detrimentally that I will be in a debilitated state such that “retirement” would be a meaningless goal?  What is my doctor saying?  Will my doctor support me in an application for Federal Disability Retirement benefits?  How is my agency acting/reacting?  Will they continue to tolerate less than full performance and productivity?  What are my choices — work till retirement, file for Disability Retirement, or walk away without anything?  

Such narrowing of choices and options, through proper questioning, is the initial preparatory step in preparing, formulating and filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits, whether under FERS or CSRS, from the Office of Personnel Management.  

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

OPM Disability Retirement: Advancing from Thought to Action

In speaking with thousands of Federal and Postal employees, it is the pervasive thread of the final step which emanates from the uniqueness of each case, where the realization of that which separates the personal circumstances from the “rest” of us, can be summarized as follows:  The career of the Federal employee; the dedication and loyalty shown; the acknowledgment of how much our ego, our self-worth, and sense of who we are is dominated by the perception of what we do in the working compartment of our lives; and as Vonnegut said so eloquently, “So it goes”.  

In preparing, formulating and filing a Federal Disability Retirement application under FERS or CSRS, it is that “final step” which is so difficult to take — of transitioning from thought to action, from theoretical construct to practical application; of accepting a diminution, and ultimate elimination, of continuing to engage in that worthy endeavor variously called, “a career”, “one’s profession”, or the answer to the question which every encounter poses:  “So, what do you do?”  And it should be understandable.  

So much of one’s life is taken up by one’s work, that to consider the option because of circumstances beyond one’s control — of a medical condition which has come to impact one’s ability to perform the essential elements of that which defines the Federal or Postal employee — is a difficult step to take.  But it is better to control the options available than to allow for circumstances to dictate one’s future; better to work out a timetable than to submit to an emergency; and better to drive a graceful road, than to be forcibly strapped into a roller coaster.

The step from thinking about filing for Federal Disability Retirement, to acting upon it, is a major event in one’s life.  But to delay, procrastinate, and ultimately allow for others to determine one’s destiny, is an option worse than taking the necessary step.  Indeed, it is no option at all, but an uncontrolled event.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

Postal and Federal Disability Retirement: The Decision to Act

Often, the most difficult decision to make is the decision to act itself.  Where careers are about to end; where financial impact and unforeseen consequences (as Adam Smith once stated) may ensue; where deteriorating professional and personal relationships have progressively exploded; the daily stresses of the modern world refuse to provide for the necessary time often needed to recuperate, become rehabilitated, and slowly heal from a chronic and intractable medical condition.  For, that is often what is needed — time.  Medical conditions are peculiar events; surgery, medication regimens, therapy (physical or cognitive), require that one ingredient which the modern world cannot provide — time.  

For Federal and Postal employees who are suffering from a medical condition which lasts for a minimum of 12 months, there is the option of filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS or CSRS.  While there is certainly a formidable “pay in cut” (Federal Disability Retirement benefits provide an annuity of 60% of the average of one’s highest 3 consecutive years of pay for the first year, then 40% every year thereafter), what the disability annuity does provide for is the time for rehabilitative recuperation, whether physical, cognitive or psychiatric.  

In deciding the avenue of preparing, formulating and filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS or CSRS, often the most difficult decision to make is the decision to act.  Once that major “life-decision” is made, the mechanical aspects of acting will naturally fall into place.  It is the act of deciding which is the first act of all; thereafter, the play will naturally proceed.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire