OPM may deny a FERS disability-retirement application when the evidence does not establish an eligibility element or when the medical, employment, accommodation, and reassignment records do not support one another. The initial decision should identify OPM’s findings. A reconsideration request generally must reach OPM within 30 calendar days.
Key Takeaways
- Read the findings first. The denial letter defines the issues the reconsideration record must answer.
- Protect 30 calendar days. OPM must generally receive the written reconsideration request within 30 calendar days from the initial decision.
- Do not resubmit blindly. Reconsideration should address each finding with targeted evidence and explanation.
- Repair contradictions. Medical records, position duties, physician conclusions, applicant statements, and agency records should support one coherent claim.
- No denial is guaranteed to be reversible. OPM controls the decision, and representation cannot promise approval.
The Denial Letter Controls the Reconsideration Strategy
The first job after an OPM denial is to identify exactly what OPM found missing, inconsistent, or unproven. The response should be built around the written findings, not around a generic list of disability-retirement requirements.
Under 5 C.F.R. § 844.203, OPM reviews the supporting documentation and issues its decision in writing. The decision includes OPM’s findings and conclusions and explains the right to request reconsideration or MSPB review.
That makes the initial decision the working outline for the next submission. Mark each factual and legal finding. Identify the evidence OPM cited. Then compare those findings with the application that OPM actually reviewed.
The decision may reveal one central problem or several connected ones:
- the medical evidence does not establish the claimed restriction;
- the restriction is not connected to the position’s duties;
- the expected duration is not established;
- the accommodation or reassignment record is incomplete;
- the applicant, physician, supervisor, and agency records conflict; or
- an eligibility or filing requirement is not satisfied.
The response should not assume OPM misunderstood. It should show why a finding is incorrect, incomplete, or cured by additional evidence.
The Reconsideration Request Generally Has a 30-Day Receipt Deadline
Time becomes the first issue once OPM issues an initial decision.
5 C.F.R. § 841.306 requires a reconsideration request to be in writing, identify the applicant, provide the claim number when applicable, and state the basis for the request. OPM generally must receive it within 30 calendar days from the date of the initial decision.
The regulation permits an extension when the requester shows a lack of notice or circumstances beyond the requester’s control. That exception should not be treated as extra preparation time.
Leslie Resendez identified reconsideration as the point where legal help becomes most urgent in The Law Office of Justin Schnitzer’s disability-retirement process. Her reason was practical: counsel needs time within the response window to review the denial, examine the existing file, identify the missing connection, coordinate with the physician, and prepare the response.
Deadline: The regulation is framed around OPM’s receipt of the request, not merely the date the applicant begins drafting or sends an incomplete package without confirming delivery.
Medical Evidence Can Exist Without Proving the Work Limitation
An applicant may have a serious diagnosis and a substantial treatment history yet still receive a denial if the evidence does not establish the required connection to useful and efficient service.
5 C.F.R. § 844.103 requires more than proof that a medical condition exists. The condition must produce the specified effect on performance, conduct, attendance, useful and efficient service, or retention in the position. It must also be expected to continue for at least one year from the application date.
The medical record should therefore answer functional questions:
- What restrictions does the condition create?
- Which essential duties do those restrictions affect?
- How do the treatment notes support the physician’s conclusion?
- What is the expected duration?
- What changed in performance, attendance, conduct, or capacity for retention?
The Law Office of Justin Schnitzer’s claims team reviews the medical record alongside the position description. Leslie described the problem directly: if the records do not support what the applicant states, the case becomes an uphill battle. Employees still evaluating the underlying requirements can review the firm’s guide to qualifying medical conditions.
Reconsideration should not solve that problem with broader language. It should solve it with better-grounded evidence.
The Physician Statement Must Connect the Condition to the Position
A physician can support disability retirement without giving OPM the complete analysis it needs. The statement should explain the medical restrictions and their relationship to the employee’s actual position.
5 C.F.R. § 844.102 defines medical documentation as a licensed physician’s statement, potentially supplemented by another appropriate practitioner, that gives OPM the information necessary to determine entitlement. The SF 3112 package separately calls for the physician statement and employment-related documentation.
The physician should not be asked to make legal conclusions outside the medical role. The legal submission should not invent medical findings. The two documents should meet at the functional evidence:
- identified diagnosis or medical condition;
- supported restrictions and limitations;
- expected duration;
- relevant treatment history;
- position duties affected by the restrictions; and
- medical explanation for why the employee cannot provide useful and efficient service.
The Law Office of Justin Schnitzer’s claims team organizes the legal cover letter, physician statement, and applicant statement around the same evidentiary account. Each document retains its proper speaker. Their facts should agree.
The Applicant Statement Can Create or Resolve Credibility Gaps
The applicant statement should make the work limitation understandable without moving beyond the medical record.
Common problems include unsupported superlatives, dates that conflict with treatment records, descriptions of duties that do not match the position description, and limitations that never appear in contemporaneous documentation.
The reconsideration review should compare the applicant statement line by line with:
- medical records;
- the physician statement;
- the supervisor statement;
- the official position description;
- attendance and leave records;
- performance or conduct documentation; and
- accommodation and reassignment records.
When those sources differ, the response should explain why. A silent contradiction gives OPM room to adopt the least favorable interpretation.
Accommodation and Reassignment Can Be Independent Denial Issues
The application must address whether the condition could be accommodated in the current position and whether a qualifying reassignment was available.
Under 5 C.F.R. § 844.103, accommodation in the position must be unreasonable, and the applicant must not have declined a qualifying reassignment offer. The agency must consider qualifying vacant positions and certify the result to OPM.
The record should distinguish among several different facts:
- an accommodation was requested and denied;
- an accommodation was tried but did not restore capacity;
- the agency proposed an option that did not address the documented restriction;
- no qualifying vacancy existed;
- a reassignment was offered; or
- the employee separated before the process was completed.
Those situations are not interchangeable. The reconsideration submission should use the one the record supports.
Leslie noted that separating before accommodation is developed can create an additional narrative problem. The response may need to explain why the process ended and what the available evidence still proves.
Reconsideration Requires a Point-by-Point Record, Not a Thicker File
More pages do not necessarily produce a stronger reconsideration request. The additional material should answer the denial.
A disciplined response generally proceeds in this order:
- Quote or accurately summarize OPM’s finding.
- Identify the governing requirement.
- Identify the existing evidence OPM may have overlooked or interpreted differently.
- Add new evidence that directly cures the stated gap.
- Explain how the complete record satisfies that element.
That structure helps prevent a common failure: submitting hundreds of pages of medical records without showing where the decisive evidence appears or how it relates to the federal position.
The legal cover letter can organize that analysis. It cannot replace the underlying proof.
A Denial Is Not Routine and Reconsideration Is Not a Guaranteed Reset
An initial denial should not be described as standard operating procedure or as OPM’s ordinary way of requesting clarification. The written decision reflects OPM’s determination on the record it reviewed.
The employee may request reconsideration and submit additional evidence, but OPM can affirm the initial decision. If OPM issues a final reconsideration decision, the next review path may involve the MSPB under the instructions in that decision.
That is why the response window should be used to diagnose the actual failure rather than repeat the initial application with a more urgent cover letter.
The Law Office of Justin Schnitzer does not promise that a reconsideration request will be approved. Its work is to make the record coherent, responsive, and grounded in the evidence OPM must evaluate. Readers comparing outcomes should also review the firm’s explanation of the OPM disability-retirement approval rate, which cautions against treating a general percentage as a prediction for an individual claim.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Long Do I Have to Request Reconsideration?
OPM generally must receive the written request within 30 calendar days from the date of the initial decision under 5 C.F.R. § 841.306. Read the decision’s instructions immediately.
Should I Send the Same Application Again?
No. Compare the denial findings with the record OPM reviewed. The reconsideration submission should answer each finding with targeted evidence and explanation.
Does OPM Deny Every Initial FERS Disability Application?
No reliable approval or denial rate is stated here, and a denial should not be treated as automatic. Each decision turns on the governing requirements and the record OPM reviewed.
Can I Add Medical Evidence at Reconsideration?
OPM’s Chapter 60 handbook states that reconsideration reviews the existing retirement file and any additional evidence submitted with the request. The new evidence should address the denial’s stated basis.
Does Hiring a Lawyer Guarantee Approval?
No. OPM makes the decision. Representation can help analyze the denial and organize a responsive evidentiary record, but it cannot guarantee the result.
Speak with a Federal Employment Attorney Today
If you are holding an OPM denial, the reconsideration window is already running. The Law Office of Justin Schnitzer represents federal employees nationwide in FERS disability-retirement reconsideration matters. Call (202) 964-4878 or request a consultation.
Attorney advertising. This article provides general information, not legal advice. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.