Continued from Part 9…
The Federal Employees Retirement System is the newer of the two retirement systems. You must only have 18 months of credible service in order to be eligible to apply for disability benefits. Remember, all career federal employees are eligible after this time period, it does not apply to temporary or casual employees.
FERS employees are eligible for Social Security benefits in addition to their pension. Many FERS employees depend upon a thrift savings plan match provided by their employing agency.
The same basic qualifications apply to FERS as to CSRS. The applicant must be able to prove that they can no longer complete their job duties in a fully satisfactory way. They must prove that a medical condition is causing this deficiency and is expected to last for at least the next 12 months.
More tomorrow…