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The U.S. Postal Service and Federal Disability Retirement: The National Reassessment Program, the Agency and the Worker

Robert McGill — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 16:34:06 +0000

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.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

Federal Disability Retirement and the Postal Employee Today

Robert McGill — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 21:30:58 +0000

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.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

The Initial USPS Disability Process

Robert McGill — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 08:37:30 +0000

Many people get confused when they first consult with an attorney about disability retirement benefits for Postal Workers. Indeed, before consulting with an attorney, an individual who is faced with a medical condition which (1) is beginning to impact one’s ability to perform one or more of the essential elements of one’s position and (2) will likely last at least a year — such an individual should first take the time to research various websites to “get the facts” about USPS Disability Retirement.

I have had many individuals tell me that they didn’t even know that such a benefit existed; that when they were separated from their U.S. Postal Service, the employee was never informed that he or she could file for Federal Disability Retirement. Unfortunately, ignorance of the law is not a valid excuse; if you don’t file for disability retirement benefits under FERS or CSRS with the Office of Personnel Management within one (1) year of being separated from service with the United States Postal Service, you will have lost your right to file — forever.

Furthermore, it is dangerous to “take comfort” in the fact that the Department of Labor/The Office of Worker’s Compensation Programs deemed you to be 100% disabled. That “100%” disabled status may last a lifetime, or it may last only so long as your particular OWCP caseworker is working on your case. The next caseworker may take it upon him or herself and decide that, Well, no, perhaps you are not 100% disabled, and perhaps sending you to a “Second Opinion” doctor (who, it just so happens, is receiving about 95% of his or her income expounding such “second opinions”) will result in a medical finding that you miraculously “recovered” and are able to go back to work. Benefits cut off. You waited a year or more after being separated from the Postal Service to find this out, without having filed for Federal Disability Retirement benefits. You are then, unfortunately, “out of luck”. Make sure that you file in a timely manner; make sure that you do not take comfort in being on OWCP rolls. Don’t forget – Postal or Federal Disability Retirement is an annuity that you can rely upon as a “base income” for your financial security.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire