Instead, the program uses standard eligibility criteria and a battery of physical function tests to determine whether someone can receive payments because their health makes them unable to work.
This includes faculty and staff at state-funded community colleges and universities, as well as police, firefighters, public hospital employees, and emergency medical technicians paid with public funds. Public school teachers and K support staff like custodians and bus drivers have their own retirement systems that operate similarly to OPERS. One important technicality to always keep in mind is that most people can only qualify for OPERS disability benefits after making 60 months of payroll contributions to the retirement plan.
Law enforcement and fire personnel vest for disability immediately, and people can buy service time credits early in their public service careers by voluntarily increasing their OPERS deductions. The relationships between OPERS and other Ohio state worker retirement and disability plans is more complex, so consulting with a knowledgeable Columbus-based disability lawyer is recommended for someone covered by multiple public pension plans.
A key document in that packet is the DR-4, or employer report. The form includes ratings of the degrees to which the applicant must be able to perform certain physical activities in order to do his or her job. Even though they are not listed above, loss of sight, loss of hearing, or loss of speech would almost always meet the definition of a disabling condition under OPERS rules.
When OPERS disability benefits are awarded, the recipient must provide evidence of continuing medical treatment or ongoing rehabilitation aimed at returning him or her to work. Under OPERS, disability payments are intended to be temporary, covering only the period the recipient requires to return to health.
