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OPM Disability Retirement Blog
This is my main blog. Here you will find the latest possible information on Federal or Postal Disability Retirement.
Postal Workers call me daily inquiring about the viability of filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS or CSRS. Often, it is in response to the U.S. Postal Service’s initiation of actions resulting from the NRP. The “National Reassessment Program” (which is neither a “program” designed with any rational basis, nor a “reassessment” of anything but an attempt to shed all workers from the rolls of the U.S. Postal Service who are not fully productive and capable; but, alas, at least the term “National” does seem true) is designed to, in a heartlessly methodical manner, do the following:
A. Inform the targeted Postal Worker of the unavailability of work.
B. Force the Postal Worker to begin receiving benefits from FECA (OWCP) .
C. Begin a process of “vocational rehabilitation” – a euphemism for trying to locate a private sector job – any job – that you might qualify for.
D. Get you off of OWCP rolls once you are determined to be “suited” to the private sector job.
The above applies on the assumption that you have a FECA (OWCP) accepted claim. If you do not have an OWCP-accepted claim, then only “A” above applies to you, and you will essentially be sent home without the “benefit” of “B – D”.
All sectors – Federal and State Government, and private sector jobs – “downsize” during economically challenging times. In this economy, where job growth is stagnant and budgets are being squeezed more and more each fiscal year, the U.S. Postal Service is attempting to shed its payrolls of all workers who are not “fully productive”. With the latest numbers showing that the first quarter of 2010 left the U.S. Postal Service with a revenue decline of 3.9% resulting in a net loss of $297 million, the onerous steps as envisioned under the National Reassessment Program will only accelerate.
The NRP is a “controlling” mechanism. The methodology of the program is to make the Postal Worker financially dependent upon OWCP payments and once dependent, to dictate the terms of the “vocational rehabilitation” such that you have no choice in the matter. In comparison to Federal Disability Retirement benefits, it certainly pays more (with a dependent, 75% tax free; without a dependent, 66 2/3% tax free, as opposed to Federal Disability Retirement benefits which pays 60% of the average of one’s highest three consecutive years the first year, then 40% every year thereafter under FERS, all of which is taxable). But the freedom which one gives up by submitting to the NRP Program is precisely what is intolerable.
Many Postal Workers turn to Federal Disability Retirement benefits in lieu of FECA – or, at the very least, file for and obtain an approval for Federal Disability Retirement benefits as a “back-up” system to FECA. In comparison to the “benefits” under FECA (OWCP), Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS (and, similarly, under CSRS, although the percentage of benefits under CSRS remains static) provides the following:
A. It is a retirement system – so that one is actually separated from Federal Service, and further, except for the potential of a Medical Questionnaire every two years (if you are randomly selected), the disability annuitant is not under constant scrutiny
B. An individual Federal Disability Retirement annuitant is allowed to become employed in the private sector and make up to 80% of what one’s former Federal or Postal position currently pays, in addition to the disability annuity
C. An individual under Federal Disability Retirement is not dependent upon the often arbitrary and capricious decision-making process of OWCP. It allows one to decide and determine the future course of one’s life.
Ultimately, the National Reassessment Program will impact you, the injured Postal Worker, whether today, next week, or a year from now. If self-determination is an important element of your life, then it is wise to take steps today, and to affirmatively make choices soon, before you attempt to go to work one day and are sent home with a letter stating, “There is no work available for you”. Or, you may not even receive the courtesy of a letter.
The Postal Worker is probably unaware of one additional fact: all these years while the Postal Worker has been in a “Modified” light-duty position, while the U.S. Postal Service “accommodated” the worker by allowing for temporary positions at less than full duty requirements – all these years, that Postal Worker was eligible and entitled to Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS or CSRS. You may simply have not known this, but being allowed to work in a “light duty” status, or in a “Modified Position”, was never a legally-sufficient accommodation under the law. (See Bracey v. Office of Personnel Management, 236 F.3d 1356 , Fed. Cir. 2001, as well as my related articles on the subject¹). During these years, the system worked in a crippled way — injured workers were allowed to continue to work, and the economy allowed the U.S. Postal Service to trudge along – albeit at a yearly loss.
Today, however, choices must be made. The National Reassessment Program is here in your neighborhood, and it is no longer allowing for the old system to continue unabated. If you are contemplating filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS or CSRS, now is the right time. To wait is to delay the inevitable; to ignore the inevitable is to allow the circumstances to dictate your future.
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¹ The Bracey Decision and other resources published by attorney Robert R. McGill:
Hypothetical: A U.S. Postal Worker has been working for the past 7 years in a modified position. Seven years ago, he injured himself on the job; he filed for OWCP benefits, had surgery, and returned some months later in a position within the same Craft, but modified to fit his medical restrictions and limitations. By all accounts, he has been a productive worker. Without warning, one day the Postal Worker is called into the office, interviewed, reassured, then escorted from the facility and informed that there is no longer any work for him to do, and that, by the way, “You can file for Worker’s Comp.”
Can such a hypothetical occur?
The reality is that, under the National Reassessment Program (NRP), such a hypothetical is not a fictional instance of someone’s imaginative fantasy; rather, it is a reality which is occurring today.
In the world of the U.S. Postal Service and the injured worker who has one or more medical conditions such that he or she has restrictions or limitations which prevent one from performing the full panoply of the duties as outlined in the Position Description, there is no such thing as “bilateral loyalty”. Bilateral loyalty goes like this: You give your life to the organization, and the organization will be loyal to you. The reality is the opposite: You give your life to the organization, and if you can’t do the full duties of your bid job, you will no longer have a job with us. The latter is termed, “unilateral loyalty” (i.e., kill yourself for our sake, and we’ll get rid of you if we find that you cannot perform the full duties of your position).
Whether you are a City Letter Carrier, a Rural Carrier, a Mail Handler, Mail Processing Clerk, Distribution Clerk, Sales & Service Associate, Supervisor of a large, small, or mid-sized facility, or even a Postmaster – if you cannot perform the full duties of your position, your are in danger of being “downsized” (i.e., a euphemism for being terminated, or otherwise denied work).
Are there solutions to the hypothetical-turned-reality in the world of layoffs, and in light of the National Reassessment Program? There are multiple problems which continue to arise in the scenario as described above: OWCP is not a retirement system, and their rolls are being scrutinized with greater regularity, and the eligibility standards appear to be tightening ever more. Can one file for unemployment benefits even though the Postal Worker is still officially on “the rolls” of the U.S. Postal Service? Will the Postal Service separate you from service, or will they wait for a year, keeping you on LWOP? And how about Health Insurance benefits – will the Postal Service continue to maintain the premiums so that you will not lose your Health Insurance benefits?
In the end, each Postal Worker – in whatever Craft or position one is in – must make decisions which are financially beneficial to the self-interest of the individual. The term “self-interest” is not meant to be used as a pejorative or negative term – for, that is precisely how the U.S. Postal Service views the entire matter from their perspective – from the organizational self-interest.
Thus, whether an individual Postal Worker, in any given Craft, suffers from a medical condition or disability – whether psychiatric or physical – he or she must protect and secure one’s financial future. Filing for Federal Disability Retirement under FERS or CSRS is a viable option which allows for the Postal Worker to retire, receive a monthly annuity, retain the Health Insurance benefits from the Federal System, and go on to find other employment and be allowed to earn up to 80% of what the former Postal Job currently pays. Remember – OWCP is not a retirement system. As such, while it is a temporary means of being compensated, it will not last forever. Further, remember that an individual under FERS or CSRS may concurrently file for OWCP benefits and get a Federal Disability Retirement approved, and continue to remain on OWCP until such time that one’s OWCP benefits are cut off or otherwise terminated. If you already have the FERS or CSRS disability retirement benefits approved, you can “activate” such benefits once your OWCP benefits are terminated. This is an important point to consider, because it can often take 6 – 8 months, or more, to get a Federal Disability Retirement application under FERS or CSRS approved.
The U.S. Postal Service has, for many years, been a “good employer” for thousands of hard-working Postal employees. By ascribing the term “good”, of course, one enters into the dangerous territory of different experiences in a wide-range of sectors across the United States, for just as there are “good” and “bad” people, there are good and bad Post Offices, Postmasters, Supervisors, Rural and City Carriers, Maintenance and Electronic Technicians, Clerks, Distribution Clerks, Mail Handlers, etc. Individuals determine the moral and ethical designation of “good” or “bad”; individuals collectively make up an organization, which is reflective of the type, character and tenor of the individuals within that organization.
Thus, by the conceptual term “good employer”, is merely meant that it has allowed for thousands of hard-working, productive Postal employees to earn a decent wage. “Goodness” of an agency comes about because of good people, and if goodness is in any way determined or defined by the hard work of the majority of the people of any organization, then it is indisputable that the Postal Service, all things considered, is indeed a good agency.
Changes have been in the works. And they continue to alter the landscape of the U.S. Postal Service.
For many years, when an on-the-job injury occurred, and an OWCP claim was filed, despite the onerous provisions of the Federal Employees Compensation Act (FECA), it allowed for temporary compensation benefits, including wage-loss benefits for total or partial disability, monetary benefits for permanent loss of use of a schedule member, medical benefits, as well as vocational rehabilitation. Yes, FECA is a hassle. Remember, however, that FECA was never created as a “Retirement System” – but rather, as a means to temporarily compensate the injured worker while attempting to provide for rehabilitation resulting in an eventual return to work. To that end, even when the injured employee never fully recovered, the Postal Service, in cooperation with OWCP, would attempt to offer various “light duty” or “modified duty” assignments, so that the Postal employee could be retained in a productive capacity.
There is actually nothing wrong with the U.S. Postal Service offering ‘light duty’ or ‘modified assignments’ over the years. Now, however, with the onerous sweep of the National Reassessment Program (NRP) which is effectively telling all Postal Workers who are not “fully productive” that there are no more “light duty” assignments remaining; no longer can you remain in a “modified duty” position. You are sent home with a terse explanation that there is no work for you, and you may file for OWCP benefits. However, only a fool would believe that OWCP benefits will last forever.
What is the choice? What alternatives are left? Because Federal Disability Retirement benefits will often take 6 – 8 months to apply for and get approved, it is a good idea to start the process as early as possible. You may stay on OWCP for as long as you can, or for the length of time FECA allows you to receive such benefits, but there will be a day, sooner than later, when such benefits will be cut off – either through
“vocational rehabilitation” (Translation: find you a job, any job, that pays at or near what your Postal job paid, and be able to argue that you are no longer entitled to OWCP benefits), referral to an “Independent Second Opinion Doctor” who may look at you (or perhaps not even look at you) and spend five minutes before declaring that you have no residual symptoms and you should be able to return to full duty (Translation: no more OWCP benefits, but we all know you can’t go back to carrying mail or performing the heavy lifting, bending, pushing, reaching grasping, etc.).
Would you qualify for Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS or CSRS? Assume the following hypothetical: X suffers from bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome, or perhaps from chronic back pain, failed back syndrome, or chronic pain throughout one’s musculature; it originated from an OTJ injury, accepted by OWCP, and for a decade X worked in a modified light duty job. The job is no longer in existence (by the way, the fact that such a job is now “no longer in existence” is precisely what attorneys who specialize in Federal Disability Retirement benefits have been arguing for years – that a ’modified light duty’ does NOT constitute an accommodation under the law, precisely because it was merely a temporary position with an ad hoc set of duties, and nothing more). Can you qualify for Federal Disability Retirement benefits?
Hint: Note what the Administrative Judges at the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board stated in the case of Selby v. OPM, Docket #SF-844E-05-0118-I-1, decided June 9, 2006: “The fact that he was receiving two hours of workers compensation a day also buttresses his claim that his injuries prevented him from performing many of the critical elements of his position.” In other words, any granting of receipt of OWCP benefits (in this particular case, it was compensation for 2 hours per day, but the argument can be extended to include any amount of compensation) only reinforces and supports (“buttresses”) the argument by a Postal Worker that he or she could not perform the full panoply of the essential elements of one’s job. Being able to work the full 8 hours in the full description of one’s craft job, is what is required. Otherwise, it is likely that you qualify for Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS or CSRS.
The National Reassessment Program is merely reflective of a wider economic trend; technological changes have altered the landscape of labor-intensive jobs; automation is the focal emphasis in every agency and department; budgetary considerations result in the “bottom-line” approach to personnel decisions. Where does it all lead to, and what does it all mean for the Postal Worker? If you believe that, after 20 years of faithful service, after having shown that you are a “good” employee, that such faithful loyalty will be returned “in kind”, while your naiveté may be commendable, your may be sorely disappointed in the manner in which the Agency will treat you. If the NRP impacts you, you need to make some pragmatic decisions, and one of them may well be to file for Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS or CSRS.
Do you have a medical condition or disability which would qualify? Often, the question is asked whether or not Psychiatric conditions are more difficult to qualify under the criteria of Federal Disability Retirement. The spectrum of psychiatric conditions, from Major Depression, Anxiety, panic attacks, Asperger’s Syndrome, Bipolar Disorder, ADHD, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, etc., are all medical conditions which, if they prevent you from performing one or more of the essential elements of your job, would qualify you for a Federal Disability Retirement annuity. Psychiatric cases are no more difficult these days than “physical” disabilities.
In this day and age, it is unfortunate but true, that there has arisen a contentious relationship – between “the Agency” and “the Postal Worker”. Both are supposed to constitute a single organic entity, unified in purpose; but where the Agency has initiated a deliberate program to “weed out” those Postal Workers – regardless of the years of faithful service – who, because of an ongoing medical condition, are considered to be less than “fully productive”, then it is time for the Postal Worker, whether the Clerk, the Postmaster, the EAS Supervisor, the Maintenance Technician, the Electronic Technician, the Rural Letter Carrier, the City Letter Carrier, or the multitude of countless other important jobs performed at the U.S. Postal Service – time to tap into a benefit which has always been there, but has often been unused, underused or ignored: Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS or CSRS.
There are a multitude of changes transforming the U.S. Postal Service today – from outside economic forces, to greater competition, to the increase of email and other technologies which have created enormous pressures upon an organizational entity which was founded with its first Postmaster General in 1775, with Benjamin Franklin at its helm.
It is, in essence, a dinosaur in a fast-paced world of changing technological features. The idea of the friendly mailman, making personal contact with neighbors – all beginning with the large distribution facilities and processing of mail to outlying communities throughout the night – is being replaced with the reality of crunching numbers: the U.S. Postal Service is an economically dwindling business model, and the reality of the National Reassessment Program (NRP) is a cruelty upon the labor force, but a reality which must be dealt with nonetheless.
While Voluntary Early Retirement programs (VERs) have had limited success; and there are no doubt further plans (rumors?) for other such programs to try and shed the workforce in order to survive; for the everyday Postal Worker in a tough economy – the Rural and City Carrier; the Distribution and Mail Processing Clerk; the Mail Handler, the MPE mechanics, the truck drivers, as well as EAS supervisors, Postmasters and multiple other craft and management personnel who make up the entirety of the U.S. Postal Service: the ultimate question is, What am I to do?
It is clear that the U.S. Postal Worker has been, and will continue to, engage in a single focus of shedding its ranks of all but the most productive. This means, in blunt terms, that if you are a Postal Worker who is unable to perform at the optimal level of capability because of a medical condition, you will be targeted.
Disability Retirement under FERS or CSRS is an option which must be seriously considered. Even in a tough economy (and this present economic recession shows an entrenchment which may last for many years to come, with fluctuations of small improvements in some sectors, and great devastation in other sectors of the economy), Disability Retirement is and should be a viable option to consider. Receiving a guaranteed annuity of 40% of the average of one’s highest-three consecutive years (60% for the first year), is better than being sent home unexpectedly and without forewarning with a short statement that “no work can be found within your medical restrictions”, and being placed on indefinite LWOP. Further, since Disability Retirement can take 6 – 8 months to obtain (from the start of the process to the approval of an application, at the First Stage of the process), all Postal Employees should consider filing as early as possible. Some indicators as to whether it is the “right time” to consider filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS or CSRS are:
Are you on a limited or modified assignment?
Are you on OWCP?
Are you out of sick leave?
Have you been on LWOP?
Do you have a medical condition which prevents you from performing even one of the essential elements of your job?
Have you ever been warned for unacceptable attendance or performance?
These and many similar questions may be indicators that it is time to file for Federal Employee Disability Benefits. And – remember – if the National Reassessment Program has not touched your area, yet, it is just around the corner. But that is an understatement: NRP doesn’t just “touch”; it comes down like a sledgehammer.
Long before a Federal Disability Retirement case reaches the Merit Systems Protection Board, there were multiple decisions, reviews and considerations engaged in – both by the Applicant, as well as by the reviewing Agency, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). Why a particular disability retirement case ends up for an Administrative Hearing before an Administrative Judge at the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB), as opposed to one which gets approved at the Initial Application Stage, or at the Reconsideration Stage, depends upon a number of factors. Who makes the decisions, considerations, and reviews such decisions at each step of the way, can often make the difference between whether a case gets approved at the OPM stage, or whether a case must go to a Hearing before the MSPB.
As an attorney who specializes exclusively in representing Federal and Postal employees to obtain Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS (Federal Employees Retirement System) and CSRS (Civil Service Retirement System), I have reviewed and been involved in all aspects of a Federal Disability Retirement application. From Psychiatric conditions (ranging from Major Depression, Anxiety, panic attacks, Bipolar Disorder, Agoraphobia, etc.) to physical conditions (chronic and intractable Cervical and Lumbar pain, failed back syndrome, degenerative disk disease, plantar fasciitis, bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome, Lyme Disease, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Fibromyalgia, chemical sensitivity issues, Hepatitis, chronic liver and kidney diseases, visual impairment, to just name a few), as well as the combination of both (and, as an aside, many times depression becomes secondary to chronic and intractable pain precisely because of the profound and overwhelming fatigue which occurs on a daily basis), I have been able to obtain Federal disability retirement benefits for almost every medical condition there is. This is because disability retirement is not so much concerned with a particular diagnosed medical condition, but rather, with the impact that such a medical condition has with one’s Federal or Postal job.
At each stage in the process – from the initial application stage; if denied, then at the Reconsideration Stage; if denied, then on to an appeal to the Merit Systems Protection Board – decisions were made as to what to submit, how to respond, and what information to provide in order to satisfy the legal criteria under the reviewing eyes of the “Disability Specialist” at the Office of Personnel Management. Such decisions are crucial and critical, at each stage of the process, in terms of whether or not a Federal Disability Retirement application will or will not be approved. Who makes the decision; how the decision is made; what is the right decision to make – these are all important considerations to take a seriously look at, for each stage of the process.
When a case ends up at the Merit Systems Protection Board, it is fair to say that somewhere along the line, a decision was made (or perhaps more than one decision) which did not persuade or convince the personnel at OPM to approve the case. That is why it is important to hire the advice and counsel of an attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement law. Yes, money and expense is always a consideration. But how much money and expense is lost if a case is denied, then denied again, and the case ends up at the Merit Systems Protection Board?
Long before a Federal Disability Retirement case reaches the Merit Systems Protection Board, there were multiple decisions made. It is important to make the “right” decision before it reaches the MSPB, and an attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement law is helpful to that decision-making process.
Nothing works in a vacuum. Issues surround medical disabilities, the Postal workforce, Social Security Disability benefits, and Federal Disability Retirement benefits, as well as temporary total disability benefits received from the Department of Labor, Office of Worker’s Compensation Programs — they all intersect in one way or another, and the intersection of all of the issues create a maze of confusion which is often difficult for the Postal worker to successfully maneuver through the multiple landmines, dead-ends and potential traps.
Such intersecting difficulties also arise in what the Postal Service has initiated in the last few years — the “National Reassessment Program” — a euphemism for a massive attempt to get rid of anyone and anyone who is not fully productive. Under this program, the U.S. Postal Service is essentially getting rid of all light-duty assignments; and, of course, such a program intersects with Federal Worker’s Comp, because many light-duty or “modified duty” employees are under the umbrella of OWCP-offered work assignments and modified positions and duties. People are sent home with the reason given that there is no longer any “light duty” jobs; they are then instructed or forced into filing for OWCP benefits; whether Worker’s Comp will actually pay for temporary total disability is a big question mark.
Ultimately, I believe that the answer will be found in filing for OPM Federal Disability Retirement benefits. The NRP (National Reassessment Program) is simply a macrocosmic approach of a large agency (the U.S. Postal Service), mirroring a microcosmic approach (the approach of most agencies towards individual Federal or Postal employees who have a medical condition which prevents him or her from performing one or more of the essential elements of one’s job) in dealing with “less than fully productive” Federal or Postal employees. Then, of course, there is the intersecting issue of filing for Social Security Disability benefits, which you have to do anyway, under FERS — but whether one actually gets it, is another issue. All of these issues intersect; rarely are these issues isolated; the consequential impact of all of these issues need to be viewed in a macro manner.
Sometimes, the question comes up as to whether or not it is important to have the blessing or support of the USPS, when filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS or CSRS. My answer to such a question is fairly uniform and redundant: this is a medical disability retirement; it is unwise to proceed to apply for Federal Disability Retirement benefits on the assumption that your Supervisor or Management will be supportive, for there is no guarantee as to what “supportive” means (they may have a completely different understanding or definition of the concept than you do — something which you probably learned over many years of working in the US Postal Service), and further, the primary focus from the perspective of the Office of Personnel Management, is upon the medical evidence presented and how the medical condition impacts one or more of the essential elements of your job. The Supervisor’s Statement should be minimized in importance and relevance, as much as possible, by ensuring that the rest of the disability retirement application is “excellent”. By doing this, you neutralize any undue dependence upon your supervisor’s alleged “support” of your application.
I am often asked whether or not it is okay to resign from the Post Office prior to either (1) filing for disability retirement or (2) receiving a decision from the Office of Personnel Management. A decision to resign from the Agency must be weighed very carefully, for there are multiple factors which must be considered.
I will try and outline a few of the considerations to be weighed:
(1) What advantage is gained by resigning? If it is merely to avoid the hassles of dealing with the Postal Service (the USPS may insist upon updated medical documents every couple of weeks; they may call and harass you every week; you may have an unsympathetic supervisor, etc.), then I normally advise against resigning. There is no advantage to resigning, other than the quietude of being separated from service. As an attorney, I believe that is not enough of a reason.
(2) What is the disadvantage of resigning? There may be many: Any leverage to force the Postal Service to cooperate with a disability retirement application may be lost; if your doctor has not yet written a medical narrative report (and, believe me, for some doctors, that can take months), the doctor will have to be reminded that any statement of employment impact must pre-date the date of resignation; you lose the leverage of that which the Postal Service holds most dear, for no price: your position. For the position you fill, that slot which suddenly becomes vacant once you resign, is that which is most dear, most valuable for the Agency: and to resign is to give it up without having the USPS pay any cost.
While a compromise position on certain issues in the U.S. Postal Service Disability Retirement for FERS & CSRS may be the best that one may hope for, obviously, clarity over question is the better course to have. Thus, for instance, in a removal action, where a Postal employee is being removed for his or her “excessive absences,” it is best to have the proposed removal and the decision of removal to reference one or more medical conditions, or at least some acknowledgment by the Postal Service, that would explicate — implicitly or otherwise — that the underlying basis for the “excessive absences” were as a result of the medical condition. There are cases which clearly state that where excessive absences are referenced by medical conditions, the Bruner Presumption would apply in a Federal Disability Retirement case.
Now, in those cases where the removal action merely removes a Postal employee for “excessive absences”, there are other methods which may win over an Administrative Judge to apply the Bruner Presumption. Such “other methods” may include emails or correspondence, at or near the time of the removal action, which appears to put the Agency on notice about specific medical conditions, including attachments of doctor’s reports, medical notations, etc. Such concurrent documentation can convince an Administrative Judge that, indeed, the question as to whether the “excessive absences” were as a result of a medical condition, and whether management was aware of such an underlying basis, is clarified by documents which provide a proper context within the reasonable time-frame of the issuance of the proposal to remove and the decision to remove. It is always better, of course, to have clarity over a question, but sometimes the question can be clarified with additional and concurrent documentation.
Postal employees, there is nothing inherently wrong with an Agency offering you modified or light duty assignments. If management deems you to be valuable, they may want to modify your position in order to keep you. However, the mere fact that you accept and work at a “modified” position does not mean that you are thereby precluded, down the road, from filing for disability retirement.
In fact, most “light duty” or “modified positions” are not real positions anyway, and so you may have the best of both worlds for many years: be able to work at a light-duty or modified position, and still reserve the right to file for Postal Disability Retirement sometime in the future.
The reason for this is simple: in all likelihood, your SF 50 will not change, and you will still remain in the same, original position. As such, the “light duty” position is simply a “made-up” position which has no impact upon your ability to file for disability retirement later on. This is the whole point of Ancheta v. Office of Personnel Management, 95 M.S.P.R. 343 (2003), where the Board held that a modified job in the Postal Service that does not “comprise the core functions of an existing position” is not a “position” or a “vacant position” for purposes of determining eligibility for disability retirement. The Board noted that a “modified” job in the Postal Service may include “‘subfunctions’ culled from various positions that are tailored to the employee’s specific medical restrictions,” and thus may not constitute “an identifiable position when the employee for whom the assignment was created is not assigned to those duties“. The Board thus suggested that a “modified” job in the Postal Service generally would not constitute a “position” or a “vacant position.”
Analogously, this would be true in Federal, non-postal jobs, when one is offered a “modified” or “light-duty position,” or where a Federal employee is not forced to perform one or more of the essential elements of one’s official position. Further, think about this: if a Postal or Federal employee is periodically offered a “new modified” position once a year, or once every couple of years, such an action by the Agency only reinforces the argument that the position being “offered” is not truly a permanent position. Sometimes, the Agency’s own actions can be used to your advantage when filing for disability retirement.
* How the US Postal Disability program works - What are the requirements to qualify?
* What US government agency administers and approves the US Postal Service disability program?
* What are my chances for disability retirement given my current medical condition?
* Do I have to be completely incapacitated or permanently disabled to qualify for medical retirement?
* How long must my disability last in order to qualify for US Postal Disability Retirement?
* What benefits are covered under the US Postal Service disability retirement program?
* Will I be able the keep my current health insurance?
* Will I automatically qualify for the USPS Medical Retirement program if I am under the DOL Workers' Compensation Program (OWCP)?
* Will I be constantly hounded by someone who will check on me and constantly demand more medical documentation from my treating physicians?
* Will they assign me nurses to go with me to my doctors' appointments?
* Will they send me to secop (second opinion) or referee doctors?
* What if OWCP denies benefits -- do I still have a chance to qualify for OPM Disability Retirement?
* Does my illness or injury have to be job-related? How about a pre-existing illness or injury that is aggravated by my current Postal job?
* Will I be required to take a Functional Capacity Evaluation (FCE) or any other occupational medicine or rehabilitation evaluation in order to qualify for USPS Disability Retirement?
* How much money will I receive in disability annuities? Will there be a disability rating system that will affect how much money I receive each month?
* Will I be allowed to get another job or start a new business if I qualify under the current US Postal Service Disability program? Is there any limitation on how much money I can make in the future?
* When should I apply for USPS Disability Retirement? Should I quit the US Postal Service first? Can I file for Federal Disability Retirement while I am still working?
* If I got a serious medical condition, should I wait until the US Postal Service separates me from service in order to qualify for medical retirement?
* If the Post Office is constantly sending me home early because they claim not to have anything left for me to do, will that improve my chances to qualify for Postal Disability Retirement?
* Will the latest The National Reassessment Process or Program (NRP) or Voluntary Early Retirement (VER or VERA) affect in any way my eligibility for USPS Disability Retirement?
* Is there any time limitation or deadline to file for disability benefits after I am separated from employment?
* Do I really need to hire an experienced US Postal Disability attorney? Will they take my disability application seriously if I apply alone and without a lawyer?
* If my application is initially denied, should I file a brand new application or appeal the current claim? What if my case is denied a third time?
* If I am denied at the first try, are there deadlines for OPM disability appeals? How about the third stage of the appeal? How many stages or appeals are there in the US Postal Disability Retirement process?
* Will I be able to receive both DOL Workers' Comp benefits and USPS Disability benefits at the same time? Is there any offset?
* Can I get a Federal Employees' Schedule Award (SA) or a personal injury award from a private company or insurance company if I qualify for medical retirement under current US Postal Service rules?
* How about the Social Security disability programs? Can I receive SSDI and/or SSI benefits while I collect USPS disability benefits at the same time? Is there any offset?
* If I'm a military veteran with a service-related disability, would I qualify for US Postal Medical benefits too? Is there any offset?
* How do I find out the status of my disability retirement application? Will they give me that information over the phone or will I have to wait for a formal written decision?
* If my postmaster or supervisor denies me sick leave (SL), annual leave (AL), or leave without pay (LWOP), should I quit the Post Office and still file for Postal disability?
* How do I make a living while waiting for a decision? Should I apply for state unemployment benefits in the meantime?
* If I withdraw my money from my Postal retirement fund, will I still be eligible for medical retirement?
* What does an Attorney who specializes in Postal Disability Retirement do in order to prepare and win a Postal Disability claim?
* Where do I find the proper forms to get USPS Disability Retirement?
* Should I ask my Postal supervisors/managers for help? Can I trust them? How about if they don't like me?
* What if the Postal Service claims that my Postal bosses gave me a reasonable accommodation? What happens if I refused an offer to take a job that was going to worsen my disease or injury?
* What happens if they give me another job offer after I apply for US Postal Medical Retirement?
* Can they disqualify me from US Postal Medical Retirement if I refuse medical treatment such as undergoing a dangerous/risky surgery?
* In what way is the US Postal Disability Retirement different from the DOL Workers' Comp program? Does the DOL OWCP have a competing disability program?
* Is there a list of diseases, injuries, or any other medical conditions listed that will automatically qualify for medical retirement in the US Postal Service?
* Will the symptoms or the secondary effects of required medications influence eligibility under current US Postal or OPM disability rules?
* Will I have any problems getting my disability claim approved if my medical conditions are subjective in nature? How about if I apply for stress-related disability, can I do that?
* If I was fired from the USPS for a non-medically related issue, will I still be eligible for medical retirement for US Postal workers?
* How about if I was fired for excessive sickness, will that entitle me for automatic medical retirement?
* Must I have a cooperative or supportive physician to have a good chance to qualify for medical retirement?
* What happens if my treating physician does not know anything about US Postal Disability Retirement -- will that be a problem?
* What can I do if my treating doctor refuses to cooperate with my Postal Disability claim?
* Will physical evaluations or treatments from chiropractors, physicians' assistants, or nurses help to make my disability claim stronger?
* What is more important -- to have a supportive treating doctor or an experienced lawyer? Is Postal Disability Retirement a medical or a legal issue, or both?
