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FERS & CSRS Disability Retirement: OPM’s Methodology II

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When the Office of Personnel Management approves an OPM disability retirement application, as I stated in the previous article (OPM’s Methodology), they will normally choose to approve it based upon only one of the listed disabilities. This is because, from OPM’s viewpoint, if the applicant lists multiple medical disabilities, once OPM reaches any one of the listed disabilities and finds that one of them is a basis for an approval, there is no further need for OPM to review the remaining medical conditions.

This methodology requires that future applicants consider the consequences of such a method: it is essential that the applicant base a disability retirement application upon only essential, significant medical conditions, normally best to list them in the order of significance, and further, to document a case in the order of severity.

While I have not heard of a disability retirement application being approved based upon a non-essential, minor medical condition, it is wise not to rely upon the off-chance that OPM might base an approval upon a medical condition that is somewhat “thrown in” as an afterthought, into the applicant’s statement of disability. In other words, it is not a good idea to “throw in the kitchen sink” at the last moment, thinking that by multiplying the quantity of medical conditions listed, that OPM will see how “serious” one’s medical condition is. Remember, it is not the totality of many medical conditions that is important; rather, it is the list, however small, of those medical conditions that prevent one from performing one or more of the essential elements of one’s job.

Sincerely,
Robert R. McGill, Esquire



OPM Disability Retirement: Which Disabilities To List

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When I look at a potential disability retirement case, I find it helpful to look at the case not only prospectively, but retrospectively. While not a “rule” cast in stone, when the Office of Personnel Management approves a disability retirement case, it will normally attach a page which identifies which disability — normally one, often two, sometimes three — was/were the basis for the approval.  Thus, it is important when preparing a disability retirement packet and application, to identify which medical disabilities will be listed and depended upon; and further, once is it approved, it is helpful to look to the future, for there is a random chance that every 2 years or so, you will be selected to answer a Medical Questionnaire to determine if you are still disabled.

Thus, if you list a minor medical condition, and you get approved for that minor medical condition, if you recover from that condition, you can potentially lose your disability retirement benefits in the future. (Note:  for those of you who are my clients, please do not worry; no client of mine who has received a Medical Questionnaire has ever lost his/her disability annuity)   Thus, it is important to identify those medical conditions which are the “most serious”, and base your medical disability retirement packet upon the most serious, long-term disability first –before listing secondary or additional medical disabilities.  This is not to say that you should not list more than one medical disability; indeed, in preparing my packets for my clients, I will often list more than one, but I do it in sequential fashion, and when I put together my legal memorandum in arguing my case on behalf of my client, I constantly refer back to the central medical disability.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire


Posted in OPM Disability Application, OPM Medical Questionnaire, Post-Application Issues, The Job of a Federal Disability Attorney, U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM), When the OPM Application Is Approved Tagged: central medical disability, considering future issues from the beginning, CSRS disability retirement, disability federal employee, disability retirement at the USPS, federal disability attorney's advice, FERS disability retirement, FERS medical retirement, if the opm disability applicant has several medical issues, keeping a watchful eye the opm medical questionnaire, legal & foundational argument, legal memorandum, maintaining your csrs disability annuity, medical condition(s), Medical Questionnaire, more on the opm medical questionnaire, most serious conditions, multiple medical disabilities federal employee, nationwide representation of federal employees, opm disability and planning for the future, OPM disability application tips and strategies, OPM Initial Stage, Post Office disability, Postal Service employee advocate, pragmatic methodology, preparing for a strong fers disability case, representing federal employees in and outside the country, representing us government disability employees anywhere, statutory requirements in OPM disability law, USPS disability retirement, when the opm follows up your disability retirement claim, when there are several medical conditions, your future financial health may depend on the opm questionnaire

OPM Disability Retirement: The End Goal

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The goal at the end of the process is to obtain that “approval” letter from the Office of Personnel Management.  It resolves and sets aside the months of anxiety and stress compressed into a time of agonizing suspension from life’s ability to move forward; for, during that time of waiting, one cannot “move forward”, because without the knowledge of whether one can obtain the financial benefit of the Federal Disability Retirement annuity under FERS or CSRS, one cannot make the decisions in life to make plans for the future. 

It is of great satisfaction to an attorney to reach the “end goal” — to hear from the client that he or she has received the letter of approval from the Office of Personnel Management, and to hear the relief and joy in the voice of one who finally sees “light at the end of the tunnel” constitutes great professional satisfaction for the representing attorney.  It means that the proper medical narratives were gathered; that the description of the client’s medical conditions and their impact upon the essential elements of one’s job was properly formulated; and it means that the legal argument presented to the Office of Personnel Management was persuasive.  Client satisfaction means alot to an attorney; for one who solely specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law, to see the end product — the obtaining of a Federal Disability Retirement annuity — is of great professional satisfaction.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire


Posted in OPM Disability Actors - The Attorney, When the OPM Application Is Approved Tagged: an attorney who spends 100% of his time in federal disability retirement, apply for postal disability, approving a federal disability retirement application, CSRS disability retirement, csrs disability retirement and the satisfaction on a job well done, disability from post office, endless waiting for the opm to process disability application, federal disability attorney, federal disability law and legal argumentation, federal employee medical retirement, federal postal employee disability, FERS disability retirement, financial certainty for the postal worker after months of illnesses, finding job and satisfaction in a job well done, law firm solely focused on their opm disability specialty, lawyer expert in Federal Disability Retirement law under FERS & CSRS, lawyer for opm disability, lawyers for postal disability claims, life after the opm disability application, looking ahead to your future after opm disability approval, medical retirement civil service due to non-job related disability, medical retirement from federal government, moving forward in life after the opm disability approval letter, moving on with your life after the end of the opm process, narrative medical reports used in the federal disability retirement process, opm application and approval process, opm disability approval letter, opm disability law firm, OPM disability retirement, opm federal employees disability pension, patience while waiting the opm to process disability approval, Postal Service disability, retirement and federal owcp, the end of the opm disability process, the federal attorney who solely specializes in federal disability law, the federal disability attorney's greatest professional satisfaction, the goal of the opm disability retirement lawyer, the greatest personal satisfaction a fers disability attorney can have, the job of a federal disability retirement attorney, the silver lining, the top leading attorney in federal employee disability retirement, the usps postal service and injuries in the workplace, uncertainty and stress in the wait to get fers csrs disability, us postal service owcp, USPS disability retirement, waiting for an answer from the opm about disability, when the disabled federal worker finally gets the good news, writing a successful personal narrative report

CSRS & FERS Disability Retirement: OPM May Say So, But… (Part 2)

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Then, of course, there are the multiple “other” issues which the Office of Personnel Management “says so”, such as failure to pay the full amount of back-pay due; failure to compute the average of the highest-3 consecutive years correctly; reinstating the full amount of FERS once a person becomes no longer eligible for Social Security Disability benefits; arbitrarily and capriciously deciding that the medical report is not “good enough” in answering a post-disability approved, Medical Questionnaire; failing to compute the earned income in any given year properly, and thereby informing the disability retirement annuitant that he or she earned over the 80% limit of what the former federal employee’s former job currently pays; and a host of other issues.  My specialty is in obtaining disability retirement benefits for my clients; I only selectively get involved in post-disability annuity issues, but the point here is that the Office of Personnel Management has a track-record of being in error, in multiple ways, on multiple issues, in volumes of cases. 

It is thus important to recognize that the Office of Personnel Management is not an infallible agency.  Far, far from it, they are merely made up of people who are subject to error, but often stubbornly so — unless you counter their denial in an aggressive, but calm and rational manner.  If a denial comes your way, do not get distressed; prepare your case well, and lay out the groundwork necessary to win.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire


Posted in Post-Application Issues, U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM), When the OPM Application Is Approved Tagged: answers about financial compensation for ill or injured federal workers, computation of disability retirement for federal employees, CSRS disability retirement, earned opm income concept computation and mistakes, errors in the high-3 salary computation, federal disability attorney, federal disability law firm, federal employment law and disability retirement, federal postal employee disability, FERS disability retirement, filing disability with the postal service, full fers disability computation after not longer being eligible for ssa disability, getting out of ssa disability but staying on fers disability, how to respond to a wrong financial computation from opm, if you get approved for federal disability retirement..., in what possible ways can the opm make mistakes in computation of benefits?, lawyer for opm disability, Medical Questionnaire, meeting the criteria of eligibility for csrs disability retirement, OPM disability retirement, opm's arbitrary computation of medical disability benefits, opm's error track-record, post-disability annuity issues, Postal disability retirement, postal worker injury good federal attorney, problems opm might give you after federal disability, questions about opm paying for the months of disability before approval, request for immediate medical retirement for federal workers, retirement and federal owcp, social security disability owcp, supplements to opm disability are ssa disability or additional earned income, the discouraged and injured postal worker, the excessive opm's record in making disability approval mistakes, the high-3 computation for medical retirement for ill federal workers, the role of an attorney in a federal disability case, time to plan a successful federal disability outcome for the postal worker, under postal disability law you can still work outside the usps, us government employee disability benefits, us postal service disability retirement, us postal service owcp, USPS disability retirement, usps immediate disability retirement, usps injured employees cases, what happens after the federal or postal workers gets disability approval, when the opm acts capriciously with your disability computations, will the opm back pay me all these months I was on disability?, winning a federal disability retirement claim, with opm disability retirement you can still work

OPM Disability Retirement: Always the Long Term

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Always remember that Federal Disability Retirement under FERS or CSRS must be looked at for “the long term”.  Even after one obtains and secures the benefits under Federal Disability Retirement (annuity, health insurance, etc.), one must always be vigilant in protecting the benefit — for you can always be selected randomly to answer a Medical Questionnaire.  I often tell my clients after securing an approval for his or her Federal Disability Retirement benefits, that now that you have it, you will never lose it unless you are “stupid”.  By “stupid”, I do not mean that it is impossible to lose it; only that you must be either recklessly careless, or thoughtless, in losing the benefit. 

There are different ways of losing the benefits received under Federal Disability Retirement:  the two most commons ways are –  making more than the allowable 80% of what your former job currently pays or failing to properly answer the Medical Questionnaire.  The former needs constant and careful planning when you get a job; the latter requires that you carefully monitor the answers provided by your treating doctor.  Whichever the case may be, it is important to take any correspondence received from the Office of Personnel Management seriously — whether before, during, or after the process of obtaining Federal Disability Retirement under FERS or CSRS.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire


Posted in Clarifications of Laws or Rules, Life after Federal Disability Retirement, OPM Medical Questionnaire, When the OPM Application Is Approved Tagged: being careful about your opm disability pension, can they cancel your opm disability retirement benefits?, careful planning after getting approved for fers disability, civil service disability, civil service disability retirement, CSRS disability retirement, danger of losing federal disability retirement benefits, disability retirees from the federal sector, disability retirement at the USPS, disability retirement benefits for federal workers, disability retirement for federal employees, does opm disability include health insurance?, eighty percent rule, federal disability attorney, federal employee disability and the dangers of acting in haste, federal government medically retiring, FERS CSRS Disability Retirement for Federal Workers, fers disability health insurance program, FERS disability lawyer, FERS disability retirement, filing for OPM disability retirement, giving up your disability retirement retirement without knowing, help for federal employees, how to lose your federal disability retirement benefits, injured federal workers, is there a way I can lose my opm disability retirement annuity?, keeping a watchful eye the opm medical questionnaire, looking at the long term when getting disability retirement, losing opm disability benefits, Medical Questionnaire, medical retirement from the usps, nationwide representation of federal employees, obtaining benefits under federal employee disability law, one thing federal disability retirees must take into account, opm disability annuities and the danger of making too much money, OPM disability attorney, OPM disability retirement, owcp disability retirement really is usually meant "opm disability retirement", pensions plans for injured federal workers, Post Office disability, postal workers injury attorney, protecting your federal disability annuity, representing federal employees from any us government agency, representing federal employees in and outside the country, taking the opm medical questionnaire seriously, taking your federal disability retirement seriously, The 80% OPM Disability Rule, the potential for getting a Medical Questionnaire, USPS disability retirement, ways to lose your federal disability benefits, what to do after getting approved for federal employee disability?, what to do after securing your federal employee disability benefits, will I get health insurance with federal disability retirement?, your future financial health may depend on the opm questionnaire

Medical Retirement Benefits for Federal & Postal Employees: Reminder

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If a Federal or Postal Employee files for Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS or CSRS, remember that:  (A)  You are not required to stop working, as most people for economic necessity continue to work, and (B)  If you stop working, and you are not using your Sick Leave or Annual Leave, but are out on LWOP, remember that once you obtain an approval for your Federal Disability Retirement, that back-pay will be paid all the way back to your “last day of pay”, and not to the last day you “worked”. 

In other words, if you are out on LWOP for three months (as a hypothetical), and on the day before you are approved for your OPM Disability Retirement, you receive a paycheck from your Agency for 1 hour of SL or AL, then you have lost all of the potential “back pay” of the three months on LWOP, because the “last day of pay” was the day just before your Federal Disability Retirement was approved.  Be careful that this does not happen.  While donated leave is often accepted because of economic necessity, you will likely regret accepting such payment once your Federal Disability Retirement application is approved.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire


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CSRS & FERS Medical Disability Retirement: Subsequent Actions

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Obtaining Federal Disability Retirement benefits from the Office of Personnel Management is a “process” as opposed to an entitlement, and this distinction has been variously explained and expanded upon in previous blogs and articles.  

But the term “process” also needs to be applied in two different ways — it is a process applied as an administrative issue involving the Office of Personnel Management, but moreover, it should remain so for the individual Federal or Postal worker who has worked so hard to obtain the Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS or CSRS.  By this, is meant that, just because the Federal or Postal worker has secured an approval from the Office of Personnel Management, does not (and should not) mean that the “process” ends for the Federal or Postal employee.  

Obtaining the Federal Disability Retirement annuity is one part of the process; once secured, some simple steps should be set in place, such that the Federal Disability Retirement benefit is “secured” and “protected” for the future.  

Thus, the continuation of the process should minimally and necessarily include:  Keeping in contact with one’s treating doctor or doctors; making sure that any outside employment adheres to the 80% rule for earned income; maintaining an ability to justify the conceptual distinction between any job acquired after one’s Federal Service and the job previously performed; being prepared to respond to OPM’s Medical Questionnaire in the event that one is selected to do so; and other preemptive measures.  

Surprises and emergencies occur when one fails to adequately plan for the future; future planning should be a daily maintenance project, taking only 5 minutes of one’s daily process (if that); and, after all, Poor Richard’s Almanac of 1732 was right in declaring, “A stitch in time saves nine”.  

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire


Filed under: When the OPM Application Is Approved Tagged: continuation of fers disability benefits, difference between an automatic entitlement and a benefit you must prove to the opm, entitlement to receive federal employee disability, Federal Disability, federal disability lawyer, federal disability retirement, FERS disability retirement, keeping up with medical records after opm disability, maintaining fers disability, medical questionnaire form opm, OPM disability retirement, owcp disability retirement, Postal disability, postal service disability retirement, preemptive measures needed to keep my opm disability retirement, subsequent actions needed to maintain fers disability retirement, the most complete blog on federal disability retirement, the process of getting and keeping federal disability retirement, USPS disability retirement, what are the rules to follow after retiring under medical disability postal service, what does it need to be done after getting csrs medical retirement?, what preemptive actions should I take after getting my opm annuity payments?, what to do after getting your fers disability approved, what you need to do to keep your medical retirement with the federal gov

CSRS & FERS Medical Disability Retirement: A Word about Approvals

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It is the general policy of the Office of Personnel Management to withhold releasing of information concerning a pending Federal Disability Retirement application, whether under FERS or CSRS, via telephone.  

This is a good policy, in that a potential conflict and mistake can occur between an action taken on a case (i.e., an approval or a denial) and what is inputted into the computer system; or, as has been the case in the past, where the secretary or receptionist divulges the decision over the telephone — and is mistaken.  

Generally, one must wait for the Office of Personnel Management to send the hard copy of the decision on a Federal Disability Retirement application.  Receipt of the actually letter of approval or denial of a Federal Disability Retirement application, whether under FERS or CSRS, from the Office of Personnel Management, constitutes the official notification of the decision on a pending Federal Disability Retirement application.  If the Federal or Postal employee’s representative or attorney receives the decision of approval or denial from the Office of Personnel Management, that also constitutes official notification.  

The problem of telephone notification of an approval is that, if what is told over the telephone differs from the actual notification and decision rendered by the Claims Representative who is handling the case, then obviously that would be an upsetting matter to the Federal or Postal employee who is anxiously awaiting the decision.  

For the Federal or Postal employee who has waited many, many months for a decision on a pending Federal Disability Retirement application from the Office of Personnel Management, waiting a few more days in order to receive the actual approval letter (or a denial letter, whichever the case may be) is well worth the wait.  

It is better to wait a few more days to get the decision in person.  As the old adage goes, “A bird in hand is worth two in the bushes”…

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire


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Medical Retirement for Federal Workers: The Ecstasy of Approval

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Winning, of course, cures all ills; it is the pinnacle of a goal-oriented aim of any endeavor — to prevail, to obtain the intended effect, to accomplish the very goal which one has set out to do, etc.  In preparing, formulating and filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, whether under FERS or CSRS, the goal is to obtain an approval from OPM.

An approval, however, has many consequences, and often in very short order — separation from Federal service; a sudden cut in pay (if one has continued to work during the administrative process; of course, the opposite may be true if one has been on LWOP or has already been separated from Federal Service); a drastic change in daily routine, etc.

Thus, part of the process during the patient time of waiting (I will restate the syllogistic quip which I have repeatedly invoked:  Patience is a virtue; Federal and Postal employees who file for Federal Disability Retirement must be the most patient of individuals; ergo, Federal and Postal employees are the most virtuous of people) is for the Federal and Postal employee (or ex-employee, as the case may be) to prepare for the eventuality of the achieved goal, both physically (perhaps a move is contemplated because of the reduced circumstances?) and psychologically (the sudden alteration in work, economic changes, etc.).  The ecstatic response of Federal and Postal employees in being informed of an approval from the Office of Personnel Management is indeed gratifying; but it is the days, weeks and months that follow, which tests the preparatory mindset of the Federal or Postal Employee.

In psychology, there is that special Gestalt experience; but it is often the period that follows which constitutes the more important phase of psychological awakening.  Similarly, while the “win” in a Federal Disability Retirement application is indeed the intended goal, one must always remember that there is an afterlife to live, and how one prepares for that, is all the more important.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire


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Federal and Postal Disability Retirement: Post Disability Retirement Issues

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Often, there is a collective sigh of relief once a Federal Disability Retirement application is approved, such that the newly designated and identified Federal Disability Retiree or “annuitant” forgets that, just as it was important to be scrupulously vigilant in attempting to obtain Federal Disability Retirement benefits, so it is just as essential to remain attentive in maintaining and retaining the benefit itself.

Thus, the Federal Disability Retirement annuitant should presumptively expect to be selected in the future to answer a Medical Questionnaire.  Such presumption of receipt will enable the former Federal or Postal Worker to keep the necessary focus, and thus the benefit.  It will often come every 2 years or so, if at all, and will request an update of the status of the medical condition, the prognosis, and whether the annuitant has recovered sufficiently to return to one’s former job, or any similar job that the Federal Disability Retirement annuitant worked at previously.

It is therefore important to continue to foster, maintain or establish anew the doctor-patient relationship, such that if and when a Medical Questionnaire is received, the entire process does not become an unforeseen emergency.  Preparing, formulating and filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits required a significant investment of one’s energy, time, savings, and attention; vigilance in continuing to retain such a benefit deserves no less.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire


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Postal and Federal Disability Retirement: When It All Becomes Worthwhile

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Aristotle’s admonishment of determining too early the virtue and reputation of an individual, can be analogously likened to the state of emotional turmoil we find ourselves in, at any given moment of one’s life.  Happiness is indeed a fleeting state of one’s being; and the history of civilization is one fraught with trembling and fear, with interludes of joyous celebration.

For the Federal and Postal employee contemplating preparing, formulating and filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, whether under FERS or CSRS, the administrative process of the actual filing itself, and the patient waiting for months-on-seemingly-unending-months, is merely a continuation of the trials which the Federal and Postal Worker has had to endure within the context of a history of such trials.

We tend to view life’s events in a vacuum, as picture-perfect albums of lives lived in tandem with our selective memories.  And for evolutionary purposes, perhaps that is the only way we could survive; for, to constantly be reminded of the trials would be to relive the morbid traumas of our lives.

The Federal and Postal employee who has come to a point in his or her life such that filing for Federal Disability Retirement is the only viable option left, must then endure the further trial of waiting upon the U.S. Office of Personnel Management to render its decision.

In the end, when an approval is received, the sigh of relief reverberates to tell of the happiness felt in that moment of jubilation; but silent is the suffering which preceded that fleeting snowflake of time as joy floats soundlessly for a frozen frame of time.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire


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Medical Retirement for Federal Workers: Preserving One’s Rights

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Often, loss of vigilance occurs as a result of the relief of attaining something; once gotten, the fight to get it suddenly disappears, and the overwhelming sense of relief is likened to the response of a balloon which deflates upon a pinprick.

But vigilance is the key to ongoing success.  There is never a time to be nonchalant; to attain is merely another step in a process, and that process must be fought for just as diligently as during the time of fighting to reach a goal.

For Federal and Postal workers who are preparing to file, or who are in the process of filing, for Federal Disability Retirement benefits from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, whether under FERS or CSRS, the goal of getting an approval from OPM for a Federal Disability Retirement is merely an intermediate step.  Once attained, the goal is to preserve and to protect.  Fortunately, that is a fairly simple matter — one of maintaining regular contact with one’s doctor; of making sure that one’s doctor will continue to support one’s case in the event that the Federal or Postal annuitant receives a medical questionnaire from OPM.

OPM disability retirement is not like OWCP; because you are allowed to work at other employment and make up to 80% of what your former job currently pays, there is normally nothing wrong with engaging in normal activities which would violate any rules (unlike OWCP cases, where investigators will often videotape individuals to show the engagement of activities contrary to medical restrictions, etc.).  But let not victory lead to lack of continuing vigilance; as that which was won can only be maintained with an attitude similar to keeping to the path which guided one to achieve the goal in the first place.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire


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OPM Disability Retirement: The Power of Approval

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Whether the Federal agency or the U.S. Postal Service can have a significant impact upon a Federal Disability Retirement application is a question often asked; then, of course, there are always suspicions that certain individuals and entities may try to undermine or otherwise sabotage, out of pure animus and acrimonious low-down-ness (not a legal or technical term, by any stretch of the imagination), by going through “back-door” channels and attempting to influence or otherwise paint a portrait of perverse circumstances.

At best, agencies, individuals and entities of the Federal kind can remain neutral and harmless; at worst, they can allege unspecified and unidentifiable, nefarious circumstances of associated behaviors or conduct issues otherwise unrelated but left to the unimaginative creativity of an OPM administrative specialist.  But then, since those would all be illegal and unofficial acts of retribution and retaliation, they would never be validated nor publicly acknowledged, anyway, and so only the suspicions would remain, without verifiable evidence of ascertained capability to influence or otherwise persuade a negative determination to be reached by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

To their credit, OPM asserts complete and total independence, and refuses to allow for any influence but for the legal criteria in evaluating a Federal Disability Retirement application, whether the individual is under FER, CSRS or CSRS Offset, and whether the Federal Disability Retirement application comes from the U.S. Postal Service or from one of hundreds of Federal agencies and departments across the country.

Neither a Federal agency nor the U.S. Postal Service can promise or otherwise grant a Federal Disability Retirement application to a Federal or Postal worker; only the U.S. Office of Personnel Management can do that.  Empty promises aside, whether by implication, inference or alleged influence, OPM is the only entity which can approve a Federal Disability Retirement application.

Yes, agencies can be more helpful than not (though that is rare); agencies can somewhat harm (though a Federal OPM Disability Retirement application is ultimately based upon the medical evidence gathered); and yes, agencies more often than not attempt to undermine rather than assist (despite thousands of Human Resource Specialists across the country claiming otherwise); despite all of this, it comes down to a single entity — the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, and no other agency — which grants or denies an approval for a Federal Disability Retirement application.  As such, beware of promises made; be cautious of settlements reached; and be dubious of claims of egomaniacal exponents of hyperbolic vituperations; they normally amount to the value of the verbal paper they are written upon.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

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