I have a question for those of you on the inside. Has Social Security started authorizing more overtime since the budget deal was finalized last month? For that matter, in the absence of a Commissioner, is there anyone to authorize it? It seemed clear that very little overtime had been authorized from the beginning of the fiscal year on October 1, 2017 until the budget deal last month. The agency had reason to fear that its appropriation would be cut below the previous year's level. Since the budget deal, it's clear there won't be a cut. It now seems likely that the agency will get a budget boost although how much is up in the air. It may be wishful thinking but I think I've seen a few signs in the last month that a Spring thaw might have started, that a little more OT is being authorized. It's certainly needed, or at least I think I'm seeing things getting a little less bad than it has been these past six months.
9 comments:
Was just told by management that this week is it for OT.
Overtime is great for the paycheck, but increases burnout. It may just be anecdotal, but during times of heavy OT usage, there is increased unexpected leave on Mondays and Fridays.
OT is a stop gap measure, not a long term solution.
Need some of that OT at the payment centers. The wait to obtain fees for both us and our clients is getting longer. The situation is slowly getting worse instead of better.
Hearing offices have already gotten a fair amount of overtime since the beginning of the fiscal year. OT is generally a safe use of money even without a full-year budget because there's no carryover into the following year. It's the hiring that the agency tends to be more conservative about, and is often delayed until we get a budget. That should start coming soon though.
Appeals Council has had some OT for support staff, none for attorneys.
We are still on a CR that ends Friday...
Our field office opened the spigot on OT after the last CR was passed and it hasn't stopped. Every Saturday that systems were available, OT was offered. And it's available all week.
It's kind of weird considering we're on the CR until Friday. But yeah, this is the longest sustained availability of overtime in the seven years I've worked there.
The weirdness is heightened when you look at internal vacancies (google "ivol ssa"). There are ABSOLUTELY ZERO jobs announced in our state and all our neighboring states. Zero. Not zero in our component- zero in all of SSA.
It'll be an interesting Friday.
OT for decision writing is essentially unlimited at this point (at least in my region), up to 18 hours per week, which is the PPM cap. Nationally, at OHO, OT is being allocated at 75% decision writing, 25% case pulling.
The CALJs of DC and Baltimore HOs talked at a panel in January. They said lots of OT available for writing, but Bmore staff wants it and DC staff doesn't. Someone asked if that meant DC cases could be sent to Bmore, but they said that wasn't happening.
USAjobs has a TON of internal applicant only positions posted for SSA, and some ICTAP. They don't seem to be hiring anyone outside though, just promoting from (and therefore leaving gaps) within the agency.
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