Federal Disability Retirement: The Logical Beginning Point

The consequences of information overload is that many people no longer have the cognitive capacity to make proper decisions concerning logical beginning points.  Studies have been made, with varying results, but with some indicating that the constant barrage of technological over-exposure results in stunting of that part of the brain which is generally used for making affirmative decisions.

While multi-colored MRI scans make for interesting visual commentary, from a scientific viewpoint, all that can properly be stated is some loose correspondence between certain areas of the brain and a level of activity or inactivity which can be correlated.  Regardless, it would seem logical to assume that too much of anything can negatively impact the capacity of the individual to competently engage in other activities.  Application of energy in one sector will necessarily take away the requisite capacity of engagement in another.

For the Federal or Postal employee who is suffering from a medical condition, and who is also subject to the identical volume of information overload, one may posit that life-changing decisions to be made would be exponentially exacerbated with difficulties of the fundamental nature:  “Where do I begin?”

The beginning points in preparing, formulating and filing a Federal Disability Retirement application with the U.S. Office of Personnel Management are important first steps; what consequential impact such beginning points may have upon the ultimate outcome of a case will determine the future destiny of the Federal or Postal employee.

With such important issues on the line, it may well be prudent to consult with someone “in the know”, and not let the arbitrary winds of change dictate the future course and destiny of one’s life.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

Disability Retirement for Federal Government Employees: The Weaving of Words

From working with raw materials to the final production of a work of utility with an aesthetically pleasing look, the weaver must be skilled in handling the process of creating from scratch.  It is in the very art of weaving, where the end-product notices not the imperfections of that which nature produced, that the “art form” is created.

In preparing, formulating and filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, whether under FERS or CSRS, it is important to take the materials provided — the medical condition of the Applicant; the doctors who are treating the Federal or Postal applicant; the Supervisor who will be writing up the Supervisor’s Statement; the Human Resources office of the Agency who will be completing SF 3112D — and to “weave” together from the fabric of such diverse sources, and complete a persuasive Federal Disability Retirement packet, such that the compendium of information can be presented in an “aesthetically” pleasing manner (i.e., understandable, comprehensible, and effectively streamlined in order to be convincing and compelling).

OPM is the “purchaser” of the Federal Disability Retirement application, and must be the one who accepts the “product” of a Federal Disability Retirement application.  The “weaver” must be skilled enough to put the packet together, from the raw materials provided, to the finished product.  Upon a successful “purchase”, it is then that the Federal or Postal employee will have obtained the desired result — an approval from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

Medical Retirement for Federal Workers: Stages & Particulars of a Case

One must be able to make distinctions, to bifurcate and recognize where one is at, in order to determine the course and direction of where one is going.  A writer once said that a captain who moors a ship in a harbor must know three (3) things before raising the anchor:  where it has come from; why it is here; and where it is going.  Simple enough.

The point of the simplicity, of course, is the plan of action which the three statements represent.  In preparing, formulating and filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, whether under FERS or CSRS, the parallel three directional statements might be:  Does one have a supportive doctor; does the medical condition impact the ability to perform one or more of the essential elements of one’s job; can one sufficiently prove one’s case?

A little bit more complex.  But the point is, whether in simple form or of greater complexity, it is important to know and recognize both the “larger” picture as well as the smaller one; of identifying at what stage in a process one is at, while at the same time realizing the unique and particular facts of one’s own situation, within that larger stage.

Having a purposive direction can often be difficult when one’s focus is upon trying to get better, when one’s medical conditions impact the very cognitive clarity one needs in order to proceed in that purposive manner.  Such a recognition itself — that one may need some help in a complex world — may be the greatest seed of wisdom.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire