5 CFR § 844.202 - Agency-filed disability retirement applications.
(a) Basis for filing an application for an employee. An agency must file an application for disability retirement of an employee who has 18 months of Federal civilian service when all of the following conditions are met:
(1) The agency has issued a decision to remove the employee;
(2) The agency concludes, after its review of medical documentation, that the cause for unacceptable performance, attendance, or conduct is disease or injury;
(3) The employee is institutionalized, or the agency concludes, based on a review of medical and other information, that the employee is incapable of making a decision to file an application for disability retirement;
(4) The employee has no personal representative or guardian; and
(5) The employee has no immediate family member who is willing to file an application on his or her behalf.
(b) Agency procedures.
(1) When an agency issues a decision to remove an employee and not all of the conditions described in paragraph (a) of this section have been satisfied, but the removal is based on reasons apparently caused by a medical condition, the agency must advise the employee in writing of his or her possible eligibility for disability retirement and of the time limit for filing an application.
(2) If all of the conditions described in paragraph (a) of this section have been met, the agency must inform the employee in writing at the same time it informs the employee of its removal decision, or at any time before the separation is effected, that:
(i) The agency is submitting a disability retirement application on the employee's behalf to OPM;
(ii) The employee may review any medical information in accordance with § 294.106(d) of this chapter; and
(iii) The action does not affect the employee's right to submit a voluntary application for disability retirement or any other retirement benefit to which the employee is entitled under FERS.
(3) When an agency submits an application for disability retirement to OPM on behalf of an employee, it must provide OPM with copies of the decision to remove the employee, the medical documentation, and any other documents needed to show that the cause for removal results from a medical condition. Following separation, the agency must provide OPM with a copy of the documentation of the separation.
(c) OPM procedures.
(1) OPM will not act on any application for disability retirement filed by an agency on behalf of an employee until it receives the appropriate documentation of the separation. When OPM receives a complete application for disability retirement under this section, it will notify the former employee that it has received the application and that he or she may submit medical documentation. OPM will determine entitlement to disability benefits under § 844.203.
(2) OPM will cancel any disability retirement when a final decision of an administrative authority or court reverses the removal action and orders the reinstatement of an employee to the agency rolls.