Postal and Federal Disability Retirement: Encounters, Problems, Worries…

The entire process of preparing, formulating and filing a Federal Disability Retirement application under FERS or CSRS should necessarily anticipate encounters with potential pitfalls, problems, and issues as they appear and erupt, which concern and impact the Federal or Postal employee at every stage of the long procedural process.

This is a natural part of the application process, precisely because the Federal or Postal employee is suddenly making contact with a multiplicity of personnel and issues:  notification to the agency that one is no longer able to perform one or more of the essential elements of one’s job; filing for a benefit which requires the admission and revelation of the most personal of information — one’s medical condition; encounters with the Human Resources department of one’s agency, one’s treating doctor, one’s supervisor, etc.; the filling out and completing of multiple forms which may determine the outcome of the success or failure of an endeavor which will impact upon one’s financial future and plans; as well as encountering a multitude of other issues, people, and problems in the course of attempting to prove that one is eligible by a preponderance of the evidence for a benefit called, “Federal Disability Retirement”.

Throughout the process, it is important to have the guidance of knowledgeable personnel.  However, there is an important distinction to be made between knowledge and information; there is an infinite plenitude of the latter; the former is what one needs to seek.

As the process of preparing, formulating and filing a Federal Disability Retirement application under FERS or CSRS is a long and challenging process, it is best to anticipate unexpected and unanticipated encounters, worries and problems throughout the process, and to prepare to meet, overcome, and answer each one as they appear.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire
OPM Medical Disability Retirement Attorney

 

OWCP Payments & FERS/CSRS Disability Retirement

There are many Federal and Postal workers who have been receiving OWCP payments (Temporary Total Disability benefits) for years.  Such payments can, indeed, continue for many years, or for a few months, depending upon the length of time it may take for a medical condition to persist.  

The problem with relying upon OWCP as a retirement system is that, strictly speaking, it is not a retirement system.  The Department of Labor can begin the process of sending the benefit recipient to a “Second Opinion” doctor, and the process of attempting to cut off OWCP benefits has thus begun.  

Further, there is often the problem of reliance upon OWCP, resulting in a Federal or Postal worker failing to file for Federal Disability Retirement benefits within 1 year of being separated from Federal Service.  This sometimes happens because the Federal or Postal Worker begins to feel secure in the monthly OWCP benefit, and because it pays a higher rate than FERS or CSRS Disability Retirement benefits.  However, one should never be fooled by the tenuous nature of OWCP — it is not meant to be a retirement system, and most Federal and Postal workers who have experienced first-hand the treatment by OWCP/DOL will attest to the fact that they can be sudden, arbitrary, and difficult to deal with.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

OPM Disability Retirement: Problems with the OWCP Paradigm

The problem with basing one’s future stability upon an “OWCP Paradigm”, or “model”, are multiple in nature.  To begin with, you cannot work at another job while receiving OWCP temporary total disability payments.  Thus, while you may be an injured worker, and unable to perform the essential elements of your Federal or Postal job, you may nevertheless be able to be productive in some other capacity, and may be capable of starting a business or working in some other field.  This is true if you are on OPM Disability retirement:  You can go out and get another job, and make up to 80% of what your former position currently pays, and continue to receive your disability annuity.  This is a good deal, in my view, because it provides an incentive to go out and become productive, and to plan for the future. 

Furthermore, OWCP/Department of Labor is notorious for cutting off benefits at the first sign that you are anything less than fully cooperative with their dictates.  OWCP may send you to a “second opinion” doctor who finds that you are “completely recovered”, thereby endangering your Worker’s Comp benefits.  Or, in order to save money, they may dictate to you that you must work as a Wal-Mart greeter, and pay you the difference between a menial job (not of your choice) and what they are paying you.  If you refuse, OWCP may simply ascribe what they believe you can earn, and pay you the difference — or not pay you anything.  While OWCP has procedures for appealing decisions, it is a long and arduous road to take.

These are only some of the problems associated with basing one’s future upon a Worker’s Compensation paradigm.  That is not to say that one should not file for and accept OWCP payments — it definitely pays more, and for a temporary period of payments in order for an injured Federal or Postal employee to remain financially solvent in order to recover from one’s work-related injuries, it is a good program.  As a paradigm for planning for one’s future, however, there is much to be desire.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire