In almost all instances, stating the obvious when filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS & CSRS is the rule to follow. Another simple rule to follow: Keep it Simple. Except in special circumstances (e.g., where there is a nebulous diagnosis and one must interweave multiple symptmatologies in order to bypass the possibility that you may be later precluded from “adding” a “new” medical condition, etc.), it is best to stick to a paradigm of a 1-to-1 ratio or correspondence of medical conditions, symptoms, impact upon work, etc.
Such a template can be dangerous to follow, however, because any Applicant’s Statement of one’s disability should never appear mechanical or stilted in its tone and tenor. Emotionalism should not be stripped from an applicant’s statement of one’s disability in a Federal Disability Retirement application and, indeed, sterility should not be a goal to be sought.
That goal should be from the treating doctor, where technical medical terms present a sense of diagnostic objectivity and scientific validity. But such simple rules as presenting the correspondence between specific physical conditions with the physical requirements of one’s job, and similarly, between specific psychiatric symptoms with the cognitive requirements of one’s job, is an important “rule” to follow. Remember, however, that filing a Federal Disability Retirement application under FERS or CSRS is not a “perfect science”; in fact, it is not a science at all, but a mix between law, personal input, and medical facts, with the creative force of persuasion.
Sincerely,
Robert R. McGill, Esquire
Filed under: OPM Disability Application - SF 3112A Applicant's Statement of Disability for CSRS and FERS | Tagged: a strategy for non-lawyers: stating the obvious instead of case-law citation, attorney representing federal workers for disability throughout the united states, differences between the opm disability applicant's and doctor's narratives, disability retirement at the USPS, disability retirement for federal employees, essential elements of jobs, explaining the medical symptoms that opm disability applicants suffer from, federal disability attorney, federal disability law blog, fers disability and stressing the obvious of a medical condition, guidelines for a successful opm disability application, guidelines for federal employees disability retirement, keep your opm disability application simple unless you got several issues, keeping your opm disability claim simple, legal services for federal and postal workers all across america, obvious essential elements of the job not so obvious sometimes, OPM disability application tips, opm disability tips for non lawyers, opm guidelines for disability retirement, owcp disability retirement, Postal disability retirement, postal disability retirement blog, Postal Service disability, representing federal employees from any us government agency, resources for injured federal workers, simplifying the complexities of a federal disability claim, the non-lawyers' guide to opm disability law, the symptoms and the diagnosis in the narrative report, The Unrepresented OPM Disability Applicant, tips for unrepresented opm disability applicants, unrepresented opm disability applicants should keep applications simple, USPS disability retirement benefits, usps disability retirement blog, when you should keep your fers disability application simple and to the point | Leave a comment »
Federal Employee Medical Retirement: Agency Tendency
A Federal or Postal Worker who has worked for any number of years, already knows (intuitively) what the Agency’s response is going to be when he or she files for Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS or CSRS: Self-protection, minimal cooperation, and a “know nothing” and “do nothing” approach. This is merely the tendency of most agencies. Every now and then, there is an exception to this general perception of how a Federal Agency will respond and react; normally, however, any such exception is merely a reflection upon an exceptional individual — a supervisor who is truly looking out both for the best interests of the agency, as well as for a Federal or Postal worker who deserves praise and cooperation as he or she enters into a difficult phase of life.
Agencies tend to respond in a “self-protective” mode; of covering itself; of being uncooperative, thinking that an individual who is filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits is (A) no longer of any use to the agency, (B) reflects badly upon the overall perception of the agency, or (C) is merely faking the disability. The truth of the matter is that a Federal or Postal employee who is filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits has probably exhausted all possible alternatives, and has killed him/herself in trying to continue to work. However, sympathy and empathy are two emotions which Agencies sorely lack in, both qualitatively and quantitatively; and as with all tendencies, it is good to be aware of them, if only to be on guard.
Sincerely,
Robert R. McGill, Esquire
Filed under: OPM Disability Actors - The Agency | Tagged: accepting opm disability clients all across america, adverse agency reaction, agency's loyalty, anticipating the agency's reaction after the opm disability filing, CSRS disability retirement federal attorney, don't always count with the support of an agency supervisor, exhausting all the alternatives for usps rehabilitation, expecting the worst from the postal service when reporting even an injury, fed up with the abusive usps workers comp system, federal agencies: falling into a self-protective mode, federal disability law blog, federal supervisor response to employee work injury, fers disability application supervisor comments, FERS disability retirement, how good is to have the agency's supporting your federal disability claim?, informing the agency about your fers disability application, injured at work and still owcp refused, law firm representing clients in opm disability law all across america, letting the agency know about your opm disability application, nationwide representation of federal employees, notifying the Agency, OPM disability retirement, opm guidelines for disability retirement, owcp disability retirement, postal service disability retirement, resources for injured federal workers, supervisors and disabled employees in the US federal agencies, tendencies among federal disability retirement actors, the agency's natural reactions to your application for federal medical retirement, the disabled federal employee and the minimal cooperation from the agency, uncooperation from the agency with opm disability paperwork, unfair agency's actions against light duty workers, usps disability blog, USPS disability retirement, USPS disability retirement benefits, what should you expect from the post office when faced with an opm claim, when supervisors show empathy and sensitivity, when the disabled federal worker gets the support she needs from agency, years in workers comp and still unable to work | Leave a comment »