If you are a federal or postal worker and have found that you can no longer perform the essential duties of your job because of an injury or illness, you may find yourself in the world of filing for federal disability retirement. Applying for federal disability retirement can be daunting and confusing if you don’t know what to expect. Below are some of the major steps involved with applying and putting together your claim. These requirements must be met to show that you are eligible to receive this benefit.
Confirm Eligibility
To be eligible, FERS employee must have completed at least 18 months of service in a position covered by FERS.
You must have completed 18 months of federal civilian service which is creditable under the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS). This means that you’re paying into FERS, and having those deductions from your paycheck. One group that especially needs to pay attention to this is U.S. Postal employees. Often, USPS employees are hired initially as a contract, temporary, or part-time employee, and therefore not paying into FERS, and may not know it. One thing we always must be sure of when potentially working with a USPS employee is the amount of their creditable service under FERS.
Evidence of Disability
You must be medically disabled. Meaning, you are considered disabled if a medical condition has caused a “service deficiency in performance, conduct, or attendance” or the inability to perform “useful and efficient service”. This also means you are unable to perform the essential job duties of your current position, not that you can’t perform any job. This is the most difficult part to prove.
You must, while employed in a position subject to the retirement system, have become disabled, because of disease or injury, for useful and efficient service in your current position. Useful and efficient service means “fully successful performance of critical or essential elements of the position and satisfactory conduct and attendance”. –5 CFR 831.1202 (2000)
The following types of evidence will be considered and are good to include in your application:
- Objective clinical findings, diagnoses, and medical opinions
- Subjective evidence of pain and disability (only when supported by competent evidence)
- Any other evidence relating to the effect of your condition or ability to perform in the grade or class of your position
Establish Continuity of Disability
You are required to show that your disabling medical condition is expected to continue for at least one year from the date of the disability retirement application is filed.
The disability must be expected to last at least one year. This is cut and dry. If your disability isn’t expected to last a year, you don’t qualify. No way around this one.
Prove You Can’t be Accommodated or Reassigned
You must show that you have not declined a reasonable offer of reassignment to a vacant position and that the employing federal agency isn’t able to accommodate your disabling medical condition in the position that you have been assigned to.
Your agency must certify that it is unable to accommodate your disabling medical condition in your present position and that it has considered you for any vacant position in the same agency at the same grade or pay level, within the same commuting area, for which you are qualified.
Common misconceptions about accommodation include what it IS and what it ISN’T.
- It is: your employing agency can acquire or modify your equipment or devices, provide interpreters or readers, adjusting a work schedule but still having you work full-time.
- It is not: using up sick/annual leave to supplement a FT schedule, taking away job duties (being put on light or modified duty), or giving you a PT work schedule.
Also, if you accept an “accommodation” in the form of another vacant position or if the agency creates a job for you, you are not eligible for federal disability retirement for the initial position you held.
Application Timing Requirements
You, or your guardian or another interested person, must apply before your separation from service or within 1 year thereafter. The application must be received by either OPM or your former employing agency with 1 year of the date of separation. This time limit can be waived only if you were mentally incompetent on the date of separation or within 1 year of this date.
Again, this requirement is cut and dry. You have one year from the date you separate from your agency to apply. OPM is very strict on this. If you miss that deadline, you miss your chance for these benefits. The main thing here is to know the deadlines!
File for Social Security Disability
If you are under 62, FERS requires you to apply for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits. However, you do not have to be approved.
You must apply for Social Security benefits. Your application for federal disability retirement under FERS requires an application for Social Security benefits. If the application for Social Security disability benefits is withdrawn for any reason, OPM will dismiss the FERS disability retirement application upon notification by the Social Security Administration.
OPM must have proof you’ve applied for Social Security benefits. A common misconception here is that you must be approved for Social Security to receive federal disability retirement. This is not true. Often, people worry they won’t get approved Social Security, so they don’t apply. These 2 benefits have different requirements, and Social Security has a much stricter set of qualifications. It’s possible and common to receive an approval from OPM and Social Security.
File Your Application with Supporting Documentation
You need Form SF 3107 (Application for Immediate Retirement) and Form SF 3112 (Documentation in Support of Disability Retirement). Further, you must submit documentation that you have applied for SSD. Again, an approval is not important in regards to federal disability retirement.
If you are unable to perform your job duties because of a disabling medical condition and don’t know where to start in filing for federal disability retirement, please don’t hesitate to call us. We have over a decade of experience in helping federal and postal workers file for federal disability retirement benefits. Our number is 877-226-2723 or you can fill out this INQUIRY form.
Harris Federal Law Firm helps federal and Postal employees nationwide with federal disability retirement cases. If you have an injury or illness that keeps you from performing your essential job duties, you may qualify for Federal Disability Retirement. Give us a call at 877-226-2723 or fill out this INQUIRY form today.
