Struggling at work

[AngryA]

Hello, I am struggling at work, in large part due to PTSD (currently 70% for ptsd, 90% total), looking at potential termination/medical retirement.

Would you advise me to file for increase in ptsd now or once I actually have something to show for it (being out of a job- almost 9 years there). I don’t want to file for 100% via unemployability, I just can’t see myself working for my current employer/management. 

Thank you.

 

[john999]

When I worked for USPS I asked for reasonable accommodation and the USPS just fought it tooth and nail.  I ended up going out on worker's compensation and it cost them plenty just for the lack of some change in my working conditions.  I was hurt on the job and you would have thought the dumb asses would have worked with me, but no.  They wanted to make an example of me.

[john999]

AngryA

                    File for worker's compensation due to your employment conditions that are aggravating your PTSD.  I did that and I got paid for two years until I got TDIU.  All you need is a shrink to say that your current working conditions and duties are aggravating your pre-existing PTSD.  That is what I did. It was a long shot at the time but it worked.  You can't file a claim just because they won't accommodate you, but if they harass you about your disability that would qualify.   You may have a hard time getting from 70% to 100% since you are 90% now.  You should consider TDIU.  If you get better you could go back to work some place else.  I am 100% now but I got TDIU for years.  How old are you?  If you are over 40 you are probably unemployable anyway in this day and age.  These are hard and unpleasant facts.  I feel you.  All the stress makes the PTSD worse. 

 

 

[Tbird]

11 hours ago, john999 said:

AngryA

                    File for worker's compensation due to your employment conditions that are aggravating your PTSD.  I did that and I got paid for two years until I got TDIU.  All you need is a shrink to say that your current working conditions and duties are aggravating your pre-existing PTSD.  That is what I did. It was a long shot at the time but it worked.  You can't file a claim just because they won't accommodate you, but if they harass you about your disability that would qualify.   You may have a hard time getting from 70% to 100% since you are 90% now.  You should consider TDIU.  If you get better you could go back to work some place else.  I am 100% now but I got TDIU for years.  How old are you?  If you are over 40 you are probably unemployable anyway in this day and age.  These are hard and unpleasant facts.  I feel you.  All the stress makes the PTSD worse. 

 

 

I agree file for workers comp if it makes sense in your position. My VA doctor took me off work and said I could not work any more, and I went on Long Term Disability insurance which I had paid into at work. That lasted 2 years and it really helped. No one told me about workers compensation and being my first job out of the navy I didn't know about workers comp. My boss was real bad before, after I got the letter from my doc I only talked to HR and not that often. My Long Term Disability had a limit of 2 years for mental health issue. If it had been a physical disability it would have continued.

[AngryA]

Thank you all for the responses. I work for the VA and am considering medical retirement; any consensus on going that route?

Im 44.

Edited April 19, 2022 by AngryA

[pacmanx1]

2 hours ago, AngryA said:

Thank you all for the responses. I work for the VA and am considering medical retirement; any consensus on going that route?

Take a trip down to the HR Office and talk to them about medical retirement benefits. 

[john999]

I worked for the USPS and eventually took disability retirement.  I had also filed for federal worker's compensation benefits at the same time.  You cannot get both WC and Fed. Disability at the same time, but you can switch from one to the other which ever benefits you the most.  I was a shop steward and learned all this crap along the way.  If you get Fed. Disability you get a much reduced retirement  (30%-40% depending on if you also get SSD). I had WC for about two years and then when I got TDIU I switched to Fed. retirement so I could get SSD and VA at the same time.  A lot of people don't want to file for WC because you will get some flack and it is a long road sometimes because both your employer and WC fight against granting you these benefits. Some of it is very technical especially when you file for a mental disorder aggravation like PTSD or MST.  I waited until my last day on the job to file for WC for "stress" as they say.  I knew the regs so I could craft my claim to fit those regs.  This is not cheating but your claim must fit the regs especially with OWCP.  They are experts at denying claims for stress and mental/emotional claims.  If you think VA claims examiners are bad multiply that by ten and you get a WC claims examiner.  They are nasty but if you get the claim accepted they pay for treatment, drugs and lost wages.