Because the term “accommodations” is rarely understood in its technical and legal sense, there is often the danger of a Federal or Postal employee who is filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS or CSRS to “shoot one’s self in the foot” in the very use of the term — or in checking certain boxes on the application form (specifically, SF 3112A, Applicant’s Statement of Disability), and further, there is the added danger that the Agency, in completing a Supervisor’s Statement or the SF 3112D, will mis-apply and mis-state the import, significance or relevance of any actions taken in attempting to assist the Federal or Postal employee.
Indeed, in a Supervisor’s Statement (SF 3112B) there are many instances in which the Supervisor completing the form will contradict him/herself when it comes to the issue of accommodations. Moreover, the applicant him/herself will often mis-state the issue of accommodations on SF 3112A.
The term “accommodations” has a very narrow definition, and must be used and applied to the advantage of the Federal or Postal employee who is filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS or CSRS. Additionally, it is not out of the realm of possibilities that the Office of Personnel Management also (whether deliberately or by chance) uses the very misuse (by the Applicant) of the term to its advantage. In all cases, the term “accommodations” must be used and referred to carefully, technically, and with full insight of all of its consequences in the use or misuse of the word.
Sincerely,
Robert R. McGill, Esquire
Filed under: Accommodation and Light Duty, Reflections of an OPM Disability Retirement Lawyer | Tagged: a common fallacy: I won't qualify for disability retirement if the federal agency accomodates me, accommodation efforts in the 3112a, accommodation under OPM disability law, blogs owcp and opm disability issues, civil service disability, CSRS disability retirement federal attorney, disability retirement for postal workers under limited duty, disability retirement opm legal accommodation, excessing light duty from post office, federal disability law blog, federal workmans comp limited duty capacity, FERS disability retirement, how federal managers define adequate accommodation in the workplace, ill postal workers and lack of viable accommodation plans in the usps, incentives to light duty employees to remain productive, injury compensation and light limited duty, law firm representing clients in opm disability law all across america, legal accommodation for Postal workers, legal accommodation under fers disability rules, light duty accommodation retirement, light duty and limited duty concepts in the federal workplace, light duty and reasonable accommodation, limited duty and rehab employees in the postal service, limited duty assignments united states postal service, minor job adjustments are not accommodations under fers disability law, nationwide representation of federal employees, one more warning about the 3112a and "accommodation efforts" by your agency employer, OPM disability retirement, owcp accommodations, postal service disability retirement, real accommodation under federal disability retirement law, reasonable accommodation of federal workers, Standard Form 3112D, the disabled federal worker and accommodation issues at the workplace, the perception of accommodation among federal supervisors, the postal service's influence on disability matters through the sf 3112d, the postal supervisor and the sf 3112b, using the legal definition of accommodation in the 3112a, usps accommodation, USPS disability retirement, usps light duty is usually not real accommodation under opm disability rules, usps management reasonable accommodation, what's really legal accommodation under the fers and csrs statues | Leave a comment »
FERS & CSRS Disability Retirement for Federal and USPS Workers: The Limitation of Agency Actions
Often, in the process of filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS or CSRS, the client will ask the question, “Well, doesn’t that prove that I can’t do the job?” Such a question invariably points to some action by the Agency — a letter or a memorandum; a statement which the Supervisor made, etc. While it may be true that the Agency believes that a Federal or Postal employee is unable to perform, or is not performing, all of the essential elements of the job, remember that actions of the Agency can never replace the affirmative burden of proof that one is unable, medically, to perform the essential elements of one’s job.
One must keep in mind that the Office of Personnel Management is a separate Agency which is not necessarily in communication with the Agency which employs the Federal or Postal employee. The “mindset” of the Agency is not being considered by the Office of Personnel Management. Whatever the motivations of the Agency in doing what it is or will do, is to a great extent irrelevant to OPM. What the Agency is doing may well indicate “proof” as to other issues — i.e., inability to accommodate; acknowledgment that certain essential elements of one’s job is not being performed, etc. — but it does not prove that an individual is unable, as a result of a medical condition, to perform all of the essential elements of the job. Only a doctor can do that.
Sincerely,
Robert R. McGill, Esquire
Filed under: Agency’s and/or Supervisor’s Actions | Tagged: about the opm disability support claim from the us agency, accepting opm disability clients all across america, agency's influence in disability retirement, agency's influence on the opm disability claim is limited, agency's influence versus power to grant opm disability, attorney representing federal workers for disability throughout the united states, building a strong disability claim in the federal workplace, communication among federal agencies, disability retirement at the USPS, disability retirement for federal employees, federal disability is not determined by agency that employs you, federal disability lawyer, federal employee disability, federal supervisor response to employee work injury, fers disability and communication issues among federal agencies, fers disability application supervisor comments, FERS disability lawyer, FERS medical retirement, how much can a fed employer influence the fers disability application?, how to prove a federal employee disability claim, injured federal employee: don't wait for the agency to do things right, law firm representing clients in opm disability law all across america, legal services for federal and postal workers all across america, opm disability and the stated support from your agency, OPM disability attorney, owcp disability retirement, personal injury in a federal agency, proving you are eligible to medically retire from the federal government, representing federal employees from any us government agency, representing federal employees in and outside the country, statutory requirements in OPM disability law, the applicant's and the agency's legal arguments over opm disability, the influence of the agency in an fers disability claim is minimal, the lack of communication among the opm and your federal employer, the limited power of a supervisor in the fers disability retirement process, the most influential person in the fers disability retirement the, the perception of accommodation among federal supervisors, the real power of the agency in cases of opm disability, USPS disability retirement benefits, usps supervisors and their impact on the postal employee's disability, when the agency seeks non-adversarial removal | Leave a comment »