House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard E. Neal (D-MA) and Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-OR) today urged Social Security Administration (SSA) Commissioner Andrew Saul to return telework options to SSA employees amid the outbreak of COVID-19....
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued interim guidance last month for businesses and employers that reads in part, “for employees who are able to telework, supervisors should encourage employees to telework instead of coming into the workplace until symptoms are completely resolved.” ...
As I keep saying, this sort of message would have a greater impact if delivered in person at an oversight hearing.
By the way, the epicenter of Covid-19 in the U.S. at the moment is Seattle. Is Social Security doing anything different in Seattle? There's a regional office there so Social Security has a significant number of employees there.
Telework might prevent the virus from thinning the herd of Federal employees. This administration not likely to make employee health and safety a priority.
ReplyDeleteThe POTUS says go to work with Covid19 its okay, he's got this.
ReplyDeleteSSA hasn't released any guidance about how they plan to respond to the outbreak, which is crazy when they deal with a very vulnerable population. I'm pretty sure they're just too embarrassed to admit they were wrong about the new telework policy so soon after they released it.
ReplyDeleteCurrently in Seattle there is no change regarding telework in response to Covid-19.
ReplyDeleteSince Stanley Friendship retired there has been a lack of leadership in the Seattle region. Don't forget that they share resources with the Denver region. Hitting the numbers is the goal. This is more important than everyone's health. The homeless population will bring the virus in. This happened years ago with Mersa and TB.
DeleteSeattle region will most likely implement a plan that benefits the I-5 corridor and not the whole region. This tends to be the pattern in inclement weather like DC.
DeleteWell, the way that OHO SES people are acting about chasing away decision writers, it seems like they've been told their deep 5 figure SES bonuses for this FY are dependent upon cutting a lot of employees. Knowing these folks, I wouldn't be surprised if they felt less than negatively about the prospect, 9:09.
ReplyDeleteWhy in the world are top SSA Officials actively trying to cut employees when all the objective evidence clearly shows the a lack of Congressional funding to hire necessary staff? In other words, SSA is already understaffed, so why are TPTB trying to cut employees across the board? I understand the current Administration is well on its way toward destroying the Federal government by inadequate staffing at many Agencies, but you man to tell me TPTB at SSA are this dense? Insofar as many arose to their power positions from Operations, and the past several years has revealed these folks have proven to be a colossal failure in managing the Hearings portion of SSA, I am not surprised. What is so shocking, however, is why are these inept, non-attorney former Operations folks still holding the top power positions at SSA, and making decisions on issues they are clueless? At what point will SANITY be restored!
DeleteSSA just released a statement from the COSS which basically amounts to, wash your hands and don't touch your face. Thanks Saul. Thanks a lot.
ReplyDelete@2:51
ReplyDeleteFirst, what? Second, seriously what are you talking about? Finally, I hope you find the help you need.
My God, what will it take to get Commissioner Saul to admit that he made a mistake on telework? This is a public health crisis, keeping people home by teleworking is just so important in keeping the Coronavirus from spreading. Telework must be resumed and expanded for public safety purposes, can't he see that? Nobody knows how just widespread this virus will be, and how many more people will die from it. And even if the virus temporarily abates, I read the virus may come back stronger than ever next fall.
ReplyDeleteThe Field offices especially need telework. . Remote interviews will protect both the SSA workers and the general public, many of whom are retired individuals, the older age group most likely to die if infected with Coronavirus. The PC's too, thousands of people are working in close quarters there.
I think telework should be instituted five days a week until this crisis is over.
The POTUS clearly said you can physically appear at work with mild Corona virus hangover. It's just like a Coors Light hangover or anything else. Suck it up and get your lazy government worker arses to work. This is not a socialist country for Christ's sake! We don't need paid sick leave or medical care here to fight a hoax! Telework is for wussies! Give the border shutdown time to work for God's sakes! Soon no more of this Corona will come up here from Mexico and everything will just go away. All gardens will be green and abundant by the springtime! Pray for VP Mike S Pence and our God chosen POTUS and founding star of the longest running television show in CBS history, The Apprentice, Donald H. Trump!
ReplyDeleteSaul's great message was wash your hands and don't touch your face. Now get back to work.
ReplyDeleteHe is such a disaster, he probably sent word to issue an email from the golf course somewhere since I hear he mostly teleworks and is absent from the office for weeks at a time.
They just crushed the union to all but eliminate telework, they're never going to give that back.
ReplyDeleteAnybody can bring the virus in!
ReplyDeleteSaul sent outs”guidance” yesterday to the agency that basically said “wash your hands, put tissues in the trash, and stay home if you feel sick.” What a joke. He’s so reluctant to admit the telework mistake that he is basically saying take paid time off and let your work sit there than telework out of caution. I can say nobody is going to do that. Having to use extra time off now for things like Dr. Appts, being delayed in traffic etc from coming into the office 2 extra days a week than Many of us used to, I’m not going to waste my leave just because I have a cold or don’t feel good. And I guarantee that’s the sentiment for all of here in this massive complex. It’s not until I’m really sick am I staying home. And now, with cases of Coronavirus in Maryland it’s just a matter of time before someone brings it in here. What if HQ is closed to stop the spread of the virus like in Washington? Do we all just get to go home and take weather and safety leave? What about people in the PC or TSC whose position is technically not eligible for telework? If that closes do checks still go out? Saul needs to enact a very generous telework policy LIKE THE CDC is doing because continuity of SSA services is vital to maintaining order and calm. Keeping people well and working is the key to that. I see masks and gloves on people on the train and busses everyday now and all it takes is one case to change everything.
ReplyDeleteFrom the CDC dated 03/05/20
ReplyDeleteTotal cases: 99
Total deaths: 10
States reporting cases: 13
Stop freaking out. Waiting on the conspiracy linking this cold to SSA in an attempt to wipe older beneficiaries off the roles to save money. Wash your hands you nasty people.
It grows exponentially stupid. It starts out slowly. Case, case, cases, cluster, clusters, take off. Are you really that ignorant. This brought the second largest economy in the world to a stand still. Your ignorance is truly monumental.
ReplyDelete9:39 we will see in a month or so. I do not expect the same here in the states, because we are not the originator and have an idea of what is coming. Feel free to wear a mask to identify yourself. This isnt Captain Trips, its a cold virus, the deaths are old and weak respiratory, flu has killed more. But feel free to freak out.
ReplyDeleteI am young and healthy, not worried even a little bit.
ReplyDeleteI am young and health as well, physically anyway. I care little for my own life, I have been a fatalist for a long time. I am a veteran of America's most recent highly-embarrassing conflict. I know death well and see it not as a thing to fear but as a warm comfort for a life well lived. Memento Mori, we are all mortal.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I also have family, parents, in-laws, grand parents still farting around, aunts and uncles with COPD and other ailments, elderly coworkers and neighbors, friends with medical complications.
To not take this virus seriously because you are young and healthy is selfish and inhumane.
There is a dearth of wisdom in this world that only the elderly possess, because wisdom, unlike knowledge, is earned over time. We all need to protect the weak, the sick, and the helpless. Just as my youth and health will not last forever neither will yours. And when death comes for me, I can go peacefully knowing I lived a good life and I helped others live theirs.
@10:12 and 10:34 so just screw the elderly, people with a compromised immune system like cancer patients, people with diabetes, children, pregnant women etc. So since you aren’t worried though, you don’t need to take precautions for the rest of the country. Thanks.
ReplyDelete@10:12 until established otherwise, this disease spreads every bit as easily as a "cold virus" but is much more likely to kill.
ReplyDeleteNo it isn't time to freak out and in most of the country closing offices is wildly premature BUT we do have a significant outbreak in Seattle with no reaction.
Amusing to me that the mantra of make government function like business is discarded when the private sector in Seattle is cutting out travel, eliminating visitors to office locations and telling staff to telework. Oh well we didn't mean do "like business" for things like that.
Seattle Social Security ought to have ALJs who aren't holding hearings teleworking. Writers shouldn't be in the office except maybe once every week or two to deal with any paper cases and the rest of the staff teleworking as their job duties permit.
Hearings should still go on and claimants signed in and assisted. Field offices should send as many as practical to telework and increased emphasis should be placed on explaining to the public the services they can receive via telephone and online.
Is it time to do that in Birmingham? Not based on current data.
Weak on the science of pandemics some of you folks. If you don't take precautions it spreads. Also, it is clear that it spreads easily and is several times more deadly than the flu. And it's not just aggressive in China Einsteins, Iran and Italy are having serious cases also. The biggest freak outers are the folks on Wall Street apparently because it's already had trillions of dollars of impact on our markets. Wonder what they know? Also, major corporate players are prepping for this NOW. Not a year from now. Telework is the intelligent response Trumpers. I know using intelligence in that sentence is an exercise in futility. Of course epidemics work differently here in Trump Land. Alternative facts have led us to alternative scientific laws now also. Dumb, dumb, dumb.
ReplyDeleteFirst confirmed case reported in my sleepy mid sized midwestern town today right in the heart of middle America folks.
ReplyDeleteYou GOP staffers posting anonymously are entitled to your own opinions but not your own facts. COVID-19 has already killed more people than died on 9/11 (a war you guys are still fighting). There is a flu vaccine but no COVID-19 vaccine, and no COVID-19 vaccine is expected soon. It can also leave permanent lung damage even in healthy people.
ReplyDeleteGood luck. The Constitution is an invisible shield that will protect you better than science and learning.
11:58 It is not premature for SSA to start telework nationwide. This should be done immediately.
ReplyDeleteThe testing is woefully inadequate right now, and we don't know how many cases there are nationally.What we do know that the virus is present in most states and we know people are dying. If SSA refuses to act, this could cause an unnecessary tragedy.
And Commissioner Saul sending out Emails about washing hands and staying home if ill, is not going to cut it. His Email did not address the elephant in the room,, his cutting telework for thousands of employees and thus putting those employees at greater risk.
The SAUL" has not been in HQ since January.
ReplyDeleteI do not think any office in HQ has actually seen him.
Atleast Colvin would walk in the hallways, she was local.
This guy lives in NY & golfs in Italy for weeks.
How does anyone actually know that Saul is not at work. Had anyone seen him? And what is the golf rumors about Italy? Where is that coming from. I find that hard to believe. Surly someone who reads this has seen him in HQ or one of the regions recently.
ReplyDelete