• Home
  • About Me
  • Contact Us
  • Copyright
  • Credentials

OPM Disability Retirement

Entries RSS | Comments RSS
  • Pages

    • About Me
    • Contact Us
    • Copyright
    • Credentials
  • Archives

  • Categories

    • Accommodation and Light Duty (40)
    • Advantages of Federal Disability Retirement (27)
    • Agency’s and/or Supervisor’s Actions (44)
    • Application, Appeals, and Other Medical Documentation Submitted To the OPM (44)
    • Burden of Proof (30)
    • Clarifications of Laws or Rules (161)
    • CSRS Disability (1)
    • Eligibility Criteria (18)
    • Evaluation Of Your OPM Disability Claim – How Do I Know If I Have A Strong Case? (18)
    • Fables, Stories and Analogies about CSRS and FERS Medical Retirement Benefits (78)
    • Federal Disability Judge-Made Decisions Quoted (35)
    • FERS Disability (10)
    • Important Cases, Legal Updates and/or the Current Process Waiting Time (49)
    • Life after Federal Disability Retirement (21)
    • LWOP and Sick Leave in OPM Disability (12)
    • Mental/Nervous Condition (49)
    • Miscellaneous (177)
    • OPM Disability & OWCP Workers Comp Filings (45)
    • OPM Disability & SSA Social Security Disability Benefits (40)
    • OPM Disability & VA Benefits (4)
    • OPM Disability Actors (288)
      • OPM Disability Actors – The Agency (54)
      • OPM Disability Actors – The Applicant (79)
      • OPM Disability Actors – The Attorney (55)
      • OPM Disability Actors – The Doctor (53)
      • OPM Disability Actors – The Human Resources Office (17)
      • OPM Disability Actors – The MSPB Administrative Judge (6)
      • OPM Disability Actors – The OPM Representatives (31)
      • OPM Disability Actors – The Others (9)
      • OPM Disability Actors – The Supervisor (13)
    • OPM Disability Administrative Law (Statutory and Non-Statutory Law) (13)
    • OPM Disability and a Hostile Working Environment (11)
    • OPM Disability Application (187)
      • OPM Disability Application – SF 3112 Disability Retirement Application Package (29)
      • OPM Disability Application – SF 3112A Applicant's Statement of Disability for CSRS and FERS (62)
      • OPM Disability Application – SF 3112B Supervisor’s Statement for CSRS and FERS (9)
      • OPM Disability Application – SF 3112C Physician's Statement for CSRS and FERS (15)
      • OPM Disability Application – SF 3112D Agency Certification of Reassignment and Accommodation Efforts for CSRS and FERS (7)
    • OPM Disability Process (160)
      • OPM Disability Process – 1st Stage: OPM Disability Application (36)
      • OPM Disability Process – 2nd Stage: OPM Reconsideration Stage (28)
      • OPM Disability Process – 3rd Stage: MSPB Stage (17)
      • OPM Disability Process – 4th Stage: Petition for Full Review at the MSPB (4)
      • OPM Disability Process – 5th Stage: Federal Circuit Court of Appeals (2)
    • OPM Disability Retirement & EEOC Complaints (4)
    • OPM Medical Questionnaire (8)
    • Post-Application Issues (19)
    • Pre-Application Considerations (454)
    • Professional & Expert Witnesses (5)
    • Reasonable Medical Treatment and Compliance Issues (6)
    • Reflections of an OPM Disability Retirement Lawyer (2,062)
    • Resigning or Being Separated From a Federal Agency for Medical Problems or Other Reasons (34)
    • SF 3112 Forms (11)
    • Specific Medical Conditions (29)
    • The Job of a Federal Disability Attorney (80)
    • Theory and Practice: Tips and Strategies for a Successful Application (204)
    • U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) (21)
    • U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) (80)
    • U.S. Postal Service (USPS) Disability Retirement (36)
    • Uncategorized (363)
    • When the OPM Application Is Approved (14)
    • When the OPM Application Is Denied (94)

Federal Disability Retirement Attorney: The Second, Reconsideration Stage

Posted on March 26, 2015 by Federal Disability Retirement Attorney

It is not a reflection upon the validity of one’s medical condition; a denial from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management can mean multiple things, not the least of which may include:  insufficient proof failing to rise to the level of satisfying the preponderance of the evidence standard.

Federal Disability Retirement applications are compiled in a myriad of manners; yes, the standard forms themselves tend to compel a certain semblance of conformity, but ultimately the strength of a case will depend upon the supportive documentation attached, and here is “the rub”:  there still exists the “human element” in the reviewing analysis of a Federal Disability Retirement application.

Yes, certain sets of legal criteria are applied (but who and how are they interpreted in their application?); and while satisfaction of the legal criteria is supposed to be determined by the general principle of “preponderance of the evidence“, who and what complies with meeting such a standard?  How is such satisfaction determined?  Such questions, of course, imply a human element in the administrative process of an OPM Disability Retirement review, and whether we like it or not, reveals an underlying connection to imperfection and fallibility.

There is no mathematical algorithm of mechanistic applications which will completely correct the underlying problems inherent in human review within the context of a bureaucratic process.  Fortunately, however, the process itself contains a self-corrective device: different stages and levels of review, which allows for the Federal employee or the U.S. Postal worker to provide additional supportive documentation in order to reinforce and strengthen one’s Federal Disability Retirement case.

There are limitations, however, and that is why “corrective action” at the Second, Reconsideration Stage of the administrative process of Federal Disability Retirement is just that — it is to “correct” the mistakes, lapses and inherent lack identified in the original Federal Disability Retirement packet.  The “limitations” are set by law, and are determined by how one characterizes one’s medical conditions in the Statement of Disability as perpetuated on SF 3112A.

Care should always be taken, of course, in the initial preparation of a Federal Disability Retirement application, whether the Federal or Postal employee is under FERS, CSRS or CSRS Offset, and before it is forwarded through one’s agency to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.  But in the end, one must recognize that the entirety of the administrative process is one which involves multiple stages of a bureaucratic procedure, and the Second, Reconsideration Stage is merely another level of self-regulating refinement to ensure that the human element, including mistakes and misapplication of the law, is expunged to the extent possible, and instead, that the objective application of the law is uniformly dispensed in order to reach a statistically acceptable algorithm of fairness and impartial determination.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

Filed under: OPM Disability Process - 2nd Stage: OPM Reconsideration Stage | Tagged: a proven trial-and-error methodology to get you qualified for federal disability retirement under fers or csrs, a top fers federal disability retirement attorney, additional evidence of medical conditions during appeal with fers medical retirement attorney, administrative actions against federal employee whose claim was denied, administrative fers medical retirement attorney, advice from an usps medical retirement attorney after a denial of benefits, american federal employee's medical retirement attorney, appealing an unfavorable decision from the opm with a top fers disability retirement lawyer, appealing denial refusal from op with fers medical benefits lawyer, appealing or refiling for federal disability retirement under fers/csrs, application and appeal stages for federal employee disability retirement, articles by postal medical retirement lawyer about the second appeal process in a fers disability retirement claim, asperger’s syndrome and fers disability retirement benefits denied to federal employee, attorney for federal governement employees with disabling conditions, attorney representation before the office of personnel management (opm), awol for excessive sickness & opm medical retirement, awol for sickness disabled postal government employee, benefits on opm usps disability retirement, benefits payments for federal and postal employment with disabling conditions, benefits under opm medical retirement laws, claiming disabilities opm for usps workers, correcting and strengthening your federal disability retirement claim after an initial denial, csrs & fers attorney for disabled employee wrongful termination, csrs and fers annuity payments for postal employees, csrs disability retirement attorney, csrs light duty attorney, dealing with a federal disability retirement denial of benefits, dealing with the OPM bureaucracy, definition of physical disabilities in fed government employees opm laws, degenerative lumbar disk fers medical attorney, depression and anxiety fers attorney, disabilities services opm attorney, disabilities that qualify for opm medical retirement, don’t give up with a first denial of medical benefits from the opm, federal disability employment and chronic medical conditions, federal disability retirement appeal attorney for fers health limitation claims, federal disability retirement appeal under fers, federal employee with physical limitations and a denied claim appeal fers lawyer, federal fers disability retirement attorney, fers and csrs postal employee terminated medical reasons in need of opm impairment retirement lawyer, fers disability attorney helping tampa area federal employees and the rest of the country, fers disability crohn's cases, fers disability retirement reconsideration, fers lawyer assistance with doctor's narrative report, fers med claims, fers retirement with ptsd, fers sf 3112 for stress leave, future opm medical insurance benefits, getting additional medical evidence for the opm medical retirement appeal, getting approved with fers federal disability retirement attorney, getting updated medical records for reconsideration opm stage, government attorney for opm med claims, health retirement benefits for federal government employees, how an attorney can help you in the second stage of the opm medical retirement process, how to file for opm early out for incapacity annuity payments, how to qualify for fers annuity payments for postal employees, how to sign up to get opm disability retirement if I am a federal employee, is the american way to give up after losing the first round of the federal disability process?, legal advice from top attorney working to get disability retirement even after the office of personnel management denies claim, living a healthier life with postal medical retirement, long lwop sick leave for stress lawyer, long sick leave because of stress in the federal government, long term incapacity postal medical retirement, louisiana state postal injury lawyer, lower back injury fers disability appeals lawyer, lwop for sickness or fers medical retirement benefits, lwop payments danger advice from top fers disability attorney, mail carrier with mental disabling conditions seeks postal lawyer specialized only with opm medical retiremen, mail-processing buyouts of postal employees with incapacities, medical fers claims, opm disability process filing complains attorney, opm owcp medical retirement lawyer for injured postal workers seeking early out, partial disabling condition opm employee attorney, pension denied for disabling conditions and hiring a successfull fers attorney, post office attorney for fers medical pension annuities, pro disabled or injured federal employee fers opm attorney, pro employee fers opm attorney, retirement opm attorney for incapacitated postal workers, second stage opm disability retirement process, securing opm med benefits with federal lawyer, some further thoughts on the opm reconsideration stage, specialized opm disabilities attorney for postal & government employees, standard opm application to get a pension benefits with the u.s. postal service, successful federal attorney representation for government employees, successful federal employee attorney representation, the opm case worker at the second stage of the federal disability retirement process, the second stage of the federal disability retirement process, us government fers employee lawyer, us postal service owcp, usps attack on postal workers' sick leave rights forcing them to medical retirement filing, usps awol med or mental reasons, USPS disability retirement, usps employee with insomnia issues retirement, when the opm denies your federal disability retirement application | 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.
  • Calendar

    May 2022
    S M T W T F S
    1234567
    891011121314
    15161718192021
    22232425262728
    293031  
    « Apr    
  • Top Posts

    • About Me
    • FERS Medical Retirement: The Subtlety of Minimalism
    • FERS/SSDI Offsets: Major Precedent-setting Case
    • FERS & CSRS Disability Retirement: Back-Pay
    • Credentials
    • SF 3112D
    • Medical Retirement under the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS): Money
    • OPM Disability Attorney Help: Turning the Proverbial Corner
    • OPM Disability Retirement Application: In the Modern Age
    • Postal and Federal Employee Disability Retirement: Progressive Deterioration
  • Archives

Blog at WordPress.com. WP Designer.

  • Follow Following
    • OPM Disability Retirement
    • Join 178 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • OPM Disability Retirement
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar