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Problems With Retirement Earnings Test

     From The Social Security Administration’s Enforcement of the Earnings Test, a report by Social Security's Office of Inspector General:

The earnings test is a provision of the Social Security Act that requires that SSA withhold payments from beneficiaries who are under full retirement age (FRA) if their earnings exceed a certain limit. ...

SSA did not accurately or timely pay beneficiaries subject to the earnings test. As a result, we estimate SSA:

• inaccurately calculated approximately 47,000 of the 294,000 earnings-test overpayments established in FY 2021, totaling more than $148 million;
• inaccurately paid approximately 9,000 beneficiaries approximately $29 million based on estimated earnings that were more or less than their actual earnings; and
• did not timely pay approximately 176,000 beneficiaries approximately $81 million in monthly benefit increases. ...

    And to think that the retirement earnings test used to apply to all retirees regardless of age.

Overdue

    From Joe Davidson at the Washington Post:

The Democratic chairman of a powerful Senate committee on Wednesday called on President Biden to fire the lead watchdog for the Social Security Administration, pointing to stalled investigations and plunging staff morale.

In a letter sent Wednesday to the White House, Sen. Ron Wyden (Ore.), chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, said promises by Inspector General Gail Ennis to “establish a culture that welcomes debate, collaboration, and transparency … appear to have been hollow.”

“I urge you to remove her,” Wyden wrote. ...

Monthly OHO Report

 

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An Interesting Employee Benefit

     From a contracting notice posted by the Social Security Administration:

... The Contractor shall administer a reimbursement process for employees who choose to utilize SSA’s Pick Your Own Provider emergency backup dependent care program for temporary or short-term services for employees who are scheduled to work, and their regular care arrangements are disrupted. This will allow employees to continue working knowing that their dependents are being cared for in a safe environment. When employees use the Pick Your Own Provider program, they are required to locate their own provider and pay for all costs. The contractor will administer a process to reimburse employees a $100 flat fee for each day of emergency backup care provided.  Employees can utilize the Pick Your Own Provider program for a maximum of 5 days of emergency backup dependent care per contract period. ...

Headcount Inches Up

    The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has finally posted updated numbers showing the headcount of employees at each agency as of the second and third quarters on 2023. Note that these numbers do not tell the whole story. They don't account for part time employees nor for overtime. Overtime is a huge part of the story at Social Security. A Full Time Equivalent (FTE) report would cover that but we seldom see FTE reports.  Here are Social Security's numbers as of September with earlier headcount numbers for comparison:

• September, 2023 61,410
  
• June, 2023 60,726
  
• March, 2023  59,400
• December, 2022 58,916
  
• September, 2022 57,754
  
• June, 2022 58,332
  
• March, 2022 59,257
  
• December, 2021 60,422
  
• December 2020 61,816
  
• December 2019 61,969
  
• December 2018 62,946
  
• December 2017 62,777
• December 2016 63,364
• December 2015 65,518
• December 2014 65,430
• December 2013 61,957
• December 2012 64,538
• December 2010 70,270
• December 2009 67,486
• December 2008 63,733

Reaction To O'Malley's Decision On Telework

     Tom Temin at Federal News Network has a piece up on the new Commissioner's e-mail to staff decreasing telework for some employees. He is kind enough to refer to this blog by name as "reliable." He quotes several comments made to the post.

    Erich Wagner at Government Executive has a longer piece on the e-mail, particularly to the reaction of Rich Couture, chief negotiator for the American Federation of Government Employees, the union that represents most Social Security employees. Couture expressed relief at what O'Malley had done. The article says that only 4,000 bargaining unit employees would be affected by the announcement. Here's a quote from Couture:

AFGE is pleased to see [O’Malley] is maintaining telework at current levels, and it’s clear that the commissioner recognizes the importance of telework for workers and their work-life balance, as well as its importance for retention and recruitment efforts,” Couture said. “We’re still in a public service crisis fueled by understaffing and attrition, and one way to maintain staffing levels is by offering telework. A commitment to continuing current telework levels for those employees is critical to keeping the agency’s ability to serve the public intact by keeping our employees working here.

     After almost 100 comments, I cut off commenting on the original post since the comments had become so repetitive but, still, I don't think anyone mentioned something about O'Malley's e-mail that caught my eye. Before signing his name to the e-mail, the Commissioner included the phrase "Yours in solidarity." That word, "solidarity," has long been associated with labor unions.