The point cannot be stressed enough – do not miss your deadlines in a federal disability retirement application or appeal. The major deadlines are:
1) Terminated or otherwise separated federal employees must apply for disability retirement within one year of separation
2) If you are denied federal disability retirement by OPM, you must request reconsideration from OPM within thirty (3o) days of the denial.
3) If OPM denies reconsideration of your application for federal disability retirement, you have thirty (30) days to file your appeal to the MSPB. The MSPB is unforgiving when it comes to deadlines. To overcome an untimely appeal to the MSPB, you will have to show that a good reason exists for your delay. The MSPB considers the length of the delay, the reasonableness of your excuse or a showing of due diligence, whether you are proceeding pro se, and whether you have presented evidence of the existence of circumstances beyond your control that affect your ability to comply with the time limit, or there has been an unavoidable casualty or misfortune which similarly shows a casual relationship to your inability to timely file your appeal. In a nutshell, you should either be hospitalized or severely mentally incapacitated for an MSPB AJ to waive the time limits for a disability retirement appeal.
As with anything, be sure to have some proof that you filed the MSPB appeal. If you e-file, you will be given a temporary filing number which should have a time/date stamp. If you fax file, be sure to save the fax confirmation and be sure all your pages went through. If you file by mail, send it Certified Mail Return Receipt Requested. If you are fortunate enough to live in the city where an MSPB Office is located, and hand deliver it to the MSPB Regional office, bring an extra copy and have the Clerk file stamp your copy of the appeal.
No post on this website is legal advice, is meant to be legal advice, and certainly does not serve as a substitute for legal advice. Information is power, and we are providing this information to give you, the federal employee, with some power. This information is not widely or easily accessible to Federal Employees.
The Law Office of Eric Pines represents Federal employees under FERS or CSRS in their applications for federal disability retirement to OPM. If an application for federal disability retirement is denied, the Firm represents Federal employees under both FERS and CSRS in their MSPB appeals of denials of federal disability retirement applications by OPM.
It is best to consult with a lawyer familiar with Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) and disability retirement appeals to discuss the facts and law of your particular case. If you have questions about federal disability retirement under FERS or CSRS, or OPM’s denial of your applications for federal disability retirement benefits under FERS or CSRS, contact an MSPB attorney or a Federal Federal Disability Retirement Lawyer at the Law Office of Eric Pines to schedule a telephone consultation.