Medical Retirement Benefits for US Government Employees: The Waiting

We wait in lines and on telephones; we wait for the mail and to be served in restaurants and supermarkets; waiting is a necessity, based upon a closely-held belief that the end-product for which we expend such virtues as patience is worthy of the investment of time. There is always a quick calculation which must be engaged before the waiting can begin; of weighing the importance of the service or product to be received, in conjunction with the time it will take to attain the goal of receipt, and in further consideration of the comparative value of other things “to do”.

For the Federal or Postal Worker who is filing for Federal disability Retirement benefits from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, whether the Federal or Postal Worker is under FERS or CSRS, the worth of waiting must always be balanced with the proverbial question, “For what?”

Waiting for a Federal agency or the U.S. Postal Service to initiate an action which may or may not impact a Federal Disability Retirement application is normally not “worth” it, for such a wait may never produce anything fruitful. Waiting because to do otherwise — to act — will incur efforts of cognitive or physical exhaustion is something which will only delay an inevitable need, and is therefore unwise to engage, is something that must be often countered by sheer force of will.

On the other hand, once a Federal Disability Retirement application is filed with the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, the real game of waiting begins, and one which no one has very little and limited control over. For, ultimately, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management — the agency which has the authority to approve or deny a Federal Disability Retirement case — has the cards which count, and the requested product of the goal to attain: a decision on a Federal Disability Retirement application filed by the Federal or Postal Worker.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

Federal and USPS Disability Retirement: First Impressions

The older generation often refers to the importance of “first impressions” — of the firmness of one’s handshake; of whether eye contact is made to betray secretiveness; the clothes one wears; tattoos and the number of body piercings; all are evidence of first impressions left for future judgment.

While such initial encounters may not reveal the true “inner” person, they nevertheless leave an indelible and lasting imprimatur upon those who rely upon such an approach.  Whether one likes it or not is besides the point; first impressions are psychological realities which one must deal with in this harsh world.

For those who prepare, formulate and file for Federal Disability Retirement benefits through the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, whether under FERS or CSRS, the Federal or Postal applicant must understanding that one’s formulation of one’s case is merely one of thousands, and the Case Worker who is assigned to the case, upon an initial review and analysis, will be left with such a first impression.

The methodology of evidentiary presentation; the conciseness of the Statement of Disability; the coordination and support of the medical evidence; all will depend upon the manner and content of the presentation.  Too many tattoos, and the grandmother-characteristic in the Case Worker may turn up a nose; not a firm enough handshake, and the old-man sense in another Case Worker may pause with concern.

First impressions; it is how one approaches a case, as much as the presentation of the evidence, in preparing, formulating and filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, whether under FERS or CSRS.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

Early Medical Retirement for Disabled Federal Workers: Those Important First Steps

It is often the period of initial preparation of a process which is important in setting a solid foundation for the insurmountable security and solidity of a case.  That truism is arrived at through retrospective reflection; but when one is frantically attempting to reach the end-goal, the frenzy of trying to get there is the very problem which derails a case.

When the Federal or Postal employee finds that a medical condition impacts and prevents one or more of the essential elements of one’s job, and further, that the Federal agency or the U.S. Postal Service is beginning to voice “grumblings” about one’s performance, to include excessive use of SL or LWOP; or, worse, one finds that a PIP has been issued, and one is thus subjected to the microscopic assessment of one’s work, including the number of times you use the restroom — panic sets in.

But quickly compiling a volume of medical records and hastily submitting a Federal Disability Retirement packet through one’s Human Resources office is the wrong approach.  For, ultimately, it is not one’s own agency which has anything to do with a OPM Disability Retirement application; rather, it is the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, a completely separate agency, which renders a decision on all Federal Disability Retirement applications, whether under FERS or CSRS.

That is why preparing the initial steps in compiling a persuasive Federal Disability Retirement application is crucial; it will determine the later consequences of success or failure.  Thus the age-old adage:  Penny wise but pound foolish; or more aptly, get your ducks in a row early.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill
FERS Disability Attorney