From the Washington Post:
Social Security closed its 1,250 field offices and 165 sites where administrative law judges hear appeals of rulings on disability applications, after weeks of pressure from employees and the unions that represent them. In theory, business will carry on by phone, officials said.
In reality, the sudden transformation did not unfold seamlessly.
Some employees arrived at work first thing Tuesday morning because they were not yet set up to telework. They watched as customers pulled into parking lots, looking for help with disability claims or with replacing lost Social Security cards. Then they watched them peer into the darkened offices and walk away in frustration.
“We’ve been asking for this for a while. They did it overnight — and failed to get the word out,” said Ralph Dejuliis, a field worker in Oklahoma and national president for the union that represents the federal employees.
Dejuliis said Social Security employees don’t know how they are going to handle a variety of tasks. What if they are not sure people on the phone are who they claim to be? In the past, they made them come to the office to be sure. Also, only a fraction of the staff have work computers equipped with Softphone, a software program that allows employees to make and receive calls using the Internet.
So they are being asked to use their personal cellphones to talk to dozens of strangers each day. Managers are advising them to block their personal number by using *67 before dialing.
Workers said they are receiving confusing directions from managers about telework.
Milana Bubrinkova, who processes claims in a Chicago district office, said she learned Friday afternoon that her children’s schools were closing.
She asked her manager for permission to telework and didn’t receive a clear decision, she said. She grabbed her work laptop before she left that night. The agency policy allowed for telework under such circumstances, and she wanted to be ready for work Monday morning.
That morning, she said her manager approved her to telework but reprimanded her for taking her computer home without his permission. “I’m trying to find a way to get my work done, and I’m getting reprimanded for it? You cannot make this stuff up.” ...
12 comments:
This article is circulating in PC4 and raising morale among employees. Thank you Milana for speaking out against the ridiculousness going on in here right now.
In this unprecedented situation why would anyone think anything would go "seamlessly". Hard decisions have to be made quickly. Making you president, SSA commissioner, office manager does not grant prescient powers. All those positions, and many more, are tough under normal circumstances. Take a breath and get real. And good luck...
The problem is that many managers expect employees to be dedicated to the cause(whatever and whenever) but don’t want to share the risk. This laptop story is a perfect example. I hope my manager is willing to share the risks with me.
Have any attorneys tried using e-sign documents in light of this situation? Many judges are being lenient this week with verbal agreements by the client to our representation (when a hearing attorney is not on the original rep forms), but we are not sure they will stay that lenient for long. Clients often don't have access to printers and scanners to personally sign documents and email them back to us. It would be so much more efficient since many clients DO have smartphones and can access the document and e-sign that way. Thoughts?
My recommendation to the leadership of this agency would be to get back to your mission of providing security to the American people in this time of need. Protect your employees. This agency will be more important than ever as the people wake up and see they are once again left holding the bag while the Wall Street gang is in their private compounds with their boutique private physicians warding off this GD plague. This agency is essential to a healthy social fabric in this country. Bail outs are coming again for Wall Street banks and giant corporations. Restore the Social Security Administration NOW!
It can go seamlessly when COSS doesn't announce the decision to close tomorrow until after about a third of all offices are closed for the day and about half are barely staffed because most of the staff has already put in their 8 hours.
If going smoothly had been a factor, SSA would have been open on Tuesday and would have announced the closing would happen on Wednesday or at the very least would have made the decision to close 3 hours earlier.
I'd say there is a good chance that Milana's manager has a differing version of the story...
Anon 3:46. Agreed. Bailing out billion dollar corporations should be the last in line. Money should be spent to help the most needy, which is something government should have always done from the start.
We are going to need a wartime mobilization of all our resources. But I believe there are 2 rules that will help get us through:
1. Don't panic.
2. Help each other.
We do those 2 things and we will get through. Failure on any of those 2 will be disastrous.
PC7 is closing after COB Friday. 100% Telework for an unknown period after that.
At our Mod meeting today, the people who never teleworked are upset and unsure if they can even get their systems working, or how they will preform their job duties. Some were reluctant to sign the telework agreement as they don't want to do it, but they were informed that it is not an option at this point, they must telework. .
The former teleworkers were much more confident.
SSA should never have cut telework last November, what a colossal mistake by Commissioner Saul. Even in early March when we knew Coronovirus was coming , SSA cut telework even more. The only way to prepare for something like this is to have employees who know how to telework, who do it with regularity, and are prepared to go 100% telework if necessary.
This must never happen again. When this crisis rebates, telework must continue at SSA.,.
management spent millions to manipulate reams of computer generated data to justify productivity quotas to jam down employees' throats because management doesn't trust SSA's employees to do their jobs - but zero planning on how to protect employees and the public during a pandemic.
@4:42 Milana followed agency policy. Employees are required to monitor weather and news events and if it appears a situation may unfold that would result in teleworking the employee is required to take their computer home in the event they need to telework.
You could be reprimanded for not taking a computer home if the commissioner or president orders total shutdown at 10pm Eastern tonight after everyone outside of Hawai'i and Alaska has closed because the employee should understand the possibility exists.
Absolutely disgraceful response to this entire pandemic by SSA management. There's no clear, rational communication from the top. They've made dangerous demands made of employees and just generally have been, and still are, exhibiting a careless disregard for life. Just shocking.
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