Social Security Administration Commissioner Andrew Saul upset many agency staff when he canceled a popular teleworking program in 2019.
“A time of workload crisis is not the time to experiment with working at home,” Saul said when he announced the policy, citing a need to reduce wait times for Social Security claimants.
But Saul himself did not work in the agency’s main Baltimore office even before the pandemic forced everyone into telework, says Ralph de Juliis, president of the AFGE Council 220, which represents Social Security employees in field offices and call centers.
“We were told he’s spending his time in New York because that’s where he’s from,” de Juliis told HuffPost.
De Juliis said agency workers could see that Saul wasn’t logging into his Skype account, either, which employees and managers use for internal communication at the agency. In January 2020, his Skype account had been inactive for 67 days, according to a screenshot de Juliis shared with HuffPost. ...
“We really think Biden should find new people to run the Social Security Administration, who haven’t made it a point to be bad and horrible to employees and the union,” de Juliis said.
The SSA’s press office ignored requests for comment for this story.
Feb 25, 2021
Absentee Boss
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Saul has been completely absent from HQ and really hasn't been running the agency since his confirmation. The rumor is he doesn't even check e-mail or have a smart phone. It's commonly understood that Bea Disman has been running the agency since 2017, also from New York, and is responsible for many of the problems the agency is facing.
I heard he hides the sun under his robes at night and transforms into a beast during full moon!!!
Hard to do juggle sun blocking duties while embarking on European art purchasing expeditions and running your family's hedge fund full time.
Well of course the higher ups and their inner circles live where they want.
Yet execs continue to resist allowing others to work remotely despite the electronic nature of work performed by many. When asking about it you get a typical BS response on how allowing remote work is being "looked into". Let’s just say it’s being looked into well over 10 years and the unions have been useless on the topic.
Leona Helmsley was famously reported to have said: "We don't pay taxes; only the little people pay taxes."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leona_Helmsley
The Andrew Saul version of this is "We don't work at the Social Security office; only the little people work at the Social Security office."
While there is concern regarding the COSS being logged into Skype or email, it is doubtful that means he is not actively engaged. More likely uses other methods of communicating with his direct staff who then act on his behalf. I imagine you would see this same thing in the private sector.
What should concern everyone, and it is something that this current leadership did not create and they are actually struggling with. That is the culture that is in place that is a result of individual DC components and even more so AC level components who have been focused on building their own enterprises instead of working collaboratively together for the best interest of the agency, public, and employees. The egos and need to control every little thing or even worse stop progress at every turn has gotten horrible over the past 4-5 years. This mentality has drifted down now to the staff level and to even accomplish a minor change or initiative is a battle if you have to work with others even sometimes those inside your own AC component.
It is a known fact that SES leadership have historically been able to write their own performance plans each year and are compensated when hitting goals and metrics that they actually provide tbemselves. This leads to a me first mentality where all their focus is then on meeting those goals/metrics. And that is why there is so much emphasis on numbers (which can be and are manipulated so they meet them) or refusal to work unitaterly since another SES'ers goal may be in direct conflict with their goals or ability to meet the metrics they put in their plan. Employees cannot write their own performance plans, why should they be able to?
This is just one factor though in what has created a culture where any change (process, technology, etc...) is met with resistance and not only resistance but it has become almost openly hostile even at the staff level. And although the COSS and his team are aware, it is also known that disciplining or removing anyone at the SES level is next to impossible. It is easier to remove a union employee then someone in the SES program.
It is not all but a very large amount of those in leadership roles that are the problem. Many were never qualified to be in these roles in the first place but are because they are life long SSA employees who have had friends in the right place at the right time. They have built a culture that lacks accountability, is fiscally and ethically irresponsible, and encourages retaliation against anyone who has any ideas or suggestions that either a) didn't come directly from them or b) will require them to actually get their staff to put in the work needed to accomplish it.
So if there is anywhere in the agency that people want to pinpoint as a major issue, this is one big one.
Feel like Saul came in with kind of an antiquated old school mentality. The "I walked to school uphill both ways" kind of attitude. However, this was totally against modern technology and remote working.
It is also entirely possible he is just lazy. Remember the POS in Chief appointed him probably from a text while golfing. Also, I do not remember prior ALJ commishes like Astrue getting accused of constant absenteeism.
Better Call Saul. If you can ever reach him.
The previous comment about career SESers creating their own little petty fiefdoms is spot on. However, this is a trend that appears to have been exacerbated and accelerated under Saul and Berryhill before him, and particularly since AFGE was gutted.
I spent my entire career at SSA, and 4:35AM absolutely nailed it. Very well stated!
Saul visited a hearing office in NYS shortly after his appointment and asked the ALJs, "Are you ready to start working hard?" and "Did you sign 500 last year". Clueless and adversarial literally on day one. Apart from angry columns in the AARP magazine, he's been invisible since then. Hates his staff but makes no effort to work with them.
@6:31 PM, I do not believe all execs are against remote working, which we can roughly define as working outside of a traditional office environment, and it can include working outside the geographic area of the office building location. To be successful a more permanent type of remote working situation would have to be implemented in an equitable manner and in a way that does not diminish the agency's ability to fulfill its public service mission.
The pandemic has changed the work place landscape in many ways, and it has already placed the majority of employees in a fully electronic work environment. This has forced many to re-look at how work and oversight can be done in an effective manner. However, the question of whether such changes will be made permanent is complex. That said, there is a strong argument that a more permanent type of remote working can be accomplished, but to be successful it will require national leadership, union partnership, and clear-minded planning. Hopefully this will not require an additional 10 year “looking at” period.
SESers do not write their own appraisals! They write up what their accomplishments have been over a given period of time for their boss.
SSA management delayed telework for a long time. Then when we finally got it Saul abruptly terminated it, calling it an "experiment" years after it had been instituted and was working well. He had no concern whatsoever for employee morale or home/work life balance.
To be fair Saul has let us telework during the pandemic but I don't trust his decisions in the long term. He has already shown his true colors: Anti union, anti employee rights, and reactionary.
@4:35 AM, February 26, 2021 - you are spot on! I could not have said it better myself. This is what happens when an agency is left with no leadership and no oversight - they keep recycling the same people. Another thing SESers have implemented to solidify their positions and continue their chokehold on agency employees is to require performance evaluations for promotions and to make it mandatory that an SESer has to "endorse" your application for the SESCDP program. Obviously, if you are not part of the "in crowd," you have no chance of either.
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