Merry Christmas

 

Will Frank Bisignano Telework?

Coming back to Social Security?

     You may remember that former Social Security Commissioner Andrew Saul tried to end telework at Social Security while he was teleworking himself. He never moved from New York City to the Baltimore area. That didn't go over well with agency employees.

    The newly nominated Commissioner of Social Security is the CEO of Fiserv which is based in Milwaukee. However, Bisignano never moved from his hometown of New York City when Fiserv moved its corporate headquarters to Milwaukee raising the question of whether Bisginano will move to the Baltimore area if he is confirmed as Commissioner. I don't think that we can say he's teleworking at Fiserv. There may be good reasons why the CEO of a financial services company would be located in New York City but after Saul you have to wonder whether Bisignano intends to move. Trying to end telework for everyone else when you're teleworking yourself isn't a good look. In any case, if you're serious about being Commissioner of Social Security you should be living and working in the Baltimore area.

    I hope this issue comes up in Bisignano's confirmation hearing.

Merry Christmas

 

Does Frank Bisignano Realize What He's Gotten Himself Into?

     I'm surprised that Frank Bisignano wants the job as Social Security Commissioner. He's now the highly paid CEO of a very successful corporation. It's his niche and apparently he's very good at it. Is he aware of the problems he'll face at Social Security?

• If he thinks he'll lead Social Security out of its long term financing problems, he's deluded. Senators of both parties will demand that he promise that he will stay completely away from long term financing issues. He can't be confirmed without making such promises. For that matter, I'm pretty sure that Trump would want him to stay away from such issues. Also, if he actually looks into the political thicket surrounding it, he'll want nothing to do with Social Security "reform." Let Elon Musk take that bullet.
  
• If he thinks he can in any sense "transform" Social Security, he's deluded. There's no simple fix, technical or otherwise, for Social Security's service delivery problems. There's not even a complicated set of fixes that don't take a lot of money and time. It's highly unlikely that he'll get more money.
• If he thinks that he'll have an advantage because he knows nothing about Social Security and won't be held back by old ideas, he's deluded. In any job, it helps to know how things are already set up, what the obstacles to change are, and what ideas have been tried before and how they worked out. The people who came before you weren't fools (except for Jo Anne Barnhart). Social Security isn't a Gordian knot and Bisignano won’t have have a sword.
  
• If he thinks that the real problem at Social Security is that federal employees are stupid and lazy, he's deluded. That sort of arrogance would lead to indifference, if not joy, in losing the experienced, hard-working employees who keep the Social Security Administration afloat. Not every agency employee is a star but they mostly do their jobs ably. There just aren't enough of them.
  
• If he thinks that ending telework will make Social Security significantly more effective, he's deluded. I've been around long enough to know that telework makes little, if any, difference. If telework ends, some percentage of employees will quit. My guess is that it won't be that high a percentage but that's just a guess. Nobody knows. Losing even a few experienced people will hurt an agency that's as bad off as the Social Security Administration. The commonly held view that Social Security is simple is simply wrong. For example, there's not just one type of Social Security disability benefit. Depending upon how you count them, there are as many as seven (remember that blindness is a separate category under both Title II and Title XVI)! And don't get him started on the windfall offset! It'll blow his mind. It takes long training and considerable experience for an employee to become competent.
  
• If he thinks he can transform the Social Security Administration with new IT, he's deluded. When the companies that Gisignano has led have needed to spend money to acquire new IT systems, all he's had to do was to convince a complaisant board of directors to approve the money. The money was available since the companies were profitable. The situation at Social Security is entirely different. Convincing the White House to approve additional funding will be hard enough. Convincing Congress is much more difficult. Martin O'Malley is a born lobbyist. How far did he get? Is Gisignano any kind of lobbyist?
• If he thinks that fighting employee unions will make the Social Security Administration more effective, he's deluded. The unions can be a pain in the neck but they have just about no effect on productivity. Spending energy fighting them isn't worth it. They're not the enemy.
  

Remember At Christmas

 

Merry Christmas

 

Merry Christmas

 

For The Frustrated Social Security Disability Claimant

       My partner and I continue posting on our firm's separate blog directed at a different audience -- For The Frustrated Social Security Disability Claimant. Take a look at these recent posts on that blog:

• Many Other Conditions Can Be The Basis For A Successful Social Security Disability Claim
• Migraine Headaches
• Work and Social Security Disability
• 13 Things to Expect at Your Disability Hearing
• Bipolar Disorder
• Social Security Service Takes Another Hit
• What is Social Security Disability?
• Asthma
• Disabled Adult Children
• Bad Backs
• Social Security Disability for the Injured
• Heart Disease
• Should I Apply for SSI?
• Chronic Pain
• Disability & Personal Injury Cases

Merry Christmas

 

New Ruling Allows Use Of Vocational Information Sources Other Than DOT

     From Social Security Ruling 24-3p.; Titles II and XVI: Use of Occupational Information and Vocational Specialist and Vocational Expert Evidence in Disability Determinations and Decisions, due to appear in the Federal Register tomorrow:

... VSs [Vocational Specialists, used at DDS] and VEs [Vocational Experts, used at OHO] may provide evidence based on their professional experience and any reliable source of occupational information that is commonly used in the vocational profession and relevant under our rules. VSs and VEs are in the best position to determine the most appropriate sources of data to support the evidence they offer. We expect VSs and VEs to identify the sources of the data they use and, where applicable, to explain their general approach to estimating job numbers. If the VS or VE uses a data source that defines exertion, education, or skill levels differently than our regulations, we expect the VS or VE to explain the difference. ...

Some sources of occupational data use definitions of exertion level, skill level, and education level that align closely with our program rules. The DOT is such a source. If a VS or VE uses a source that defines exertion, skill, or education level differently than our program rules, we expect the VS or VE to acknowledge the difference and explain whether or how they have accounted for the difference. ...

    You can start to see a new occupational information system coming. They're trying to avoid the necessity of changing their regulations. Also, they want to phase it in and they want to have it both ways -- use either the old or the new to deny claims with claimants unable to demand consistency.

Bisignano Nominated To Become Commissioner

     From USA Today:

President-elect Donald Trump said he's nominating financial services CEO Frank Bisignano to serve as commissioner of the Social Security Administration. ...

Bisignano currently leads the financial services and payments giant Fiserv, one of the largest financial software companies in the country.

He’s previously held executive leadership positions at major banks including JP Morgan Chase and Citigroup.  ...

    From Wikipedia:

... Under Bisignano's tenure, hundreds of First Data and FiServ locations have closed, resulting in the termination of thousands of employees. Employees who previously had remote positions due to the COVID-19 pandemic or other legacy reasons have reportedly been particularly targeted. ...

What About NTEU And ALJ Unions?

    The Biden Administration signed contracts with the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) to lock in telework at Social Security until 2029 but there are at least two other, smaller employee unions at Social Security -- the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) and the ALJ union. What's with them? Do they have new, unannounced contracts or were they just already protected?

Merry Christmas

 

Biden Administration Tries To Lock In Telework At SSA

      From Bloomberg News: 

A Biden administration appointee has agreed to lock in hybrid work protections for tens of thousands of Social Security staff, part of a slew of organized labor efforts that complicate President-elect Donald Trump's efforts to reshape the federal workforce.

 

The American Federation of Government Employees, a union representing 42,000 Social Security Administration workers, reached an agreement with the agency last week that will protect telework until 2029 in an updated contract, according to a message to its members viewed by Bloomberg.

The new deal, signed by President Joe Biden’s just-departed SSA Commissioner Martin O’Malley, will let workers “maintain current levels of telework,” AFGE chapter president Rich Couture wrote. …

  

A US president "can't just set aside lawfully signed collective bargaining agreements, without the unions' agreement," Indiana University law professor Kenneth G. Dau-Schmidt said via email. "The US government has to live up to its agreements, too.

"

Don't Mess With Social Security

 

    The French government may soon fall because it has tried to ram through changes in social security benefits in that country. This will be the first time a French government has fallen due to a no confidence vote since 1962.

One Thing About Carolyn Colvin

     Let's say that someone other than Carolyn Colvin had been made the Acting Commissioner of Social Security and let's say it's a career employee in his or her prime working years. Let's also say that the Trump Administration decides a priori that Social Security will do just fine with a 20% reduction in staffing. That Acting Commissioner would face a dilemma. The person could forcefully resist internally in which case that person would probably be fired and their federal career would be at an end. That person could quit in protest in which case their federal career would also be at an end. That's tough on a person with a mortgage and kids in or near college.

    At her age, Colvin can easily resign in protest. She has no reason to worry about her federal career. She can court firing or quit without concern. If she leaves, she can be very noisy about it. This gives her a certain power that others, younger than her, don't have.

    By the way, if you're someone in line to succeed Colvin, what would you do as Acting Commissioner if the Trump Administration orders up something that you know will have disastrous effects? Would you have the courage to resign in protest? Would you be willing to preside over a disastrous situation? Is there some way of squirming out of the dilemma? These may not be abstract questions for a handful of people at Social Security.

FY 2024 DDS Allowance Rate

     From a recent release from Social Security:

How Much Should We Be Worried?

     Michael Hiltzik of the Los Angeles Times lays out all the ways that the incoming Trump Administration could hurt Social Security. The prospects are scary.

Four At SSA Receive Presidential Rank Awards

      The Presidential Rank Awards are out. These four SSAers won awards:

Distinguished Executive (SES)

• Rose Mary Buehler

Meritorious Executive (SES)

• Thomas J. Fellona
• Jose J. Lopez
• Lydia C. Marshall

O'Malley's Tenure As Commissioner

     From a piece in Government Executive about Martin O'Malley's too brief tenure as Commissioner of Social Security:

Social Security Commissioner Martin O’Malley on Wednesday described his nearly a year in charge of the embattled agency responsible for administering Americans’ retirement and disability benefits as one of the “greatest honors” of his career in government and politics. ..

O’Malley told Government Executive on Wednesday that he was “enormously proud” of the agency’s beleaguered workforce, which was able to find significant customer service improvements despite operating at a 50-year staffing low and serving the most beneficiaries in history. ...

[T]he public’s preference for telephonic and video disability hearings–with 90% of new requests being through those avenues–has made it easier to optimize administrative law judges’ workloads regardless of geographic location. ...

Jim Borland, the agency’s assistant deputy commissioner for analytics, review and oversight, said he will be retiring after a 40-year career in the federal government next month, and that this final year was “the most fun” he’s had at work in those four decades. ...