Medical Retirement for Federal Workers: August, Vacations, & OPM

August is traditionally a time of vacations; a period of respite, before the onset of school and the busy schedules of parents.  Government offices slow down, and with the coinciding impact of furloughs mandated through automatic imposition, delays in work and accomplishment of cases become incrementally evident, like reverberations from the slow moan of an earthquake.

The lazy slapping waves mixed with the taste of sea salt may lull the vacationer into an isolated sense of calm and quietude; but for the Federal or Postal worker suffering from a medical condition, who is contemplating filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, or who is in the midst of the process of formulating one’s case, or for those who have already filed and are merely anxiously awaiting a decision — that time of temporary rejuvenation is a needed escape, despite never being able to fully separate oneself from the medical condition which impacts one’s life.

That is the strange phenomena of a medical condition — unless it has been a lifelong condition, it is a part of one’s existence and being which only constitutes a minor percentage of the entirety of one’s lifetime; yet, it often consumes the greater portion of one’s thoughts, actions and ruminations, and undermines that time of leisure known popularly as a “vacation“.

Medical conditions are a reality to be dealt with; vacations are optional times of leisure; and filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, whether under FERS or CSRS, is a choice which allows for a combination of the two:  a time of respite in order to become rehabilitated, and to recuperate in order to deal with the reality of a medical condition.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

Federal Employee Medical Retirement: The Clarion Call that Never Comes

Medical conditions are often subtle in their subversive impact — a slow, progressively deteriorating manifestation, characterized by pain, depletion of energy and stamina, and with manifestations of symptoms which may not be immediately noticeable with a passing glance.

Most of us meet and greet each other with hardly a glance; of “hello-how-are-yous” as polite niceties which are never meant to be seriously responded to; and in the course of such brief human contact, would not know — nor care to be informed of the details — of how a person truly “is” in the context of his or her life, medical condition, or well-being.

For the Federal or Postal employee who suffers from a medical condition such that the medical condition prevents one from performing one or more of the essential elements of one’s job, being ignored at work by one’s peers, coworkers and supervisors may have become a daily and expected occurrence.

In Medieval times, a clarion call represented a clear and loud trumpeting announcing an event, a call to action, or perhaps the arrival of someone of significance, relevance and importance.  For the Federal or Postal employee who may have to consider filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, whether under FERS or CSRS, an expectation of an analogous call may never come, should not be waited upon, and likely will not occur.

Quietude is the pervasive norm in a society which is impersonal and unable to address each other with compassion or empathy.  Don’t expect a clarion call to be the focal point in deciding to act upon one’s medical condition; it is a call which will likely never be trumpeted, nor heard even if made.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

FERS & CSRS Disability Retirement for Federal and USPS Workers: Vacations

Vacations are a necessary part of the modern world; the stress of work, the burn-out factor, the recognition that the constant treadmill of daily toil, all serve to tear down and destroy the motivational underpinnings of every worker.  It is a temporary respite; a time of rejuvenation and, hopefully, more than merely an opportunity to complete chores which otherwise are left undone.  It is also a time of reflection and assessment.

For those preparing, formulating, and contemplating filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, vacations often merely illustrate the intractable nature of one’s medical condition, and the absolute necessity to change one’s course in life.  The chronic nature of a medical condition, by its nature of progressively deteriorating one’s body or mind, reveals itself when a vacation is taken:  the shortness of the time period of the vacation serves to emphasize the seriousness of the medical condition; the medical condition itself manifests the fact that a week, a couple of weeks, or even a month, are not long enough to contend with the progressively deteriorating nature of the disability or chronic condition.

Time for reflection allows a person to face the reality of an impending occurrence.  That is often a good thing.  One of the criteria which must be met in a Federal Disability Retirement application is that the medical condition must last for a minimum of 12 months.  One does not have to wait for the 12 months; one does not have to be unemployed or on LWOP for 12 months.  Rather, the prognosis for the medical condition is such that the condition must prevent one from being able to perform one or more of the essential elements of one’s job for a minimum of 12 months.

On a vacation, the Federal or Postal employee will often recognize that time is short.  Reflection is a positive thing; necessary changes, upon reflection, often become exposed, and it is often a time when the coalescence of three factors comes about:  thought, words, then action.  It is the latter of the three which determines the course of a positive future.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

Medical Retirement Benefits for US Government Employees: Seasons

In preparing, formulating and filing a Federal Disability Retirement application under FERS or CSRS, there is often the seasonal rhythm of individuals, which present a collective sense of predicatability as an Agency because agencies are comprised of individuals.

Thus, for instance, the month of August is predictably slower for the Office of Personnel Management than the other months of the summer, precisely because so many Federal employees take their vacation. Christmas, New Years, the Easter break, and the Memorial and Labor Day holidays all provide a rhythm of seasonal slowdowns. Such seasonal pauses, however, should be a time to utilize and increase productivity for the Federal or Postal employee who is contemplating filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS or CSRS.

Indeed, when the pace of work is slower and agencies temporarily wind down because of the seasonal slowdown, it is an opportune time for the Federal or Postal worker to attend to the medical needs by resting or recuperating and, if the critical decision-making point has arrived in terms of making a decision to file for Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS or CSRS, it is a time to begin to gather the necessary information as a preliminary matter.

While certain components which comprise the entire packet of a Federal Disability Retirement application may be delayed because of the seasonal slowdown (e.g., the Supervisor may be on vacation because of the season; or the doctor may be away, etc.), nevertheless, the foundational groundwork of preparing the request to the doctor or the supervisor, or submitting the request for medical records, etc., may be initiated.

Slowdowns are seasonal opportunities for preparation; preparation is the key to a successful outcome; and while a slower pace is often a time of frustratingly slow response time, it is the meticulous care that is taken in the slower period which results in the success of a venture.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire