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Post by aljsouth on Jun 25, 2011 12:07:16 GMT -5
A good source tells that to save money the agency is doing away with hearing reporters except at permanent remote sites.
The work will be done by clerical staff at ODAR,
The problem is first training the staff, then all the work days tied up in a hearing room will mean staff NOT pulling cases, scheduling cases, burning CD's, etc. Of course no new hires for the additional work. We can expect moronic calls for "working smarter" and "dedication" to increase from Baltimore/Falls Church. We can expect more pressure to hear unpulled [not exhibited] cases.
The bottom line is that production will slow down and the backlog will grow.
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Post by tigerfan on Jun 25, 2011 12:44:31 GMT -5
Sorry ALJSouth. Your good source is incorrect. The plan is to establish a pilot offce in each Region AND new hires will be available to do the extra work. It should be easier to schedule and cut down on the work of the AA.
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Post by workdrone on Jun 25, 2011 13:24:32 GMT -5
Sorry ALJSouth. Your good source is incorrect. The plan is to establish a pilot offce in each Region AND new hires will be available to do the extra work. It should be easier to schedule and cut down on the work of the AA. I agree wtih Tigerfan. I have heard that there is going to be a pilot project to take the HR functions in house. Nothing has been decided beyond that yet. So let's wait a bit and see what happens with the pilot first.
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Post by tigerfan on Jun 25, 2011 14:44:18 GMT -5
The "replacements" will be SCTs or CTs. Hearing Office choice. they will have full duties of SCTs or CTs and the SCT and CT and both have hearing reporter duties in their PDs. All SCTs an CTs in the Pilot office will be expected to perform HR duties. ALJsouth is correct in that PRS are not affected.
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Post by aljsouth on Jun 25, 2011 18:37:22 GMT -5
As long as the agency pilots the plan and then allows us to hire new clerical staff, we might get through this.
I am still a little apprehensive about the hiring of new clerical staff. Also, it would be possible for the pilots to be declared a success and have the system rolled out without the budget to hire new clerical staff. There does not seem to be funding in the tea party era for new hires.
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Post by tigerfan on Jun 25, 2011 21:26:54 GMT -5
True, somethimes a pilot is declared a success when it is marginal at best. But this should work. the money they save by not having to pay VHRs should be enough to pay to new SCTs. Anyway that is what the pilot is all about. As a side benefit it should cut down on the work of the Administrative Assistant by reducing the invoices they have to do and on the work of the schedulers as the HR will be from the office staff and if there is a no show you just go to the next SCT in line. I doubt the current contract reporters will be too happy.
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Post by rodkneekingslayer on Jun 26, 2011 11:55:53 GMT -5
The agency used to use in house people to record the local hearings and contractors for remote sites. During Bush2 they expanded the use of contractors to include the local ODAR offices. It HURT the professional development of the future paralegals but did make it look like the total numbert of federal employees did not increase. This was done before.
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Post by tigerfan on Jun 26, 2011 12:47:52 GMT -5
You are correct rod. If it turns out to save money then I think all offices will go to it. The pilot offices will not be permitted to use contract reporters except at PRS.
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Post by decadealj on Jun 26, 2011 13:20:15 GMT -5
This is the first management initiative in the last 15 years that could pay real dividends if they don't mess it up. 20 years ago my "hearing assistant", now a writer, was invaluable and the best government employee I knew in 50 years of government service. She pulled the case, drafted OTRs that I never declinedto sign, set the hearing, took hearing notes and slipped me suggested questions because she knew the case and the issues I might have missed. With her professionalism and a senior attorney writer and legal clerk, our team turned out 100 cases a month. Then came all the wonderful management initiatives that cut my decisions in half.
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Post by aljsouth on Jun 26, 2011 15:37:40 GMT -5
True, somethimes a pilot is declared a success when it is marginal at best. But this should work. the money they save by not having to pay VHRs should be enough to pay to new SCTs. Anyway that is what the pilot is all about. As a side benefit it should cut down on the work of the Administrative Assistant by reducing the invoices they have to do and on the work of the schedulers as the HR will be from the office staff and if there is a no show you just go to the next SCT in line. I doubt the current contract reporters will be too happy. You hit on my fear. You ASSUME any savings will go to hiring new SCt's; but what if the agency lets savings go to the general reduction in the budget congress is going to impose. In today's budget process I do not see any approval for new hires.
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Post by tigerfan on Jun 26, 2011 17:27:36 GMT -5
The new hires for the pilot offices have already been approved and will be "on board" by the end of this FY. Future budgets are, in my opinion, unpredictable and what effects they will have are beyond my pay grade. I join you in hoping that your fear does not come true.
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Post by deltajudge on Jun 27, 2011 12:48:11 GMT -5
8-)I've quit posting here, other than pointing out what is obvious. Hearing assistants used to travel with the ALJs and monitor and record hearings, go over the file with unrepresented claimants and give the file to attorneys. To save money and ignore ethical problems, the agency started using personnel from SSA DOs and BOs offices to monitor and record hearings and review the file with unrepresented claimants. I advised the claimants that this was an independent hearing, but a representative of the agency was monitoring and recording the hearing, did this if they were represented or not. Then they hired WAEs, who could not go over the file with unrepresented claimants due to privacy problems, nor could they use the restrooms in the HOs. Make sense? Office personnel had to review the file. In Remote sites, claimant was on his/her own if they didn't have an attorney. So its gone around and come around. The brilliance of this agency amazes me.
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Post by google on Jun 27, 2011 16:14:33 GMT -5
The amazing thing will be if our in house staff can still do hearing reporter duties. Most of our S Ct's and Ct's do the minimum (and this will continue until ODAR establishes some realistic numbers). There is no chance to go rid of poor performers as management reports Region 4 gives little or no support in this area...local management's hands are tied by Region and on up the chain - at least that is what some management reports. Let's face it, by the time you try to PIP or PAP someone and then Region gets its say and then the disciplinary action has to go on up the line (if you can get Region to do anything in the first place) you are so tired and it is all for naught anyway - so why try... there needs to be a nationwide central disciplinary office where someone can get something done in a timely manner...it is very disheartening for management to try to get something done when there is nothing management can do in the first place...I know lots of agencies say federal workers can be fired, but it does not appear that way in ODAR
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Post by workdrone on Jun 27, 2011 20:20:45 GMT -5
The new hires for the pilot offices have already been approved and will be "on board" by the end of this FY. Future budgets are, in my opinion, unpredictable and what effects they will have are beyond my pay grade. I join you in hoping that your fear does not come true. Key issue is going to be the staff replacement ratio for the HRs. I doubt it's going to be a 1:1 replacement, and if the replacement ratio drops too low, I think it's going to adversely impact pulling and reduce the numbers of hearing that can be held. Anyone got an idea what replacement ratio they are considering for the pilot?
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Post by aljsouth on Jun 28, 2011 9:43:56 GMT -5
The new hires for the pilot offices have already been approved and will be "on board" by the end of this FY. Future budgets are, in my opinion, unpredictable and what effects they will have are beyond my pay grade. I join you in hoping that your fear does not come true. Key issue is going to be the staff replacement ratio for the HRs. I doubt it's going to be a 1:1 replacement, and if the replacement ratio drops too low, I think it's going to adversely impact pulling and reduce the numbers of hearing that can be held. Anyone got an idea what replacement ratio they are considering for the pilot? SSA can't simply mandate hiring X number of staff. It has to have the FTE's to put a hire into place. Think of FTE as an approved employee slot. SSA cannot manufacture these. It can transfer FTE's from one component to another, but cannot on its own create new FTE's. This is why I an so concerned. The can muster FTE's for a pilot but do not expect a larege number of hires for all ODAR offices. This could be a mini HPI with clerks doing other work and no signidcant hiring of new clerks to fill the gap. HISTORY : IN HPI around 2000, the agency promoted a large number of clerks to paralegal, BUT would not hire new clerks. The result in most offices there were many fewer clerks to do the pulling, scheculing, etc. Prduction shot downwards. You would think this would be blindingly obvious, but SSA has shown a distressing lack of common sense. Tigerfan, I hope SSA will do this correctly, but honestly given its history all of us have a right to be very concerned. Given its history why should we trust the agency to do this correctly? In busy offices we can lose a lot of SCT days to taking hearings every week. If SSA does not hire a sufficient number of new clerks it will cause a serious production drop.
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Post by bartleby on Jun 28, 2011 12:07:31 GMT -5
I gotta wonder if management thinks they can get more work out of the clerical staff. Reason being, our HOD had mentioned in the last few staff meetings that there was too much chit-chat and visiting during work hours. This week, there were new cameras installed throughout the work areas and a new flatscreen monitor in the HOD's office so he can monitor the workers bees all the time. Big Brother is here and I will be surprised if the union let's this continue. Micromanagement to a new level. This office has exceeded goal monthly for the past four years and now he wants more?? Some measures turn out counterproductive and I wouldn't be surprised if this is one of them.
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Post by mcb on Jun 28, 2011 13:37:07 GMT -5
This week, there were new cameras installed throughout the work areas and a new flatscreen monitor in the HOD's office so he can monitor the workers bees all the time. Big Brother is here and I will be surprised if the union let's this continue. Micromanagement to a new level. This office has exceeded goal monthly for the past four years and now he wants more?? Some measures turn out counterproductive and I wouldn't be surprised if this is one of them. Next they'll install cameras in the Johns to make sure folks aren't chit-chatting there. "What ya dooing in there? Not taking a chit are ya?"
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Post by deltajudge on Jun 28, 2011 15:40:11 GMT -5
8-)They can't do anything right. I know the old unit system is never coming back. But when I had a unit, my hearing assistant pulled the cases, marked the exhibits, made up the exhibit list, did a case summary, and when the case was ready put it into ready to schedule, then scheduled it. She was throughly familiar with the case and when we got to the hearing, as she was there, was invaluable. That will never happen again, and they don't have hearing assistants like that anymore. God bless'm.
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Post by southeastalj on Jun 28, 2011 17:30:53 GMT -5
The few times I have gotten to use an case tech as a VHR (usually last minute VHR cancelllation) I have always found it to be a better experience than the contractors presumably because the techs are directly answerable to a supervisor and have already been well trained in how to deal with the public.
My concern though is that many offices (certainly mine) have zero physical space to put new employees because of all the recent hiring that has already been done. We routinely have 5-6 hearing rooms going every day. We certainly don't have space for that many new techs and also can't have that many existing staff not doing their usual jobs. as it is, they can barely get cases pulled fast enough for scheduling.
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Post by Legal Beagle on Jul 3, 2011 19:19:48 GMT -5
One the VHRs that we have had for years just had her "contract no renewed" - no explanation to us, although speculation was that it was the result of her vehicle being broken into and briefcase stolen which included an envelope with the day's docket.
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