Further Reductions In Field Office Hours
From the
Federal Times:
Social Security Administration field offices are again trimming the
hours they are open to the public due to tight budgets, a top
administrator told employees in a Wednesday email.
Starting Nov.
19, all 1,233 offices will close to customers 30 minutes earlier, Mary
Glenn-Croft, deputy SSA commissioner for operations, said in the email.
As of Jan. 2, the offices will close to the public at noon on
Wednesdays, she said.
This is the second time the agency has been
forced to trim office hours because of budget considerations. SSA
trimmed public office hours at its offices by 30 minutes in August 2011. ...
SSA spokeswoman Kia Green said the shift is “part of normal operations”
under the six-month continuing resolution signed last week by President
Obama. That stop-gap spending bill leaves SSA operating with
“significantly” less money than either the agency or the Obama
administration requested, Green said.
Unfortunately, trimming the hours may not have the results that may be intended. The Field Offices focus on 'intake'. Completing actions is relegated to second (or thrid) place. Adjudications, processing often have to be 'squeezed in' at odd moments between interviews or during times that the Field Office is not open to the public. Shortening the hours will likely have the effect of more people besieging the Field Offices during the reduced hours, leaving higher and higher stacks of unprocessed, incomplete work. . . .
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately at my office we have a deranged manager that thinks that no adjudication time is ok for her employees that she treats as beast of burder. Therefore, the only official adjudication time is before office opens at 9 AM, and the shortened work day, and the day after Thanksgiving that is closed to the public.
ReplyDelete