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Post by grassgreener on Dec 14, 2014 10:23:03 GMT -5
Grassgreener, I was told it is now 50 cases scheduled a month to do telework... This is a cut and paste . . . While we believe that scheduling an average of fifty (50) cases for hearing per month is an appropriate guideline for the purposes of this contractual provision, we recognize that time may be needed for some judges to establish that they have scheduled a reasonably attainable number of cases for hearing. Therefore, subject to the preceding paragraphs, please note the following guidance: Telework Period Guidelines for average number of hearings scheduled over last 12 months April 2014 – September 2014 Start-up period October 2014 – March 2015 40 or more scheduled hearings April 2015 – September 2015 45 or more scheduled hearings October 2015 and continuing 50 or more scheduled hearings
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Post by Deleted on Dec 14, 2014 10:26:37 GMT -5
Wow. Duly chastised. Perhaps I'm reflecting my own feelings at present; trying to keep a private practice afloat, pay staff, advertising, rent, etc. in the face of a very low ALJ grant rate
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Post by Orly on Dec 14, 2014 10:35:13 GMT -5
Wow. Duly chastised. Perhaps I'm reflecting my own feelings at present; trying to keep a private practice afloat, pay staff, advertising, rent, etc. in the face of a very low ALJ grant rate Understood. I have enjoyed your posts, but felt the need to speak up only because this one was too far out. There are definitely ALJ and writers who feel pressed every day to do their work well in a 40 hour week, but the analogy you used was so out there I was seeing this in my head: OK. I'm going back to chewing on catnip now.
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Post by mamaru on Dec 14, 2014 10:52:31 GMT -5
It saddens me to see so many ALJs pointing out that the writing ability of the writers in their offices is lacking. I take great pride in my writing and my AC agreement rate. My production is also good and is balanced with the quality. I know of a few writers in our office who could use some improvement and one or two who should not be writers at all. But put them all on a bell curve and the great majority are doing what they should be doing. I hope that those of you who have these issues are doing something about it. And by that I mean I hope you are showing the edits to the supervisors who can then do something to either help them to improve or help them to move on to another career. Please do everyone (taxpayers, claimants, coworkers, etc.) a favor and document your issues and get it to your management. If you don't document it, they cannot do a thing about it. It's like voting.... you can't complain if you don't vote. Now with all that said, maybe you all DO document and talk to the supervisors. Maybe you will tell me that the supervisors do nothing. And if that is the case, that just stinks. Bad writers AND bad supervisors? Next stop should be the HOCALJ's office.... keep doing the right thing and it will pay off. Call me Pollyanna, that's cool. I agree and would add that we all have good days and bad days. Not every set of instructions will be awesome and not every decision will shine - we are a production enterprise. As a writer, I would like to go out on a limb and suggest that a judge who is consistently getting unacceptable drafts should take a look at his/her instructions. Garbage in, garbage out. If the instructions are legible (no, I cannot always read your handwriting, especially when you are in a hurry), complete, clear, internally consistent, and supported by the evidence, by all means blame the writer.
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Post by prescient on Dec 14, 2014 10:54:13 GMT -5
[/quote]The problem with the theory that if under the gun, an ALJ may prefer favorable over unfavorable is that favorable decisions are no longer "easier." We (as writers) must support them just as well as the unfavorable and the pressure is on to write them just as well because of the all the impending CDRs coming down soon. [/quote]
The days of the 2 hour fully favorable are over (and probably never should have existed) but even with the additional material that has been required for FFs, you should still be able to get them out the door in 4 hours, IE twice as quickly as a unfavorable. So it's always going to be easier to meet 500-700, if you pay more cases.
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Post by mamaru on Dec 14, 2014 11:00:29 GMT -5
I agree. Unfortunately those two-hour FF's were a nice balance to the more complicated UF's that are hard to write in eight hours.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 14, 2014 11:22:43 GMT -5
I will add, Orly, that my decision writer days don't even compare to the stress of private practice at this moment. Granted, back then we could issue FF's in one to two hours. I used to do those on Saturdays and turn out five or six to up my hours and pay for my son's braces. Consequently, the kid never wore his retainer and now his teeth at age 24 are more crooked than ever. Comments on this thread indicate that that golden era is over. That said, I maintain that the stress of private practice in the current climate will make me unbelievably appreciative of an ALJ position in the future, if I get that lucky- from both a financial and workload perspective. Now, if they just moved along with the second and third cert process and posted a REFRESH button!
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Post by bartleby on Dec 14, 2014 12:25:03 GMT -5
Grassgreener, this is what I mean when I talk of ambiguous language at SSA.
While we believe that scheduling an average of fifty (50) cases for hearing per month is an appropriate guideline for the purposes of this contractual provision, we recognize that time may be needed for some judges to establish that they have scheduled a reasonably attainable number of cases for hearing. Therefore, subject to the preceding paragraphs, please note the following guidance:
Telework Period Guidelines for average number of hearings scheduled over last 12 months April 2014 – September 2014 Start-up period October 2014 – March 2015 40 or more scheduled hearings April 2015 – September 2015 45 or more scheduled hearings October 2015 and continuing 50 or more scheduled hearings
This can and be interpreted as a need to schedule 50 cases a month, beginning in October of 2014, because of the 12 month look back statement above. That is what I was told and am being held to. Otherwise, come October 2015, if you haven't been scheduling 50 cases a month for the past 12 months, you will not have met the guidelines for telework...
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Post by hamster on Dec 14, 2014 16:56:23 GMT -5
Even with the drawbacks perceived by some posters with respect to the ALJ gig, no active poster has quit. Apparently, the job's plusses outweigh the minusses. I don't enjoy my job 100% of the time, but I know no job is perfect. I'm pretty happy, and expect to retire in eight or ten years. From this job. The proof of the pudding is that even with the moaning and groaning, ALJs are staying put. THAT is the real litmus test.
Best, Hamster
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Post by bartleby on Dec 14, 2014 17:05:16 GMT -5
Had a very good friend, a great judge. She walked.. Had almost 2 years in. There are others that are quitting or taking a much earlier retirement than they had planned due to the harassment or perception there of. I know of some low producers that were talked to and then they resigned/retired..
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Post by Deleted on Dec 14, 2014 17:26:38 GMT -5
I personally know several relatively "new" judges who left sooner than they ever thought they would. Also, many lifers who retired earlier than they ever guessed possible. Oh well, more room for us. Having said that, the agency needs to be careful not to lose good judges due to poor morale.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 14, 2014 21:15:31 GMT -5
Even with the drawbacks perceived by some posters with respect to the ALJ gig, no active poster has quit. Apparently, the job's plusses outweigh the minusses. I don't enjoy my job 100% of the time, but I know no job is perfect. I'm pretty happy, and expect to retire in eight or ten years. From this job. The proof of the pudding is that even with the moaning and groaning, ALJs are staying put. THAT is the real litmus test. Best, Hamster I agree with Hamster, now that I'm in my 5th year, it's not a bad gig once you get the hang of it. IMHO Tiger
Oh, I meant months, not years, but you get the point.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 14, 2014 21:44:40 GMT -5
I personally know several relatively "new" judges who left sooner than they ever thought they would. Also, many lifers who retired earlier than they ever guessed possible. Oh well, more room for us. Having said that, the agency needs to be careful not to lose good judges due to poor morale. Two thoughts....
1. Don't hold your breath on the "refresh" button. The Agency has hired only about 70 new ALJs from a 1,000 +/- ALJ register that took OPM over 15 months to build and release. I too had a better paying private practice (criminal defense), but I hit the submit button because this is one of the best JOBS in federal service.
2. Ever since I joined this board in March 2013, I have heard a couple of the same folks talking about the mass exodus of ALJs leaving the Agency due to low morale. I now know the extremely "isolating" existence we live as ALJs, but I doubt any of us know the numerous true reasons why a person leaves a great paying job unless you are truly a very close, close, close friend and most of us are not that close, close, close to someone we spend at the most an hour or so a week talking to in and around the office.
I know for a fact that one of the examples tossed around on this board was an individual that never needed the job financially and quickly became tired of a bad office and time and attendance issues. Yes, time and attendance apparently causes some ALJs issues, why, I don't know yet.
There is no mass exodus of ALJs from ODAR, but that's just my humble opinion.
IMHO, Tiger
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Post by luckylady2 on Dec 15, 2014 8:35:39 GMT -5
Even with the drawbacks perceived by some posters with respect to the ALJ gig, no active poster has quit. Apparently, the job's plusses outweigh the minusses. I don't enjoy my job 100% of the time, but I know no job is perfect. I'm pretty happy, and expect to retire in eight or ten years. From this job. The proof of the pudding is that even with the moaning and groaning, ALJs are staying put. THAT is the real litmus test. Best, Hamster Well said, Hamster! As my dad (who was a product of the Depression) used to say to me when I'd start belly-aching about my job, "There's a reason they call it a job, and there's a reason they pay you to do it."
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Post by moopigsdad on Dec 15, 2014 9:05:19 GMT -5
And that is why W-O-R-K is sometimes known as a dirty four letter word because otherwise it would be known as a terrific three letter word, F-U-N.
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Post by bartleby on Dec 15, 2014 10:18:14 GMT -5
The ex-President of the NTEU (writers) union has around 4 years as an ALJ and his retirement book is online to be signed...
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Post by Propmaster on Dec 15, 2014 10:43:50 GMT -5
Had a very good friend, a great judge. She walked.. Had almost 2 years in. There are others that are quitting or taking a much earlier retirement than they had planned due to the harassment or perception there of. I know of some low producers that were talked to and then they resigned/retired.. I personally know several relatively "new" judges who left sooner than they ever thought they would. Also, many lifers who retired earlier than they ever guessed possible. Oh well, more room for us. Having said that, the agency needs to be careful not to lose good judges due to poor morale. Absolutely, the agency is using deliberate 'making life hell' for ALJs they target to drive out of the jobs. Earlier in this thread, a great post (sorry I can't recall who) said to ignore the HOCALJ if s/he's a jerk, etc. However, you cannot actually tell your boss (HOCALJ) to "get the H out of my office" because that's your administrative supervisor, and that's insubordination, and that's a conduct issue, which plays into their hands. It happens, and it plays into their hands. And it doesn't happen, and drives ALJs bonkers. I know several ALJs who have quit due to working conditions, and each one is a win for the extra-legal activities from management that led to the departure. (Not illegal, necessarily, but not santioned by the law, either).
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Post by happy on Dec 15, 2014 11:03:44 GMT -5
It's a hard thing, this job, but it's a good thing. As to the writer issue, I was forced under HPI to promote unqualified paralegals that I knew would be unsuccessful. I trained them personally; three out of nine had to be retrained; and one never got it. I was forced a few years ago to promote someone to Sr Atty whom the ALJs, in general, felt was totally incompetent and he was horribly unproductive. As a line judge, I have been complimented by writers in-office, as well as both the Baltimore and St. Louis NCACs, regarding my thorough and detailed instructions. However, there are still those who persist in changing the RFC without discussing it with me, throwing in unwarranted attacks on the claimant (sometimes using incorrect interpretations of the evidence), and confusing the concepts of not medically determinable, not severe, and not durational, even when I specifically delineate which impairments are which. I first sent "suggestions" to the supervisor, then "before and after" feedback, again through the supervisor. I have returned cases with detailed instructions as to corrections and, finally, requested vehemently that each draft be reviewed by a senior attorney before it was forwarded to me. HO management has tried to be responsive, but it is a lot of work and they haven't seen the kind of support from RO that they would like. I really don't feel that newer writers are getting the same kind of training I got in the 90s. It's either that, or they are not taking the kind of pride in their work that I and most of my colleagues did back then. That being said, I am seeing some good stuff out of the NCACs and they have been open to feedback. I just regret that they are not in proximity so that we could establish a true rapport. As to judges, I've known many about whom I have wondered: "What are they doing with their time?" Some of them I feel are bordering on committing fraud by even collecting a paycheck! But I agree, most writers and most judges are conscientious.
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Post by bartleby on Dec 15, 2014 11:35:41 GMT -5
Happy, I wonder if they even teach persuasive writing in law school anymore...
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Post by gary on Dec 15, 2014 12:12:18 GMT -5
I would like to wager a bet with Tigerlaw. I'm willing to put one dollar and 54 cents on the long shot horse named "RefreshinLate2014." (I'd put more $$ down if I could. Unfortunately, this is all the cash I have left in my business account at present.) A bold bet since 2014 ends in 2 1/2 weeks.
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