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    • Accommodation and Light Duty (40)
    • Advantages of Federal Disability Retirement (27)
    • Agency’s and/or Supervisor’s Actions (44)
    • Application, Appeals, and Other Medical Documentation Submitted To the OPM (44)
    • Burden of Proof (30)
    • Clarifications of Laws or Rules (161)
    • CSRS Disability (1)
    • Eligibility Criteria (18)
    • Evaluation Of Your OPM Disability Claim – How Do I Know If I Have A Strong Case? (18)
    • Fables, Stories and Analogies about CSRS and FERS Medical Retirement Benefits (78)
    • Federal Disability Judge-Made Decisions Quoted (35)
    • FERS Disability (10)
    • Important Cases, Legal Updates and/or the Current Process Waiting Time (49)
    • Life after Federal Disability Retirement (21)
    • LWOP and Sick Leave in OPM Disability (12)
    • Mental/Nervous Condition (49)
    • Miscellaneous (178)
    • OPM Disability & OWCP Workers Comp Filings (45)
    • OPM Disability & SSA Social Security Disability Benefits (40)
    • OPM Disability & VA Benefits (4)
    • OPM Disability Actors (288)
      • OPM Disability Actors – The Agency (54)
      • OPM Disability Actors – The Applicant (79)
      • OPM Disability Actors – The Attorney (55)
      • OPM Disability Actors – The Doctor (53)
      • OPM Disability Actors – The Human Resources Office (17)
      • OPM Disability Actors – The MSPB Administrative Judge (6)
      • OPM Disability Actors – The OPM Representatives (31)
      • OPM Disability Actors – The Others (9)
      • OPM Disability Actors – The Supervisor (13)
    • OPM Disability Administrative Law (Statutory and Non-Statutory Law) (13)
    • OPM Disability and a Hostile Working Environment (11)
    • OPM Disability Application (187)
      • OPM Disability Application – SF 3112 Disability Retirement Application Package (29)
      • OPM Disability Application – SF 3112A Applicant's Statement of Disability for CSRS and FERS (62)
      • OPM Disability Application – SF 3112B Supervisor’s Statement for CSRS and FERS (9)
      • OPM Disability Application – SF 3112C Physician's Statement for CSRS and FERS (15)
      • OPM Disability Application – SF 3112D Agency Certification of Reassignment and Accommodation Efforts for CSRS and FERS (7)
    • OPM Disability Process (160)
      • OPM Disability Process – 1st Stage: OPM Disability Application (36)
      • OPM Disability Process – 2nd Stage: OPM Reconsideration Stage (28)
      • OPM Disability Process – 3rd Stage: MSPB Stage (17)
      • OPM Disability Process – 4th Stage: Petition for Full Review at the MSPB (4)
      • OPM Disability Process – 5th Stage: Federal Circuit Court of Appeals (2)
    • OPM Disability Retirement & EEOC Complaints (4)
    • OPM Medical Questionnaire (8)
    • Post-Application Issues (19)
    • Pre-Application Considerations (454)
    • Professional & Expert Witnesses (5)
    • Reasonable Medical Treatment and Compliance Issues (6)
    • Reflections of an OPM Disability Retirement Lawyer (2,081)
    • Resigning or Being Separated From a Federal Agency for Medical Problems or Other Reasons (34)
    • SF 3112 Forms (11)
    • Specific Medical Conditions (29)
    • The Job of a Federal Disability Attorney (80)
    • Theory and Practice: Tips and Strategies for a Successful Application (204)
    • U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) (21)
    • U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) (81)
    • U.S. Postal Service (USPS) Disability Retirement (36)
    • Uncategorized (363)
    • When the OPM Application Is Approved (14)
    • When the OPM Application Is Denied (94)

OPM Disability Retirement: Avoiding the Streets of London Past

Posted on April 1, 2014 by Federal Disability Retirement Attorney

Filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits is a serious matter. There are often whispering lamentations about individuals “gaming” a system, or somehow taking deliberate “advantage” of a compensatory program in place, targeted for specific needs.  Of course, there will always be those few individuals who are caught manipulating an inherent weakness in an administrative process; but the fact that there may be a minority of negatives does not betray the compendium of positives within any given system.

OPM Disability Retirement, in the end, is one of the most thoughtfully enacted systems within the greater universe of Federal programs.

First, it is narrowly targeted with great specificity — to Federal and Postal Workers who suffer from a medical condition such that the medical condition prevents them from performing one or more of the “essential” elements of their positional duties.

Second, it requires a minimum eligibility requirement, both in substantive terms as well as procedural:  the FERS Federal employee must have a minimum of 18 months of Federal Service; the CSRS Federal employee must have a minimum of 5 years of Federal Service; and the condition must last for at least 12 months (this latter requirement does not mean that the Federal or Postal employee must be unable to work at all for 12 months, but merely that the treating doctor must be able to state, within reasonable medical probability, that the medical condition will last for a minimum of 12 months).

And, third, it does not penalize the Federal or Postal Worker from remaining productive in a second, alternative vocation.  The Federal and Postal Worker who receives a Federal Disability Retirement annuity is allowed to go into the private sector and make up to 80% of what one’s former Federal or Postal position currently pays, in addition to the receipt of the annuity.  Thus, in essence, it is a “self-paying” system in that it allows for the annuitant to pay “back into” the system, thereby maintaining the viability of the entire Federal Disability Annuity program for future applicants and annuitants.

It is rare among Federal Programs because of its thoughtful approach and well-planned process, as well as being successful in its outcome and current workings.

For critics who attempt to savage all such compensatory programs in an indiscriminate manner by pointing to weaknesses in the system, the following should be noted: the American Society long ago wisely decided to avoid the London streets of Dickens’ universe, where human debris of homelessness and poverty prevailed on the streets of a city now gone, and instead attempted to create a more caring and empathetic civilization.

Until and critic suffers from the devastation of a medical condition, you never quite know what it is like to be in the shoes of that Federal or Postal employee who daily toils to try and work, but cannot because of the progressively deteriorating disability which has devastated life, hope, and dreams of a better tomorrow.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

Filed under: Clarifications of Laws or Rules | Tagged: a disability system that encourages people to keep themselves busy, a disability system that have been paid in advance just like different private disability insurance policies, a federal system that promotes productivity, a second chance to be helpful and productive, a system that encourages disabled federal employees to remain productive, a thoughtfully designed disability program which encourages federal employees to continue working and paying taxes, addressing critics of the federal employee disability retirement program, blog, compassion in federal disability retirement laws, conscientious to be useful and productive even with a disability, CSRS disability retirement federal attorney, disability retirement is indeed part of the total compensation package, educating critics of the federal disability retirement program, federal disability retirement is not total disability, FERS disability retirement, getting a benefit you earned it as a former federal employee, healthy federal employees with lack of empathy toward the elderly and the handicap will be the most likely group to oppose any type of compensation system for the latter group, how quiet calamities can destroy federal workers gradually and among the lack of compassion from other employees, how the 'I' becomes a 'we' in a society which values productivity but also social justice, incentives to light duty employees to remain productive, internal check and balances in fers medical claims, lack of information and/or compassion about opm disability retirement may lead to unfair criticism to the fers and csrs disability programs, law firm representing clients in opm disability law all across america, nationwide representation of federal employees, no apologies for medical and social circumstances you can't control, no need to demonize the federal disability retirement system because of a minority, opm disability is not welfare, opm disability retirement benefits are not about trying to game the system, postal employment and no apologies for an earned medical benefits, pride or shame to admit a disability in the federal workplace, taking advantage of the system?, testing darwin theories with the compassion embodied in some federal disability laws, the compensatory program which encourages applicants to keep themselves busy, the disabled federal worker that wants to be productive after medical retirement, the opm disability system actually encourages people to work and be productive, the other chance to be productive for a federal or postal worker, the pragmatic social policy behind federal disability retirement laws, the reason some healthy federal employees criticize the federal disability retirement system is for lack of information about the program, the truth about federal disability retirement, there will be always a minority of people who will be taking advantage of the system, usps disability is a long-term disability program but not total disability either, USPS disability retirement, value of a human being not defined by disabilities, viewing fers disability retirement as a disability insurance you paid in advance with hard work, when co workers lack compassion towards the disabled federal employees, when compassion ends law begins: federal disability retirement, why federal disability retirement is a fair system, you may be entitled to opm disability benefits but you may not get them | Leave a comment »

Disability Retirement for Federal Workers: The Benefit Needs No Apology

Posted on May 23, 2011 by Federal Disability Retirement Attorney

A Federal Disability Retirement annuity under FERS or CSRS allows one to receive an annuity because the Federal or Postal employee is no longer able to perform one or more of the essential elements of one’s job.  

Under FERS, while the Federal or Postal employee is required to apply for SSDI to determine if one is concurrently eligible for that benefit (and, if one is, to have an offset between SSDI and FERS), most Federal and Postal employees fail to qualify for SSDI precisely because he or she is not “totally disabled” (the general legal standard for SSDI eligibility), but merely unable to perform one or more of the essential elements of one’s particular Federal or Postal job.  

This allows for two consequential benefits which help both the society at large as well as the individual Federal or Postal employee:  It allows the individual to have the necessary time for recuperation and healing from one’s medical conditions, and further, it provides for the former Federal or Postal employee to seek other employment in the private sector, and be able to make up to 80% of what one’s former Federal or Postal position currently pays.

Thus, many Federal Disability Retirement annuitants go on to become employed, productive and tax-paying individuals, contributing to the very tax-base which pays for the Federal Disability Retirement annuity.  It is, in many ways, a “pay-as-you-go” system, and is self-sustaining precisely because it is not purely benefit-dependent, but has a great percentage of benefit-recipients actually paying back into the system.  

As a social policy, it is an inherently intelligent system, and requires no apologies for its intelligent design.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

Filed under: Reflections of an OPM Disability Retirement Lawyer | Tagged: am I allowed to work with fers disability retirement?, attorney representing federal workers for disability throughout the united states, beginning a new life after illness and a federal job, disability retirement and life after usps, entitled to federal disability benefits, fdr and ssdi offset or interaction, federal disability law blog, federal disability retirement is not total disability, FERS disability retirement, fers disability retirement is not a total disability system, former federal workers under disability retirement are allowed to work, life after the opm disability application, looking ahead in life after federal disability retirement, opm disability is not welfare, OPM disability retirement, opm requires to file for ssdi benefits but not to get approved, owcp disability retirement, postal service disability retirement, recuperating from an illness after working for the federal government, setting priorities in the life of a disabled postal worker, social policies at work for disabled federal workers, The 80% OPM Disability Rule, the federal worker and recuperating from a permanent injury, the pragmatic social policy behind federal disability retirement laws, there is life after the fers disability approval letter, usps disability blog, usps disability is a long-term disability program but not total disability either, USPS disability retirement, viewing fers disability retirement as a partial disability benefits program | Leave a comment »

OPM Disability Retirement: Logic versus Pragmatic Social Policy

Posted on February 2, 2011 by Federal Disability Retirement Attorney

In a Federal Circuit Court case a few years ago, a dissenting opinion concerning Federal Disability Retirement benefits argued that it was “contrary to logic” to allow for Federal or Postal employees to become eligible for Federal Disability Retirement under FERS or CSRS if they have been accorded light duty and allowed to remain in his or her official position while not performing many of the essential elements of the job.  

The “logic” which is argued here is based upon the paradigm that, so long as one is allowed to continue to work and receive a paycheck, one should not be considered “disabled”.  But such an argument refuses to acknowledge both the law (under the Bracey v. OPM decision), as well as good economic and social policy.  

The fact is that under Federal Disability Retirement rules, laws and case-laws, what the Administrative Judges and Courts have acknowledged is that a Federal or Postal worker should not be subjected to the arbitrary whims and actions of a single supervisor or Agency; instead, there should be a criteria upon which a Federal or Postal worker should be able to rely upon.  That objective criteria is in essence as follows:   A Federal or Postal worker should have to perform all of the essential elements of one’s job.  If not, that Federal or Postal worker is deemed “disabled” under the laws governing Federal Disability Retirement benefits.  

While an Agency may allow for light duty, or temporary assignments, such light duty or temporary assignments should not preclude the obvious fact that the Federal or Postal worker continues to remain disabled.  This way, there is an objective criteria of the law to be followed, which cannot be altered based upon the arbitrary whim of a Supervisor or an Agency, who may come along a year later and disallow all light duties or temporary assignments.  Thus, in this case, the social and economic policy as envisioned under the Federal Disability Retirement rules, regulations and laws, are not only pragmatic, but logical.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

Filed under: Accommodation and Light Duty | Tagged: accommodation of federal employees, allowing a disabled federal employee to retire early, assigning a temporary duty to a postal employee, condition that prevents to perform the essential functions, criteria opm uses to figure out if an employee is disabled and unable to work, decisions by the federal circuit court of appeals, different laws and standards of disability, disability laws for postal workers, disability retirement opm legal accommodation, essential elements of jobs, Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, federal laws retirement, going to federal circuit courts on federal employment disability issues, how to become eligible for federal disability retirement, important decisions in opm disability retirement by federal circuit courts, lawyer representing postal workers, light duty accommodation versus disability retirement, light duty and reasonable accommodation, limited duty assignments united states postal service, logical consistency in the whole fers disability retirement application, opm disability case laws, opm law firm and client consultation and feedback, opm law firm clients, owcp accommodations, philosophical pragmatism to the domain of opm disability law, reasonable accommodation of federal workers, social policies at work for disabled federal workers, temporary duties or assignment, temporary job assignments to injured federal employees, the disabled federal worker and accommodation issues at the workplace, the logical consistency of the federal disability laws in the the long run, the perception of accommodation among federal supervisors, the pragmatic social policy behind federal disability retirement laws, the sacred laws of doctrine, the scrutiny of the administrative law judge, unable to continue working as a federal worker, usps accommodation, what disability really means under laws that protect disabled federal employees, when the federal government doesn't accommodate you | Leave a comment »

  • More on CSRS & FERS Disability Retirement

    • eZineArticles.com Article: The 1 Year Statute of Limitations
    • Federal Disability Retirement Laws, Medical Conditions, and the Intersecting Complications with OWCP, Social Security and FERS & CSRS
    • Federal Disability Retirement: The Full Arsenal of Weapons
    • FedSmith.com Article: Revisiting "Accommodation"
    • FedSmith.com Article: Sometimes the Process is just as important as the Substance of an Argument
    • Latest PostalReporter.com Article: Causation in a Federal Disability Retirement Case
    • Understanding the Complexities of the Law
    • USPS Disability Blog: The National Reassessment Program, the Agency and the Worker
  • Other Resources for Federal and Postal Employees

    • Articles Published in the Postal Reporter
    • FAQs on OPM Disability Retirement
    • FERS Disability Attorney Profile at Lawyers.com
    • Main Website on Federal Disability Retirement
    • OPM Disability Blog
    • The Postal Service Disability Retirement Blog
  • Seven False Myths about OPM Disability Retirement

    1) I have to be totally disabled to get Postal or Federal disability retirement.
    False: You are eligible for disability retirement so long as you are unable to perform one or more of the essential elements of your job.  Thus, it is a much lower standard of disability. 

    2) My injury or illness has to be job-related.
    False: You can get disability even if your condition is not work related.  If your medical condition impacts your ability to perform any of the core elements of your job, you are eligible, regardless of how or where your condition occurred.

    3) I have to quit my federal job first to get disability.
    False: In most cases, you can apply while continuing to work at your present job, to the extent you are able.  

    4) I can't get disability if I suffer from a mental or nervous condition.
    False: If your condition affects your job performance, you can still qualify. Psychiatric conditions are treated no differently from physical conditions.

    5) Disability retirement is approved by DOL Workers Comp.
    False: It's the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) the federal agency that administers and approves disability for employees at the US Postal Service or other federal agencies.

    6) I can wait for OPM disability retirement for many years after separation.
    False: You only have one year from the date of separation from service - otherwise, you lose your right forever.

    7) If I get disability retirement, I won't be able to apply for Scheduled Award (SA).
    False: You can get a Scheduled Award under the rules of OWCP even after you get approved for OPM disability retirement.
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