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Post by Pixie on Jun 28, 2017 11:54:13 GMT -5
This is only indirectly related, but what are the rules regarding hours at the SSA? Do ALJs have flexibility setting their hearings? Is there an official time clock? Do you have set working hours? Hours at SSA are flexible, more so than any other job you have had. There is flexibility in setting hearings. What somewhat reduces the flexibility is sharing the hearing rooms with others. Sign in is accomplished on the desktop in each office. There are really no set working hours if the judge isn't in hearings. As long as the judge works a 40 hour week (many do more) there is no problem. In by 9:30, put in 8 hours and leave. Or get in at 6:30, put in 8 hours and leave by 3:00. About as flexible as it gets if hearings aren't involved.
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Post by redryder on Jun 28, 2017 14:30:56 GMT -5
The 2-hour standard is actual travel time by car. If you have the resources to keep a helicopter at your beck and call, what are you doing working for SSA? Not even the Commissioner ranks that perk.
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Post by redryder on Jun 28, 2017 14:36:34 GMT -5
To augment Pixie's response about work schedule, on hearing days, the actual hearings cannot begin before the guard arrives and the public areas are opened at 8 AM. No one here schedules anything before 8:30 AM. And you need to have your hearings completed by 4:30 PM when the public area closes in the office and the guard leaves. In some of the remote sites, the scheduling can be more problematic, especially if the claimants are going to an SSA field office. Those offices generally do not want us to start before 9 AM and to be finished by 3 PM to coincide with their lobby hours.
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Post by bayou on Jun 28, 2017 14:59:50 GMT -5
This is only indirectly related, but what are the rules regarding hours at the SSA? Do ALJs have flexibility setting their hearings? Is there an official time clock? Do you have set working hours? Hours at SSA are flexible, more so than any other job you have had. There is flexibility in setting hearings. What somewhat reduces the flexibility is sharing the hearing rooms with others. Sign in is accomplished on the desktop in each office. There are really no set working hours if the judge isn't in hearings. As long as the judge works a 40 hour week (many do more) there is no problem. In by 9:30, put in 8 hours and leave. Or get in at 6:30, put in 8 hours and leave by 3:00. About as flexible as it gets if hearings aren't involved. Can you split your day; say work 6-10 and 2-6, or are there core hours that you are expected to be on the job?
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 28, 2017 15:02:46 GMT -5
To augment Pixie's response about work schedule, on hearing days, the actual hearings cannot begin before the guard arrives and the public areas are opened at 8 AM. No one here schedules anything before 8:30 AM. And you need to have your hearings completed by 4:30 PM when the public area closes in the office and the guard leaves. In some of the remote sites, the scheduling can be more problematic, especially if the claimants are going to an SSA field office. Those offices generally do not want us to start before 9 AM and to be finished by 3 PM to coincide with their lobby hours. Aaahh ...now I will step in to re-complicate this again.
True enough hearings wait until security and the guards arrive. 8:00 a.m. And offices like to close out at 4:30 so a 4:00 pm hearing is last.
However .......those are times in what time zone?
If you do cases like me there are actual days where your single day's docket may cover eastern time, central time and pacific time zones.
You may start your hearings at 8:00 est but that would actually be 7:00 cst wherein you may be sitting and before the office is open only to turn around and cover later cases to start at 4:00 pm pst which is actually 6:00 pm cst. and long after the office is closed.
You have to squeeze and massage the hearings into place to get in and out before being locked in for the night. On a typical 8 hearing day a 30 to 45 minute docket schedule w/o breaks is the practical answer I have found when you deal with multiple timezones.
It can get mind boggling especially if you start leapfrogging across time zones when there are no shows. And I don't drive a Delorean.
(**IT happens: actual example: While leapfrogging timezones today, I no showed a clmnt who failed to show 15 minutes after her hearing time only to be told an hour later that she arrived 45 minutes ago for her on time hearing which would not yet occur for another 15 minutes. (I got it straightened out, hearing held))
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Post by Pixie on Jun 28, 2017 15:40:36 GMT -5
Hours at SSA are flexible, more so than any other job you have had. There is flexibility in setting hearings. What somewhat reduces the flexibility is sharing the hearing rooms with others. Sign in is accomplished on the desktop in each office. There are really no set working hours if the judge isn't in hearings. As long as the judge works a 40 hour week (many do more) there is no problem. In by 9:30, put in 8 hours and leave. Or get in at 6:30, put in 8 hours and leave by 3:00. About as flexible as it gets if hearings aren't involved. Can you split your day; say work 6-10 and 2-6, or are there core hours that you are expected to be on the job? The core hours are 9:30 to 3:00. Can't really start on the clock until 6:30. So it would be 6:30 to 11:00 and 2:00 to 6:00. Everyone has to account for 8.5 hours. I think the T&A software would accept this, but don't know as I have never done it that way. Pixie Edit Note: There may be a requirement that one must be in the office during the core hours, with the exception of breaks and lunch, or take leave for the time gone. If so, the simple solution, which is what most do, is to build up a bank of credit hours. Then those hours would be available to take as leave during the core hours period. Currently I have over 20 + credit hours, so if I want to be gone during the middle of the day, it isn't a problem. Most judges are similarly situated.
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Post by hopefalj on Jun 28, 2017 16:06:43 GMT -5
Can you split your day; say work 6-10 and 2-6, or are there core hours that you are expected to be on the job? The core hours are 9:30 to 3:00. Can't really start on the clock until 6:30. So it would be 6:30 to 11:00 and 2:00 to 6:00. Everyone has to account for 8.5 hours. I think the T&A software would accept this, but don't know as I have never done it that way. Pixie Edit Note: There may be a requirement that one must be in the office during the core hours, with the exception of breaks and lunch, or take leave for the time gone. If so, the simple solution, which is what most do, is to build up a bank of credit hours. Then those hours would be available to take as leave during the core hours period. Currently I have over 20 + credit hours, so if I want to be gone during the middle of the day, it isn't a problem. Most judges are similarly situated. I don't think anyone has to be there during core hours. I think they're core hours because every standard shift, no matter what time you start, covers that 5.5 hour period. You can flex out at any point during the day, so if you worked from 6:30 to 11 and 2:30 (rather than 2) to 6, you'd hit your required time, assuming you take lunch on your time sheet from 11-11:30. Credit hours and leave are also options for taking leave in the middle of the day, but then you couldn't go back to work in the afternoon to fill the void without your timekeeper screaming at you about working 8 hours while also trying to use 2-3 hours of credit/leave.
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Post by hopefalj on Jun 28, 2017 16:11:45 GMT -5
Has anyone had another HO or FO as their ADS? What if an ALJ doesn't necessarily want to work from HOME but doesn't want to drive in to their office? I'm not suggesting that would be smart, but for those of us with longer commutes, it could make a shred of sense (just a shred, mind you) I'm not sure what software or access a FO has, so I don't know that it would work. A hearing office might be able to accommodate you so long as it's in the same region (i.e., if your office is in Cincinnati but you live less than two hours away in Lexington or Louisville, you'd be in two different regions, and I'm not sure you could get access to Region 5 files out of Region 7). However, that would be space dependent. Something else you might consider, and again, only if you're in the same region, is that if you have video hearings scheduled, your local HO might have a slot for you to hear the cases via video rather than having to go all the way into your office. I know judges who have gotten approval for such things, but it probably depends on the flexibility and creativity of management as well as how stocked the local HO is.
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Post by Pixie on Jun 28, 2017 16:36:30 GMT -5
The core hours are 9:30 to 3:00. Can't really start on the clock until 6:30. So it would be 6:30 to 11:00 and 2:00 to 6:00. Everyone has to account for 8.5 hours. I think the T&A software would accept this, but don't know as I have never done it that way. Pixie Edit Note: There may be a requirement that one must be in the office during the core hours, with the exception of breaks and lunch, or take leave for the time gone. If so, the simple solution, which is what most do, is to build up a bank of credit hours. Then those hours would be available to take as leave during the core hours period. Currently I have over 20 + credit hours, so if I want to be gone during the middle of the day, it isn't a problem. Most judges are similarly situated. I don't think anyone has to be there during core hours. I think they're core hours because every standard shift, no matter what time you start, covers that 5.5 hour period. You can flex out at any point during the day, so if you worked from 6:30 to 11 and 2:30 (rather than 2) to 6, you'd hit your required time, assuming you take lunch on your time sheet from 11-11:30. Credit hours and leave are also options for taking leave in the middle of the day, but then you couldn't go back to work in the afternoon to fill the void without your timekeeper screaming at you about working 8 hours while also trying to use 2-3 hours of credit/leave. That was my original impression, but then thought there might be a requirement for being there during the core hours or taking leave. Glad to know there isn't. I always work straight through, so it has never been an issue for me.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 28, 2017 16:41:01 GMT -5
Would not this all so so so much easier and simpler and less costly for the government if ALJs were recognized as the salaried professionals they are and simply told, here is your job, please do it using any and as many work hours or days you choose, we trust you.
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Post by hopefalj on Jun 28, 2017 17:07:21 GMT -5
Would not this all so so so much easier and simpler and less costly for the government if ALJs were recognized as the salaried professionals they are and simply told, here is your job, please do it using any and as many work hours or days you choose, we trust you. Of course it would, but then that would require us to all act like professionals, and well... I guess a nice way to put it is that a lot of us have very different ideas of what constitutes "professionalism."
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Post by phoenixrisingALJ on Jun 28, 2017 17:11:36 GMT -5
@papajudge - I hope you aren't offended but your comment about trust - just made me snort-laugh... which is not a ladylike sound.
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Post by firehouse9 on Jun 29, 2017 12:35:17 GMT -5
This is only indirectly related, but what are the rules regarding hours at the SSA? Do ALJs have flexibility setting their hearings? Is there an official time clock? Do you have set working hours? Hours at SSA are flexible, more so than any other job you have had. There is flexibility in setting hearings. What somewhat reduces the flexibility is sharing the hearing rooms with others. Sign in is accomplished on the desktop in each office. There are really no set working hours if the judge isn't in hearings. As long as the judge works a 40 hour week (many do more) there is no problem. In by 9:30, put in 8 hours and leave. Or get in at 6:30, put in 8 hours and leave by 3:00. About as flexible as it gets if hearings aren't involved. Are there anything like flex hours so that you can work longer on some days and less on others so long as you hit a 40 hour week?
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Telework
Jun 29, 2017 12:48:47 GMT -5
via mobile
Post by franperirose on Jun 29, 2017 12:48:47 GMT -5
Hours at SSA are flexible, more so than any other job you have had. There is flexibility in setting hearings. What somewhat reduces the flexibility is sharing the hearing rooms with others. Sign in is accomplished on the desktop in each office. There are really no set working hours if the judge isn't in hearings. As long as the judge works a 40 hour week (many do more) there is no problem. In by 9:30, put in 8 hours and leave. Or get in at 6:30, put in 8 hours and leave by 3:00. About as flexible as it gets if hearings aren't involved. Are there anything like flex hours so that you can work longer on some days and less on others so long as you hit a 40 hour week? There is the ability to bank credit hours to use later, although there is a cap on carryover from one pay period to another. There are also varying caps on the number of credit hours worked per day. For attorney advisors it is 2 hours per day.
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Telework
Jun 29, 2017 16:46:04 GMT -5
via mobile
Post by shoocat on Jun 29, 2017 16:46:04 GMT -5
Are there anything like flex hours so that you can work longer on some days and less on others so long as you hit a 40 hour week? There is the ability to bank credit hours to use later, although there is a cap on carryover from one pay period to another. There are also varying caps on the number of credit hours worked per day. For attorney advisors it is 2 hours per day. And prepare to give up credit hours-lost >15 hrs last pay period.
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