Federal Employee Medical Retirement: The Calendric Term

Last Updated on January 2, 2014 by FERS Disability Attorney

The marking of a calendric year, and its end, is traditionally recognized by an enthusiastic celebration embracing drinking, noise and a quantity of hugging and kissing.  Whether the year contains anything to celebrate is irrelevant (some would say that all years, like puppies and aged whiskey, are inherently precious); and some years are magnified by shaping events which deserve greater recognition and celebration than other years, but it seems to matter not to the participatory celebrants.

For the Federal and Postal workers who suffer from a medical condition, such that the medical condition impacts one’s ability to perform the essential elements of one’s job, the day before the end of a calendric year differs little from the day after and the beginning of a new calendric year.

The pain and medical condition fails to recognize the distinction between the before and after.  It is perhaps well that we celebrate when health, time and opportunity allows; for, our time within the confines of a given lifespan is short enough, and every day can therefore be viewed as a moment to celebrate.

For the Federal or Postal Worker who must contemplate filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits through the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, however, the time is often dictated by events beyond one’s control, and must be seen not in the light of sequential days on a calendar, but rather, in light of today and what tomorrow might bring, regardless of the month or year.

Calendric bifurcations of time, seasons and years are meant for the sequential thought process; for others who suffer, each day is measured by what the next day will bring.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire