Disability Retirement

Feds with chronic medical conditions can collect retirement benefits after leaving government.

Career-stopping chronic medical conditions don't have to leave federal employees out in the cold. Those facing an early end to their time in government because of illness or injury can take advantage of the Office of Personnel Management's disability retirement program, which allows workers to seek other employment while receiving checks for their federal service.

"OPM disability retirement is a very progressive paradigm in that it allows for federal and postal workers to receive compensation for being unable to work in a particular kind of job and yet allows them to still be productive in society," said Robert McGill, a Maryland-based attorney who specializes in disability retirement benefits for government employees. The program also allows federal employees to retain health benefits, and the time accrued during disability retirement counts toward total years of service used to calculate retirement annuity at age 62, he noted.

According to OPM, Civil Service Retirement System enrollees age 60 or younger who aren't receiving military retired pay or veterans compensation are guaranteed at least 40 percent of their high-three average salary or the annuity they would have earned if they had continued working to age 60, whichever is less. Federal Employees Retirement System participants younger than 62 years of age earn 60 percent of their high-three salary, though after 12 months, benefits drop to 40 percent. Participants can seek employment outside government and retain disability retirement status as long as their salaries don't exceed 80 percent of their previous federal pay.

McGill recommends federal employees consider disability retirement if their condition affects day-to-day job performance; a physician has deemed their situation chronic; or they go home each night needing to recuperate for the following day.

OPM requires federal workers seeking these benefits to have a medical assessment supporting a disability diagnosis that affects their ability to perform their jobs. The condition must be expected to last more than one year, and the employing agency must be unable to accommodate or reassign the applicant to a vacant position at the same pay and grade level. Employees must apply for the benefit within one year of being separated from federal service.

All CSRS retirees, including those seeking disability retirement, must complete form SF 2801. FERS participants should use SF 3107. To start the disability retirement process, applicants also will fill out SF 3112, which includes forms to be completed by the employee, supervisor and physician.

But workers seeking disability retirement shouldn't expect to receive their first check right away, due to processing backlogs, McGill said. He noted federal workers often wait six to 10 months for disability payments once the process begins.

Employees injured on the job also can apply for disability benefits through the Labor Department's Office of Workers' Compensation Programs, but they cannot receive payments from both programs simultaneously. In addition, workers collecting Social Security will see a reduction in their disability retirement.

"If a person is no longer able to perform efficient service to the federal government, the option would be termination or separation from service for failing to be able to perform his or her job," McGill said. "[Disability retirement] at least allows for a base annuity. It allows the person to have period of time for recuperation, for taking care of the medical condition, and [to] continue to seek to get better. Then many people seek another type of employment that is not same as what they did in federal government."

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.