Do you have a medical condition that is affecting your job? Maybe you have carpal tunnel and you have trouble typing, or maybe you have anxiety and can no longer be in stressful situations…are there any options? Federal Disability Retirement is a benefit for federal employees who can no longer perform all the essential functions of their job.
But what if your medical condition is NOT WORK RELATED… Are you still eligible for Federal Disability Retirement benefits? Our office gets this question from federal employees all the time and we are happy to answer with a YES!
Federal Disability Retirement is a completely different benefit from Federal Workers Compensation administered by two completely different agencies. Of course if you’re applying for workers compensation benefits, your injury or condition must be caused by work or during the course of work activity.
This is not the case with OPM Federal Disability Retirement. We have helped hundreds of disabled federal employees secure their rights to Federal Disability Retirement due to injuries or medical conditions that have no relation to their work activity. The OPM issues their decisions of approval or denial for a claim made for federal disability based upon a claimant’s ability to perform their job duties regardless of the cause of the medical condition. A disease like diabetes or cancer, and being injured at the job carry the same amount of impact to the OPM.