Federal Worker's Compensation
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Your Basic Rights?
Few to None...
Illegal workers who are injured on their illegal job in the US can by prior ruling of the Supreme Court proceed to American courts for compensation for their job injuries. But for millions of American civilians working for the United
States who are similarly injured, diseased or even killed on their job, they are strictly barred and prohibited by US federal law from
those exact same basic rights.
Federal employees in America commonly include postal workers, military base civilians, members of federal grand juries, ROTC, Peace Corps, Congressional office staff, Federal judges and their staffs, and the list goes on and on.
If you are one of the millions of American civilians injured, sickened or even killed while working for the United States, you have far fewer rights than those that are routinely granted to illegal immigrants who are similarly injured while working illegally in the US.
Federal law specifically bars you from any right to have your injury claim heard or reviewed or appealed to any court of law in the United States, or for that matter, even reviewed by any"official" of the United States. Title 5 USC 8123
The Federal Employees' Compensation Act expressly limits your rights to compensation to filing a claim with US Department of Labor Office of Workers' Compensation Programs. (OWCP). In the OWCP process, the Secretary of Labor, a political appointee, holds full and final authority over your claim and has complete and final discretion as to when, what and if anything, you are going to receive in compensation for your injury. The Secretary is under no established timeline as to when, if ever, he must review your claim, and once reviewed, his decision in the long run is reviewable only by himself. The Secretary, at his own discretion, and at any time, may end, decrease or increase any compensation previously awarded to you by his office.
The USDOL OWCP currently abhors and actively discourages any sort of on-line filing of claims or any attempt to contact the USDOL by means other than paper placed in the US snailmail. Thus claims for much needed compensation can literally take years if not decades to be procssed fully by the USDOL.
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Federal Medical Disability Retirement
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Your Basic Rights?
Better....
Federal Medical Disability Retirement is a program similar to social security disability, for federal employees. It is overseen by the Office of Personnel Management so is commonly referred to as OPM disability.
OPM disability is for those federal employees who due to disease or injury, or combinations of both, can no longer perform their assigned job and their federal employer cannot accommodate or re-assign them elsewhere.
Claims for OPM disability are filed by the employee through their personnel office. If denied, then the employee has the right to appeal his claim for benefits to the Merit System Protection Board (MSPB).
If denied by the MSPB the employee then has the right to appeal his claim to the federal court system, specifically the US Federal Circuit Court of Appeals.
OPM claims are more and more being processed on-line, and in fact the OPM and MSPB actively encourage claims to be processed on-line to speed up the claims process.
Thus, depending on the facts, OPM claims can commonly be completed in as few as 6 months, but average at least a couple of years for most claims.
OPM benefits, once awarded, are paid as an annuity and are fully taxable.
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More Questions?
Trying to understand the laws and regulations surrounding
disability benefits can be incredibly confusing for the layman. It's almost
impossible unless you have devoted your education and career to understanding
this specific niche. If you want to cut through the all the confusing obstacles
that stand in your way, give the offices of James R. Linehan a call as soon as
possible. If too much time passes, you could miss out on your Social Security
Disability, Federal Workers Compensation OWCP, or OPM medical retirement
benefits.
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Do I Need An Attorney to Represent Me?
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No, Anyone Can Represent You
There is no requirement in either federal workers' compensation or federal medical disability retirement claims that you must be represented by an attorney. In fact you can represent yourself or have anyone you so desire represent you.
However, as with any federal government claim, knowledge is power. The more you know of the intricate ins and outs of the very complicated federal bureaucracies that you will be dealing with, the more successful you likely will be in your claim. Also, OPM disability claims are appealable to the federal court system. There you will very likely need legal representation. If you have not properly prepared or argued or submitted your claim beforehand, you may very well have extreme difficulty then finding an attorney to represent you so late in the process.
Unless you are willing to devote countless hours to research on your claim, attempting to understand the intricate bureaucratic rules, finding the necessary forms and where and how to file them, etc., then you may well want to consider retaining knowledgeable legal counsel to help you. Finding such counsel may be difficult. On the whole, once you mention that you are challenging federal agencies such as OWCP and OPM, experience has shown that a majority of legal counsel will not take your case simply out of fear of the federal government and dealing with federal bureacracies.
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Contact Me
Call 800-266-9535 Toll free
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