Do You Actually Qualify? The Five Threshold Questions Before You File

Emily A. Hall ·

People spend months assembling medical evidence for a disability retirement application without ever confirming they clear the threshold requirements. Those requirements are not about how sick you are. They are structural, and failing one of them ends the matter regardless of your medical situation.

Check these first. It takes an afternoon and it can save you a year.

1. Are you covered under FERS?

The Federal Employees Retirement System has its own disability retirement rules. CSRS operates under different provisions, and some positions are not covered by either in the way people assume.

Most federal employees know which system they are in. Some do not, particularly those with interrupted service, prior military service, or a transfer between systems earlier in their career. Confirm it rather than assuming.

2. Do you have at least 18 months of creditable civilian service?

This is a statutory minimum. It is a specific figure and it concerns creditable civilian service, which is not automatically the same as total time in a federal building.

Employees close to the line should confirm their service computation rather than estimating from memory.

3. If you have separated, has it been less than one year?

This is the requirement that ends the most claims, and it does so quietly.

If you have separated from federal service, there is a one-year filing window from the date of separation. People who leave while unwell, focus on recovering, and address the paperwork later frequently discover the window closed while they were not watching.

If you are still employed you have more room. If you have separated, this question is urgent and it should be answered today, not eventually.

4. Have you declined a reasonable reassignment offer?

Declining an offer of reassignment to a vacant position at the same grade or pay level within your commuting area, for which you are qualified, is disqualifying.

This surprises people. An offer that felt insulting or impractical at the time can be the reason a later application fails. If you have been offered anything by your agency, understand what it was before you decline it.

5. Are you preparing an initial application?

Not strictly an eligibility requirement, but a practical fork in the road. If you have already been denied and are facing reconsideration or an MSPB appeal, you are in a different process with different rules and shorter timelines — and one where representation by an attorney is genuinely warranted.

What clearing these does and does not mean

Meeting all five means you are eligible to apply. It does not mean an application will be approved. The substantive question — whether your medical condition prevents you from performing the essential duties of your position — is separate, and it is where most of the real work lies.

But there is no point building that case if a threshold requirement disqualifies you, and there is every reason to know before you invest the months.

Eligibility determinations are made solely by OPM. This is general education, not legal advice.

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If you would like this reviewed against your own situation, see the Strategy Consult.