As if the telework situation could not get any worse, the administrator is having the top managers over [at] the Security West building send us moderately threatening emails. One went out yesterday. Speaking to us like we children, he told us that we were to be committed to our work and that our numbers have increased since 2018. It is scary and menacing. He wants the managers to walk up and down the aisles while we work to intimidate us. They don’t want to do this but are threatened as well.
“[SSA Commissioner Andrew] Saul is angry that we are fighting back through the media and senators. I am writing everyone. Our building does not service the public over the phone. We do claims, etc. He stated that he ended telework because the work could not be tracked, which is a lie. Here in the payment center we have a paperless system where we process work and the manager can see the movement in real time as well to see if we actually worked the cases. They would contact us while we teleworked so we were managed. Anyone caught abusing the system was removed. It was as simple as that.
Now we are back in the office and we are being harassed for no reason. Can anyone help us? People want to retire right and left before their time. He does not realize how serious this can be as we need people. We only hire about 50 to replace 300. [It] takes two to three years to be proficient. Truth is I think he wants the system to fail. — Just Plain Joe
17 comments:
It's the GOP methodology to put programs they hate but cannot kill to the death by 10,000 cuts process. And to claim to love it so much that it must be destroyed in order to be saved. Saul knows what he is doing.
We were told 2 weeks ago in BFM that management was to report back to Commissioner about the staff in each division. ]
Relaying what each component director suggested. If telework is good in their area and what specific employees should report each day.
Apparently the "rumor" is that all of SSA will go back to maximum 1 telework day.
The "rumor" was that commissioner was in HQ on a Friday and no one was in HQ and it began lots of questions about telework etc.
Someone actually works at the payment center ??
Either:
1. The commissioner is dedicated to the failure of the system so that it can be destroyed. A goal some hold because they don't want employees quitting while still physically and mentally capable of benefitting their employer. Some hold on philosophical anti-socialist grounds. Some hold because it's their damn money and they don't want to pay it in for taxes when they could better invest it.
OR
2. The commissioner is just an old fart who thinks employees should be seen at all times lest they screw the manager out of a few pennies goofing off because all workers are lazy and devoted to screwing the employer.
@2:13 It's definitely #2
There has to be a reasonable common ground for telework. Having support staff personnel work three or more days a week at home at OHO is a bad idea. Mgt. personnel (HOD's, GS's) at OHO who are teleworking 3 days a week at home is a really bad idea. Who exactly are they supervising at home? The answer is no one. So, there is good reason to cut back the telework.
@4:41: No one is teleworking 3 days a week. At most, people are teleworking 2 days a week. And SSA didn't cut back telework - they cut it out completely for over 10,000 employees. I'm sure there are some positions where telework doesn't make sense, but there's no way that's true for all 10,000 of those employees.
Better call Saul. Sounds like he may be the Trump monster I predicted. Astrue at least seemed to want the SSA to succeed on some level.
@8:52 You're wrong. Mgt. folks at hearing offices are working three days a week at home at times. Support staff does too. As to cutting it out entirely for so many, maybe we don't have all the info the commissioner does.
@4:02. Given that he ripped it away from a whole office without providing any facts and without regard to the job differences within that office, I would say that “info” is not playing into his decision. This is a from the gut move that is a hallmark of this administration. They assume we are all lazy, inept and subhuman. They don’t care about the public that we serve and it shows in every move they make.
OHA/ODAR & certain quality review units (DQB, AIBQB) in SSA Regional Offices are all still teleworking 3 days a week. These components are not represented by AFGE.
@7:24, I'm unclear. Where you say "these components", are you saying that AFGE does not represent any OHO/ODAR BUs?
I believe the ALJs have a union and the NTEU represents most of OHA/ODAR employees. But I do know that they are all still teleworking 3 days.
I never understood why area directors and staff work from home ever. Some of the ADO offices are set up pretty nice and in nice locations. Much nicer than the cubes provided to FOs and where many FOs are located. In addition they don't see the public. I don't see where the stress is for them.
Survived my first full week without telework. So far it has made me less productive and I wasn’t able to help customers with time sensitive code changes until the next business day. Thanks for the one size fits all “solution”, Mr. Saul! Maybe don’t listen to Mick Mulvaney next time.
I can’t speak for everyone, but I work from as often as possible because my door-to-door commute is almost two hours each way. I couldn’t afford to live any closer to my office, which is in a large city with a larger suburban sprawl and people swimming in money. If they did away with telework entirely, I would have to quit my job (which would suit Saul & Co. just fine).
Have you discussed with your boss? If management knows then a database can be created and used to show what impact lack of telework is creating. Managers
are in the same boat as you. If you say nothing then solutions can't be found.
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