Federal and postal workers who are injured or develop a medical condition while employed by a federal agency or the US Postal Service have many decisions to make. Making the right decision depends on accurate information; accurate information must be based on a combination of experience, integrity, and anticipation of the particular situation of the postal or federal worker regarding which benefit will be most appropriate for the specific circumstances.
Information is abundant, and in this modern age of the Internet, there is often information overload. The volume of information is rarely the problem; rather, it is the sufficiency and relevance of the information chosen, to the extent that it is useful and relevant, that will determine whether that information is useful and proven.
For the federal and postal employee, the impact of the medical condition on their livelihood, the ability to maintain a regular work schedule, and the need to contemplate career termination all add to the problem further as well as suffer from the medical condition itself. Either to apply for Federal Workers’ Compensation benefits under the Federal Employees’ Compensation Act through the Department of Labor; or apply for Federal Disability Retirement benefits under the Federal Employees Retirement System or under the former Civil Service Retirement System; or perhaps do it sequentially, or concurrently; or not at all. This last option is normally not a viable option at all. However, in the midst of suffering from a medical condition, where supervisors harass workers who are not fully productive, and where adverse action is threatened, the weight of the world and the seeming closure of all reasonable outlets will often lead you to take irrational action. , unwise decisions.
Fortunately, under the laws governing federal disability retirement, a person is entitled to apply for federal disability retirement benefits for up to one year from the date of separation from service. Therefore, even for those federal or postal employees who recklessly, perhaps in the heat of the moment, or in a temporary tantrum of insanity due to the stress and pressure of dealing with one’s medical condition and its impact on one’s ability to one to continue at work – files a resignation that triggers a personal action for federal separation from service, that individual will still have the opportunity to apply for federal disability retirement benefits for up to 12 months after separation from service.
Is it harder to prove a federal disability retirement case once a federal or postal worker has been separated from federal service? Fortunately, the level and burden of proving such a case remain consistent, so that a person who recklessly and without much thought jeopardizes his own future by rashly saying, “I quit!” – will have the same opportunities as those who continue to work. Provided that the Federal or Postal employee has a supporting physician who will create the necessary link between one’s medical condition and the inability to perform at least one, if not more, of the essential elements of one’s job; and, in addition, demonstrate that the medical condition will last a minimum of twelve (12) months; and finally, that the medical condition that prevents the Federal or Postal employee from performing one or more of the essential elements of his or her job began to have such an impact before separation from Federal Service; the chances of qualifying for Federal Disability Retirement benefits will be equal to those who were not involved in making the on-the-ground decision to separate from Federal Service.
In regards to filing for Federal Workers’ Compensation benefits, an attorney who is knowledgeable about the laws affecting separation from Federal Service should be consulted. Generally speaking, however, the purpose and underlying reason for Federal Workers’ Compensation benefits is to allow a period of compensation such that the Federal or Postal worker can recover and have the rehabilitation time to return to full function. Therefore, Federal Workers’ Compensation is not intended to be used as a “retirement” tool, but rather as a means of allowing the injury to heal and then continuing to work. That’s why many people receive temporary total disability benefits under the Federal Employees’ Compensation Act, through the Department of Labor, for as long as it takes to recover.
Rather, Federal Disability Retirement benefits are intended for precisely what the term implies: a retirement based on a person’s medical condition and, therefore, a separation from Federal Service once the Office of Administration The US Personnel Board approves an application for a Federal Disability Retirement. Can a person who learns of a medical condition after being separated from Federal Service apply for Federal Disability Retirement benefits or Worker’s Compensation benefits, as long as they are still under the one-year umbrella? Again, for OWCP matters, you should consult an attorney who specializes in such matters, but as a practical matter, causation can be problematic if a person only “discovers” the medical problem after being discharged from the Service. Federal. As for such a discovery and its impact on a federal disability retirement claim, there are obviously also some difficulties to be found.
Because, while causation is never a substantive legal issue to be concerned with when formulating and assembling a Federal Disability Retirement claim, the overriding issue in a Federal Disability Retirement case is the extent of the impact on a person’s duties. person in the Federal Administration. o Postal position one held while a federal or postal employee. As a practical matter, if you resign and then discover that you have a medical condition after separation from Federal Service, how will you prove that the medical condition you never knew about prevented you from performing one or more of the essential elements? from your old job? There are cases where such proof has been effectively met, where unexplained cognitive dysfunctions or profound and intractable fatigue prevented one from performing multiple essential elements of the job, but where the identifying diagnosis could not be definitively affirmed until after the separation of Federal Service happened. Again, as long as a sympathetic doctor is willing to render a medical opinion retrospectively, there is a good chance that one could qualify for federal disability retirement benefits after the fact.
Above all, the key is to file on time. The rule is: if you don’t file your application for Federal Disability Retirement within 1 year of being separated from Federal Service, you have no ability to make any arguments at all. If, on the other hand, you file it on time, you always have a fighting chance of having your case reviewed fairly, thoroughly, and hopefully with a successful outcome.
