OPM & FERS
Federal Disability Retirement Terms
Federal Disability Retirement
Also referred to as “FDR”. Federal Disability Retirement is a benefit available to Federal employees who do not meet age and service requirements for a regular retirement and are less than fully successful in at least one essential aspect of their job due to a diagnosed medical condition.
Disability
Any medical condition that inhibits a federal employee from continuing to complete at least one of the major functions of their current position.
OPM
The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) serves as the chief human resources agency and personnel policy manager for the Federal Government.
High 3 Average Salary
The High 3 Average is the average of your highest 36
consecutive months of basic pay and this is used by the OPM to calculate your Federal Disability Retirement annuity.
COLA
A cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) is an increase made to Social Security and Supplemental Security Income to counteract the effects of inflation.
Offset
An offset is how multiple federal employee benefits can interact with each other.
Medical Disability Retirement
Also referred to as “MDR”. Medical Disability Retirement is another name for Federal Disability Retirement.
FERS Disability Retirement
FERS Disability Retirement is also known as Federal Disability Retirement.
OPM Medical Retirement
OPM Medical Retirement is another name for Federal Disability Retirement and often referred to as “FDR”.
Reasonable Accommodation
A Federal Disability Retirement Reasonable Accommodation is an adjustment made to a job and/or work environment that enables a qualified handicapped person to the duties of that position.
Service Deficiency
The inability to perform at least one major function of your current job that leads to a deficiency in performance, attendance, or conduct.
FERS
The Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) is a three part retirement plan that provides retirement benefits to federal employees that were hired after January 1, 1987.
CSRS
The Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) is a defined benefit, contributory retirement system that has provided retirement, disability, and survivor benefits for most civilian employees in the United States federal government.
MSPB
The Merit Systems Protection Board is an independent quasi-judicial agency developed to conduct hearings to decide certain issues pertaining to the rights of federal employees.
TSP
The Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) is a retirement saving and investment plan for federal employees and members of uniformed services, including the Ready Reserve.
Creditable Years of Service
Every year on Federal Disability Retirement counts as
an earned creditable year of federal service that is added to your pre-existing creditable years of service at age 62 when calculating your regular retirement pension.
OPM Disability Retirement
OPM Disability Retirement refers to Federal Disability Retirement that is provided by the OPM.
Federal Workers’ Compensation Terms
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Total Temporary Disability
Also referred to as “TTD”. This is another term for the OWCP Wage Loss payments that are given to federal employees that have suffered an on-the-job injury that causes them to take a short period of time off of work.
Impairment Rating
In order to receive a schedule award, your doctor must diagnosis the percentage of permanent impairment to a body part due to the accepted injury.
Maximum Medical Improvement
Also know as “MMI”, this refers to the diagnosis by a doctor that the accepted injury cannot improve any further with medical intervention.
OWCP
Via the Department of Labor (DOL) the Office of Workers’ Compensation programs manages all Federal Workers’ Compensation claims through claims examiners at 12 regional offices.
