Q. I am a retired FERS employee — 59 years old, with 25 years of federal service. I retired two years ago under VERA VSIP. My employer (Defense Department) was reducing the workforce due to budget cuts and abolished my job. I paid into Social Security for 42 years. I have some health issues and am considering applying for Social Security disability. My question is: Will Social Security disability retirement affect my FERS annuity?
Browsing: Disability retirement
Q. I have been an 1811 status (federal agent) federal employee for 16 years. I have been on leave without pay and receiving workers’ compensation for the past year due to an on-the-job injury. I have received little if any guidance from my agency’s HR, as the representatives admit they have little or no experience with workers’ comp. What should I do to maintain the best possible benefits for me and my family if this becomes a long-term/permanent situation and I am not able to return to work? And if I can return to work, how would the time on…
Q. I am a federal employee under FERS. I have 13 years of service with a minimum of 10 years to become eligible for regular retirement. Due to an injury, I was on leave without pay for several months, then returned to work overseas. After I was on the job eight months, my condition manifested in physical symptoms, at which point my physician recommended that I take leave. My employer approved sick and annual leave but said I was ineligible for LWOP because I was overseas. I am still on my own leave, but it will soon be exhausted, and…
Q. If an employee has a disability (schizophrenia), can the employee request two years of leave without pay to get away from a hostile work environment due to co-workers? A. An employee may make such a request. Whether it would be granted would be up to the agency. Depending on the employee’s ability to provide useful and efficient service, the agency might recommend that the employee file for disability retirement instead.
Q. I know that if the military loses membership due to medical reasons, they get processed out on the technician side and apply for the 60/40. If I am a federal civilian technician and I become medically unable to return to work, am I eligible for the same 60/40 disability? I am just curious about my entitlements since I have been out of work medically almost 6 months. A. You would have to apply for disability retirement.
Q. I am 51 (I turn 52 in April) and have been a law enforcement officer for 23 years, plus four years of military time that I bought back. Because of torn retinas, I have lost all depth perception permanently and have been placed on light duty pending further medical review. I will likely be ruled unable to perform in a law enforcement position and unfit for duty. I wasn’t planning on retiring, but now it might be forced on me with a FERS disability retirement. If that is the case, what is better — to just retire voluntary, before…
Q. I am 60 and was hospitalized in March. I used all my sick and vacation leave because of a medical condition that will last more than a year, used all my FMLA and have applied for disability retirement. I got a call from the nurse executive that if they don’t receive a letter from me within five days that I am resigning, they will have to terminate my federal service, since they say I am AWOL. This same executive in May completed the supervisor portion of my disability retirement application. Can they fire me even though I have applied…
Q. I have eight years of active service in the Army. I am not retired from the Army. I do not get Social Security. I made the post-56 deposit lump sum before the interest date. I have 10 years’ civil service with the Department of the Army. I was retired for disability March 12, 2010. OPM recently sent my retirement packet — two years and four months later. The packet doesn’t include my military service in the time-in-service computation or the $3,640 paid in to the contribution dollar amount of annuity. My annuity is much less than estimated due to…
Q. If I’ve been granted disability retirement from OPM, can the agency I worked for take it away? A. No.
Q. I retired on disability about five years ago. I am in CSRS. My annuity statement shows no deduction for the survivor annuity. However, when I got the personalized little book they give you when you retire, it mentions the survivor annuity and how much my wife would get. Am I missing something? Is my wife covered by the survivor annuity I provided? And if this is an OPM snafu, how do I correct it? Also will I be on the hook to pay back any premiums I would have paid to provide the survivor annuity? A. Yes, your wife…