CSRS & FERS Medical Disability Retirement: 2012 and Beyond

The designation of the year as “2012” is, from a historical perspective, an artifice.  Different countries and cultures have other methodologies of identifying the continuum and sequence of the cyclical seasons.  

Whatever the artifice, however, the reality of daily living remains an encounter which must be dealt with, and for Federal and Postal employees who suffer from one or more medical conditions, who are contemplating preparing, formulating and filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits from the Office of Personnel Management, the first step in the process is often the hardest, but the one which must be taken in order to make any advances for the coming year.  

Whether that “first step” constitutes contacting an attorney, obtaining the blank forms (SF 3107 series and SF 3112 series for FERS employees; for CSRS employees, SF 2801 series and SF 3112 series), talking to one’s treating doctor(s), etc. — it is the first step which is the hardest but the most significant.  

Days advance; weeks go by; the “new” year steadily marches towards the half-way point, then beyond.  Procrastination is often a self-protective mechanism of human beings — but one which is contradictory and often leads to self-harm.  Don’t let the days pass by, lest the year go to waste.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

Postal and Federal Disability Retirement: The Excuse to Wait

There is rarely a good reason to wait to file for Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS or CSRS.  Often, the Federal or Postal employee will engage in seemingly important work which provides a justifying “reason” for not filing at the moment.  Thus, engaging in an appeal against the former Federal agency or Postal service to refute the termination or separation from service; waiting to see if the Agency will place you on a PIP; waiting for another medical test result; waiting for…  

The waiting syndrome is similar to the “what if” syndrome — of coming up with multiple hypotheticals and scenarios in diverting the attention needed to begin to prepare, formulate and file a Federal Disability Retirement application.  The fantasy world is an enjoyable and satisfying world.  

The world of reality — of facing the inevitable events leading to the necessity to prepare, formulate and file a Federal Disability Retirement application under FERS or CSRS — can be a much harsher one to face.  Procrastination and “not thinking about it” is a survival mechanism which we all trigger when the necessity arises.  It is as Heidegger’s proposition that we engage in multiple projects in our lives in order to avoid facing the inevitable and ultimate event.  But procrastination and delay often complicates the very thing which we need to focus upon.  

When filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits becomes an emergency — because of time, finances, and the need to put a case “quickly” together — it can present a problem.  Most problems, however, can be overcome; it is a matter of focusing upon the problem, evaluating it, dissecting it, and then solving it.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire