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OPM Disability Retirement
FERS OPM Disability Retirement Attorneys Helping Federal Employees in Claiming Their Disability Retirement Benefit
Federal disability retirement is a benefit under the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) and the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) for those who are no longer able to provide effective service in one or more essential elements of their job. For CSRS employees, you must have a minimum of five (5) years of service. For FERS employees, you must have a minimum of 18 months of service.
A federal employee does not need to be “totally disabled” in order to be eligible for federal disability retirement under FERS or CSRS. If the Agency has light duty, or if the employee can do some, but not all, of the essential elements of the job, disability retirement is a possibility.
CSRS employees do not have to file for Social Security disability in order to obtain disability retirement, but if you are under the FERS system, you must file for Social Security disability even though it doesn’t necessarily have to be approved. Additionally, unlike a federal workers’ compensation case, disability retirement has no requirement that the injury must be “job-related.”
You are allowed to collect disability retirement and work at a different job while earning up to 80% of what your previous position currently pays. If you have been terminated or separated from federal service, you only have up to 1 year from the date of termination to file for disability retirement. If you fail to file within that 1 year, you may lose your right to disability retirement.
Disability retirement cases start with the initial submission of an employee’s application. If there are any problems with the initial application a “Request for Reconsideration” should be filed. Finally, if there are any problems at that stage, the next appeal is heard before the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB).
Minimums
- CSRS employees must have a minimum of 5 years of service to receive disability retirement benefits.
- FERS employees must have a minimum of 18 months of service.
Free Consultation
Explore your options with one of our attorneys today. We offer a free consultation, during which we can discuss your case. This is an excellent opportunity to meet our team and decide if our firm is right for you. Call us at 888-977-2254 to get started.
If you are a federal employee and you have any question as to whether you’re not receiving the benefits you are entitled to, please contact us and we can help you determine the best way to meet your goals.