Preparing an effective Federal Disability Retirement application, to be ultimately submitted to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, is often mistakenly thought to be a straightforward administrative process. The keyword here, of course, is “effective” — as opposed to “ineffective” or even “doomed at the outset.” What we do not know and what we assume to be true can often come back to bite us.
Federal Disability Retirement is a benefit available for all Federal employees and U.S. Postal Workers, whether under FERS, CSRS, or CSRS Offset. So long as minimal eligibility requirements are met – 18 months of Federal Service for FERS employees, and 5 years for CSRS (which, given the nature of the old CSRS system, one assumes that anyone from that bygone era will necessarily have met that criteria) – the prefatory threshold for filing can begin; but beyond, the complexity of the law, the preponderance of the evidence to meet, the bridging nexus to formulate, and the administrative procedures to follow.
These are difficult economic times. For the everyday worker, both Federal and Postal employees, the decisions made at the top echelons of the Federal Government and the U.S. Postal Service impact the financial security and viability of each and everyone. Bad decisions have a cumulative impact upon future alternatives for economic security. Wasted funds thrown at various programs which engendered political favoritism and popular responses at the time, are spent resources which now squeeze out necessary services and programs.
The preparation, formulation, and finalization prior to filing a Federal Disability Retirement application, whether under FERS (the Federal Employees Retirement System) or CSRS (Civil Service Retirement System), should be sufficiently reviewed and carefully scrutinized prior to submission to the Agency of the Federal Employee (if still employed or separated but not more than 31 days) or the H.R. Shared Services Center for the Postal Employee (in Greensboro, North Carolina, where all Postal Disability Retirement applications are processed….
Federal and Postal employees who are attempting to prepare, formulate, and file a Federal Disability Retirement application under FERS & CSRS must somehow endeavor to “put it all together” in order to meet the 7-part criteria which the Office of Personnel Management has extracted and extrapolated pursuant to (so they claim) Sections 844.101 to 844.404 of Title 5, Code of Federal Regulations (for those under FERS) and similar provisions for those under CSRS (which is becoming a rarer animal close to extinction).
Individuals attempting to file for Federal Employee Disability Retirement, either under FERS or CSRS, on their own, and without an Attorney, must meet the same standards, same criteria, and same legal thresholds, as those who are represented. While it may cost an individual in the short term to hire an Attorney, that cost may be insignificant compared to the loss of a long-term investment….
