"If you already have an in-office appointment scheduled, we will call you to handle your appointment over the phone instead. If you have a hearing scheduled, we will call you to discuss alternatives for continuing with your hearing, including offering a telephonic hearing. Our call may come from a PRIVATE number and not from a U.S. Government phone. Please remember that our employees will not threaten you or ask for any form of payment."
Good decision. Now the payment centers and TSC's must be closed too. Every SSA office in the country should have been closed at least a week ago with telework instituted. . What in God's name is Saul waiting for??? Why are those in authority under him not resigning over his intransigence? Blood will be on their hands too.
Are we sure this is just field offices? The notice mentions currently scheduled hearings are going to be continued and an offer of a telephonic hearing may be made.
That could be addressing CDR hearings, which generally are at a field office, but the notice if vague.
PC employees are at high risk. Thousands must go through the same small doors to enter building, and touch security screening equipment and go by guards who are at extremely high risk. And some employees are randomly searched by those guards, very close human contact.
The next step must be to close every payment center in SSA and allow those employees to telework., First priority should be SSA Employees 60+, at highest risk from coronavirus. Every single worker 60+ should be put on telework or administrative leave immediately. This is a matter of life or death for many of these employees. Every day they come to work they are exposing themselves to possible infection.
The telecenter in Auburn Washington is still open. We’ve got over 400 people there and they say they’re racing to get our telework equipment that we had to send back last fall because of Saul’s boneheaded decision to cancel the telework pilot. We’re going to have a cluster pop up here it just a matter of time. I mean this is the hardest hit spot in the nation and only last week they started this process to get us from not being all in the same place? And we have to ask for it? This is going to be a disaster!
The agency's technology wont allow for mass phone hearings. The VTC equipment only allows for one audio out call. VHRs and VE's are most definitely considered the public and will not be allowed in the office. I've already gotten emails from local management confirming that VE's must be by phone. So, we will have to use staff to act as the hearing recorder. But if the VE is already by phone then there is no available audio line that goes through the recording equipment to call the claimant on. Nevermind if the claimant is represented and the rep and the claimant are not in the same location and we somehow need to come up with a third audio line. This is another half thought out idea from people who havent held an actual hearing in years or have never set foot in a hearing room....
And so it begins. Postpone or do telephonic hearings but the OHO staff has no information as to how the telephonic will proceed, i.e. do rep and claimant need to be together, will it actually work, will the transcript be audible.
if there is a video link to a remote site each site can add a phone call thru the system, If there is not a video ink you should be able to add 2 calls, 5 on some equipment. And there are separate phone lines that broadcast thru the to the speakers; not ideal but in an emergency shud be used.
Check the official SSA closure website. Press release is there. https://www.ssa.gov/news/press/releases/2020/#3-2020-2
ReplyDeletehttps://www.ssa.gov/coronavirus/
ReplyDeleteFrom the press release:
ReplyDelete"If you already have an in-office appointment scheduled, we will call you to handle your appointment over the phone instead. If you have a hearing scheduled, we will call you to discuss alternatives for continuing with your hearing, including offering a telephonic hearing. Our call may come from a PRIVATE number and not from a U.S. Government phone. Please remember that our employees will not threaten you or ask for any form of payment."
Does this cover hearing offices, too? The press released mentions hearings being held via phone.
ReplyDeleteClosed to the public. ALJs, contractors and employees are not the public, making phone hearings possible.
DeleteIt says “local offices” and links to the field office locator. Doesn’t seem to cover OHO.
DeleteGood decision. Now the payment centers and TSC's must be closed too. Every SSA office in the country should have been closed at least a week ago with telework instituted. . What in God's name is Saul waiting for??? Why are those in authority under him not resigning over his intransigence? Blood will be on their hands too.
ReplyDeleteAre we sure this is just field offices? The notice mentions currently scheduled hearings are going to be continued and an offer of a telephonic hearing may be made.
ReplyDeleteThat could be addressing CDR hearings, which generally are at a field office, but the notice if vague.
It does cover hearing offices.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeletePC employees are at high risk. Thousands must go through the same small doors to enter building, and touch security screening equipment and go by guards who are at extremely high risk. And some employees are randomly searched by those guards, very close human contact.
The next step must be to close every payment center in SSA and allow those employees to telework.,
First priority should be SSA Employees 60+, at highest risk from coronavirus. Every single worker 60+ should be put on telework or administrative leave immediately. This is a matter of life or death for many of these employees. Every day they come to work they are exposing themselves to possible infection.
The telecenter in Auburn Washington is still open. We’ve got over 400 people there and they say they’re racing to get our telework equipment that we had to send back last fall because of Saul’s boneheaded decision to cancel the telework pilot. We’re going to have a cluster pop up here it just a matter of time. I mean this is the hardest hit spot in the nation and only last week they started this process to get us from not being all in the same place? And we have to ask for it? This is going to be a disaster!
ReplyDeleteThe agency's technology wont allow for mass phone hearings. The VTC equipment only allows for one audio out call. VHRs and VE's are most definitely considered the public and will not be allowed in the office. I've already gotten emails from local management confirming that VE's must be by phone. So, we will have to use staff to act as the hearing recorder. But if the VE is already by phone then there is no available audio line that goes through the recording equipment to call the claimant on. Nevermind if the claimant is represented and the rep and the claimant are not in the same location and we somehow need to come up with a third audio line. This is another half thought out idea from people who havent held an actual hearing in years or have never set foot in a hearing room....
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteWith a phone hearing is representative at his/her home or office on telephone and claimant is home on telephone??
And so it begins. Postpone or do telephonic hearings but the OHO staff has no information as to how the telephonic will proceed, i.e. do rep and claimant need to be together, will it actually work, will the transcript be audible.
ReplyDeleteOur OHO just advised that the rep and claimant would need to be in same location to make it work.
ReplyDeleteif there is a video link to a remote site each site can add a phone call thru the system, If there is not a video ink you should be able to add 2 calls, 5 on some equipment. And there are separate phone lines that broadcast thru the to the speakers; not ideal but in an emergency shud be used.
ReplyDelete