Standard Forms are intended to restrain, contain and standardize; it is meant to make you believe that if you violate the “fence” around the physical form itself, or fail to answer specifically the questions “as asked”, that there will be a penalty to pay — i.e., in the case of a Federal Disability Retirement application before the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, a denial of one’s Federal Disability Retirement application.
For the Federal or Postal Worker who is intending on filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits through the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, the question of what to say, how much to say, and in what tone or tenor (does one presume that OPM is an “adversary”, and therefore should any submission be crafted in such a manner? Or, should the tone be more “neutral”? Hint: Whatever the proper balance of tone to embrace, OPM is not one’s close relative, and should not be approached as such); and, ultimately, whether and to what extent “continuation pages” should be attached to the forms themselves.
For FERS employees, or course, one must complete SF 3107, along with Schedules A, B & C, as well as have the Certified Summary of Federal Service completed, and if applicable, SF 3107-2, the Spousal Waiver. For CSRS, one must complete SF 2801, and again, the Schedules A, B & C and the Certified Summary of Federal Service. For both FERS and CSRS employees, the second set of forms — SF 3112A, SF 3112B, SF 3112C, SF 3112D & SF 3112E — must also be completed.
For the Federal or Postal employee, it is the SF 3112A which is the most daunting, the most important, and the one which must be thoughtfully completed. It is the first form which OPM will search for, review, analyze, compare, attack, and scrutinize, in making a decision upon one’s Federal Disability Retirement application. It is indeed a form which is “standard” in every sense of the word — in appearance; in requirement; in formatted appearance; and in the end, the level of effort and input one makes of it.
What should one’s own “standard” be in preparing, formulating and filing the Standard Form 3112A? Care, caution and a concern for coordinated completion. Yes, and by the way, the undersigned writer enjoys engaging in alliteration, assonance and consonance.
Sincerely,
Robert R. McGill, Esquire
Filed under: OPM Disability Application - SF 3112 Disability Retirement Application Package | Tagged: adversity in the road towards fers disability retirement, attorney representing federal workers for disability throughout the united states, bear in mind the different actors and perspectives in an opm disability case, being careful what you say in your federal disability application, being careful with that applicants statement of disability, federal disability attorney, fers disability retirement is not just about filling out standard form questions, filing for OPM disability retirement, is the opm "a force of evil" or just "not your close relative"?, law firm representing clients in opm disability law all across america, legal services for federal and postal workers all across america, maintaining the focus in the most important opm disability issues, objective and subjective factors in your federal disability claim, opm disability is supposed to be non adversarial but...., opm disability retirement standard forms, owcp disability retirement, postal service disability retirement, representing federal employees from any us government agency, standard forms in federal disability retirement, the most complete blog on federal disability retirement, the most important form in the federal disability retirement package: sf 3112a, the purpose of standard forms and the standard a federal disability applicant should have, the right perspective and legitimate assumptions when filling out fers/csrs disability retirement forms, three perspectives about the opm's stance with regard to a federal disability retirement application, USPS disability retirement | Leave a comment »
Federal Disability Retirement: Formulating an Effective SF 3112A
The “heart of it all” is… The medical report will provide the substantive basis; a supervisor’s statement may or may not be helpful or useful at all; legal arguments will certainly place the viability of the application for Federal Disability Retirement into its proper context and arguments which touch upon the legal basis will inevitably have their weight, impact and effect upon whether one has met by a preponderance of the evidence the legal criteria required to be eligible and entitled. All of that aside, the SF 3112A — the Applicant’s Statement of Disability — is where the heart of the matter resides in preparing, formulating, and filing a Federal Disability Retirement application under FERS or CSRS.
If a Federal or Postal employee is unsure of what to state, how to state it, or how much to reveal and state, that becomes a problem. For, ultimately, the proper balance must be stricken — between that which is relevant as opposed to superfluous; between that which is substantive as opposed to self-defeating; and between that which is informational, as opposed to compelling. Formulation takes thought and reflection. Yes, the SF 3112A — the Applicant’s Statement of Disability — is the heart of it all.
Sincerely,
Robert R. McGill, Esquire
Filed under: OPM Disability Application - SF 3112A Applicant's Statement of Disability for CSRS and FERS | Tagged: an essential tip for 3112a filling: keep in mind the requirements, attorney's legal assistance during the 3112a filling out, beware of the applicant's statement of disability, federal disability law and legal argumentation, fers disability application supervisor comments, finding the right balance in the opm disability applicant's statements, focusing on the narrative of the opm disability applicant, formulating a fers disability claims takes a big deal of effort and dedication, heart and soul of a federal employee disability application, How to write a SF 3112A Applicant's Statement of Disability, importance of using legal argumentation in your fers disability claim, legal arguments in the federal disability application, maintaining a fine balance in your statements in the applicant's statements, medical report from treating physicians for fers disability claim, medical reports in the OPM disability retirement application, narrative medical reports used in the federal disability retirement process, objectivity and legal arguments in a fers disability claim, opm disability statements made by applicant, postal supervisors and managers, SF 3112A Applicant's Statement of Disability for CSRS, SF 3112A Applicant's Statement of Disability for FERS, soundness of legal arguments used in administrative law, striving for a fair balance in sf 3112a the applicant's statements, studying your opm claim and using appropriate legal arguments, telling the medical story in the applicant's statement of disability, the applicant's control of the opm disability application and process, the applicant's medical narrative report, the best sample of a 3112a -- on that meets the basic requirements of eligibility, the limited importance of the supervisor's statements in the opm disability process, the limited power of a supervisor in the fers disability retirement process, the most important form in the federal disability retirement package: sf 3112a, the opm disability retirement applicant's errors, the supervisor's opinions during the federal disability process, tips for unrepresented opm disability applicants, what the applicant can control in the fers disability package, why the applicant's statements is such an important document in a fers disability claim | Leave a comment »