How physician-issued restrictions and leave-without-pay interact — and what to document before a status change.
Medical restrictions are formal, physician-issued limitations on what you can and cannot do — not vague advice to "take it easy." The quality of that documentation, and how it connects to your specific position description, often determines how your agency responds and how your records support any later application.
Leave without pay (LWOP) is unpaid leave that, after 6 months per year, affects your service computation date and therefore your retirement eligibility. Understanding how restrictions, light/limited duty, and LWOP interact before a status change is made helps you avoid closing doors you did not know were open.
Medical Restrictions
Specific functional limitations tied to job duties
Light / Limited Duty
Temporary assignments based on restrictions — not accommodation
LWOP
Affects service computation after 6 months per year
Disability Retirement
When restrictions cannot be accommodated in any position
Federal benefits do not operate in isolation. The same facts can matter across multiple programs.
Light duty and limited duty are temporary assignments based on restrictions — they are not the same as a formal reasonable accommodation.
Extended LWOP can push back your retirement eligibility date — a status change made without understanding this can be costly.
Restrictions that cannot be accommodated in any position are what make disability retirement appropriate — the documentation is what proves it.
Restrictions should describe specific functional limits ("cannot lift more than 10 pounds") — not conclusions ("cannot work").
LWOP beyond 6 months in a year stops your service computation date from advancing.
Let your doctor describe clinical findings, not what they think OPM should decide.