FERS Disability

Last Updated on April 27, 2022 by FERS Disability Attorney

For Federal and Postal employees filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS or even CSRS, the issue of accommodation must be addressed at some point, and one often wonders why a Federal agency is either unable or unwilling to accommodate the medical disabilities of a Federal or Postal employee.

The line between “unwilling” and “unable” is often a complex one, because Agencies must contend with an obligation to attempt to accommodate the medical disability, but remember that such an attempt and obligation is merely one of “reasonable” accommodation.  This means that an implicit cost-benefits analysis is quickly engaged in, where the effort, likely success, extent of any workplace adjustments, whether in the end the essential and core elements of the job functions can be accomplished even with the reasonable accommodations, etc., can successfully be implemented.

An appearance of attempting to accommodate is often all that is indulged, and so the reality is that the Agency seems more unwilling than unable.  Further, the simple fact is that, many disabling medical conditions — e.g., those which are psychiatric in nature, are simply chronic medical conditions which are termed “non-accommodatable”.  For, regardless of what workplace adjustments are made, a Federal employee or Postal worker suffering from Major Depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, panic attacks, delusory thought processes, etc., where symptoms upon one’s focus, concentration, ability to have a reasoned perspective, etc., are all impacted, and therefore is inconsistent with any cognitive-intensive job or occupation.

As such, the treated medical condition becomes “inconsistent” with the particular duties of the job, and therefore it is an unreasonable and unattainable goal to consider any accommodations.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire
Postal & Federal Medical Ret. Lawyer