Attorney Working Exclusively For Federal And Postal Employees From All Across
The U.S., Seeking To Obtain Disability Retirement Benefits Under FERS & CSRS
07/30/2010 by Federal Lawyer Potential applicants who are considering filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS or CSRS will sometimes ask the question, What are the essential elements of one's job? [...]
07/29/2010 by Federal Lawyer As with most administrative dealings with the government (Federal, State or local), the process itself is a frustrating one. Filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS or CSRS [...]
07/28/2010 by Federal Lawyer To the question: "What medical disabilities do you have," is often the response in terms of a percentage language game: "The VA has given me a ____"; "My doctor rated me at____". [...]
07/27/2010 by Federal Lawyer Wittgenstein was a philosopher who is well-known for his discussion about different "language games". In preparing a Federal Disability Retirement application under FERS or CSRS, [...]
07/26/2010 by Federal Lawyer In most cases, the agency is unable to accommodate the individual. By "accommodation" is often meant lessening the workload, or temporarily allowing for the medical conditions [...]
07/24/2010 by Federal Lawyer No names will be named. Not for purposes of "protecting the innocent", because it is doubtful that there are any innocent entities, anyway. Rather, the knowledge that there are some [...]
07/23/2010 by Federal Lawyer Agency actions of an adverse nature seem to go hand-in-hand with filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS & CSRS. If one pauses for a moment, one can easily understand [...]
Applicant's Statement Of Disability Posted on May 1, 2002
Standard Form 3112A (Applicant's Statement of Disability) is a form requiring the disability retirement applicant to state his or her injury or disease; to describe how the injury or disease "interferes with the performance" of one's duties, attendance or conduct; and further asks one to describe "any other restrictions" of any activities which may be imposed by the disease or injury.
It is a simple-looking form - but its simplicity should not be mistaken for its importance.
An applicant's Statement of Disability must be carefully formulated, and must be characterized by accuracy and thoroughness. One of the major problems often encountered when the Statement of Disability is filled out in a careless manner, is that the Office of Personnel Management will only consider those diseases or injuries which you have discussed in your Statement of Disability. Thus, by way of example, if an individual is suffering from a physical as well as a psychiatric disability, but only puts down the physical injury on his SF 3112A -- OPM will not consider any of the medical reports which reference the psychiatric disability. This problem becomes further compounded when your disability retirement packet has been denied at the initial stage, and you try to "amend" your application by adding other disabilities, because the Office of Personnel Management will not allow for such amendments.
Extra care must be taken when formulating your Statement of Disability.
When I prepare a client's application for disability retirement, the very last form which I fill out is the SF 3112A -- the "Applicant's Statement of Disability". Furthermore, I spend anywhere from 2 - 4 hours in constructing a detailed description of the disability. The Statement of Disability should be prepared only after a thorough and comprehensive review of the entirety of the medical documentation available -- including the history, progress notes, diagnostic test results, etc. Care in preparation at the inception of the disability retirement process is very important, and therefore it is often wise to consult with an experienced attorney. If you are considering filing for disability retirement, I am available for a free initial consultation at 1-800-990-7932. You may also email me at
federal.lawyer@yahoo.com
