Legal Law

Federal Disability Retirement: Putting the Pieces of the Puzzle Together

When preparing, formulating, and filing US Office of Personnel Management federal disability retirement benefits, the scariest part is often the mere act of getting started. Since there are multiple components to any successful federal disability retirement application, trying to address them all at once can be a daunting task and can ultimately lead to procrastination, delay, and inertia. Therefore, it is important to “start” systematically, doing things in sequential order and with a methodology that is logical, rational, and sensible.

First, remember that federal disability retirement is first and foremost a “medical issue.” Therefore, while obtaining statements from friends, family, or co-workers can be somewhat beneficial with peripheral persuasive effect, such supporting testimony should never comprise the essence of a federal disability retirement case. Yes, a statement of support from the supervisor can be helpful; And, yes, a statement from a co-worker that he or she witnessed the applicant’s decline and inability to perform certain essential functions of the job, may provide some additional evidence in the matter. However, it should always be remembered that a federal disability retirement claim is first and foremost a medical issue.

With that being said, the first and obvious piece of the puzzle is to have a supportive physician. A “supporting physician” does not mean that the treating physician is a technically competent medical provider (although, for the treatment of one’s medical condition, that obviously helps). It also doesn’t mean the doctor should have good bedside manners (although, again, that’s always an advantage with an attending physician). Rather, what it means to have a supporting physician is that the federal disability retirement applicant’s treating physician is willing to provide a written statement confirming that the patient is no longer able to perform one or more of the essential elements of his or her work, and further, that the medical condition in question (which prevents the ability to perform all the essential elements of the job) will have a minimum duration of twelve months.

Second, once you’ve confirmed that you have a supporting doctor, then it’s time to start filling out the necessary forms. There will be two sets of standard government forms to fill out, and these forms can be easily downloaded by simply searching for them on the internet. The Immediate Retirement Request form simply requires some basic information about the applicant, as well as choosing certain options, such as choosing a full or partial survivor annuity for the spouse. The more detailed form, which requires identification of the medical conditions that comprise the basis of the Federal Disability Retirement claim, will require careful consideration and may require guidance, advice, and careful preparation.

Third, there is always the pervasive question as to whether an agency, whether it be the Department of Homeland Security, the US Postal Service, the Treasury Department, or a host of federal agencies, can accommodate a person’s medical condition. person. The term and concept, “accommodation”, which is usually known as the legal term of art. Terms of art have specific and rich meanings, and the concept of accommodating a federal or postal employee in the context of a federal disability retirement claim often requires a sophisticated level of understanding. For starters, if a federal government agency that the federal disability retirement applicant works for can reassign the employee to another position with the same salary or grade, and the employee can perform all the essential elements of that “new” reassignment , then such action by the agency can potentially void the federal or postal employee’s disability retirement application. In addition, if the agency can provide an accommodation to the federal or postal employee, such that the accommodation allows the employee to perform all the essential elements of the job, then such action by the agency can also potentially undermine a federal retirement claim for disability.

Keep in mind, however, that in both cases (whether by reassignment or accommodation), the federal or postal employee must be able to perform all the essential elements of the job as described and delineated in the official job description. The Court has held that a supervisor, or agency managers, cannot simply tell an employee with a wink and a nod that he or she does not have to perform “all” the essentials of the job. If that happened, that is, if the agency provided “temporary light duty” or put some of the more demanding essentials of a position on hold, there would be nothing inherently wrong with such an extent. In other words, an agency may try to informally accommodate a person’s medical conditions so that the person can continue to work in their position. At the same time, however, from a legal perspective, such an informal accommodation does not constitute a legally sufficient accommodation, and at any time during such informal accommodations, the federal or postal employee could seek and become eligible for federal disability retirement benefits.

Therefore, by way of example, suppose Employee X was an auditor for a federal agency, and the job description required Employee X to travel to various contractor or supplier sites within a 250-mile radius to perform complex audits. . The auditor was required to have with him or her all the equipment necessary to conduct an effective audit, including a laptop, files, and other portable office equipment. Employee X hurts his back. The treating physician imposes certain physical restrictions, which turn out to be permanent restrictions: no lifting more than 10 pounds; no driving for more than 1 hour in a 4-hour period; no climbing stairs and other similar restrictions. The agency, because it considers employee X to be a valuable asset, only allows internal audits, in which vendors or contractors must report to employee X’s office. Since there are only certain contractors or vendors that can be audited from this way, and even though Employee X’s job description clearly states that travel to a supplier’s site is required; however, the Agency, deciding that the value of employee X required an informal accommodation, decided to lighten the workload and waive the requirements of the position.

Was employee X accommodated? Informally, yes; but such an accommodation is not legally sufficient, and Employee X could still apply for and be eligible for federal disability retirement benefits, assuming all other necessary components to qualify are also met.

Why is the Federal Agency’s action simply an informal arrangement and not legally sufficient? Think of it this way: A year later, there’s an executive shakeup at the agency, and a “new sheriff” comes to town. That new sheriff eliminates all light or modified jobs, declaring to everyone, “Dadgummit, from this day on, everyone does the job they’re assigned to do and no one shirks the taxpayer.” Since there was never any “official” change to the job description, no protection was granted to Employee X. No legal accommodations were provided and therefore the employee would have to comply with or apply for federal disability retirement benefits.

Ultimately, inertia and inaction are the main enemies of any advancement in a person’s life, career, or any goal-oriented endeavour. Federal disability retirement is an annuity to which it must be proven, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the federal or postal employee is entitled, showing that all eligibility criteria have been met. But coordinating and complying with all the required steps in the administrative process of preparing, formulating and submitting a federal disability retirement can be a daunting task, unless one has a road map that reveals the proper starting point, and the destination and means of travel in order. to reach the end point.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1