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Post by nylawyer on Mar 16, 2017 8:04:45 GMT -5
OK so today in my Region 2 office, most of us got a memorandum telling us our telework is cancelled as of 4/1/17 because we did not schedule the reasonable number of 50 hearings in the next 6 months. One of us was approved bec she scheduled an average of 49.6 (don't ask!) I was 18 hearings shy of the magic 300 number (6 months x 50 cases). I honestly think our management is more interested in pushing the cases out, good decision, bad decision or whatever, than having us do a decent, fair job for the claimants. The boilerplate memo stated that I needed to justify why I scheduled less cases. I'd really like to hear why 45 cases were good enough 6 months ago and aren't good enough now. I got +30 cases all the time in UNWR and over 100 in POST. I am going to schedule those extra 18 hearings under protest and file a grievance. Sorry- just had to rant a little- as you can imagine everyone in the office is quite upset-hard to concentrate on the job. Law of Unintended Consequences... Suppose tomorrow you have a hearing that for whatever reason needs to be adjourned (or a supplemental); you've just crammed an additional 18 hearings into what you obviously had believed to be a full docket; what are the odds you are going to put that adjournment within the 6 mos, I'd say low, even if you would expect it to be relatively quick, better to put it out the 6 mos to count toward the next 300. I get that it is basic management to create benchmarks and have hard metrics to evaluate employees by, particularly in a large organization. But it is also management 101 that those metrics should not incentivize behavior you would otherwise discourage. |
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woody
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Post by woody on Mar 16, 2017 8:11:45 GMT -5
I try to stay off the forum since I am so dissatisfied with the job and nobody here wants to hear it. I get told to find another job, which I have tried, but when you take this job and move/establish your family in a small community there is nothing to be had. If I lived in DC I would have been gone so very long ago. But to follow up on Bartleby- YES! Grow some and stand up to the Agency. You schedule more hearings than you can handle and your grievance goes away. And then they will be all over you for exceeding the benchmarks. This is the outcome I predicted so long ago with all of you who were donating time to the Agency just to keep your behinds out of trouble, the heck with everybody else. (Boy, I am cleaning this up dramatically). You gave them statistics they are just throwing back in our faces. This has been a tough period, very distracting, to be treated this way by the Agency. I never thought I would be micromanaged and threatened at this stage in my career after giving them 15 years of good performance. And when you point out that some of the writing is terrible, that we have some significant issues with the clerical staff teleworking, that the computer issues are constant and chronic, that the representative community won't cooperate, all you are met with is silence....
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gargoyle
Full Member
http://www.eyehook.com/index.html
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Post by gargoyle on Mar 17, 2017 7:51:35 GMT -5
I try to stay off the forum since I am so dissatisfied with the job and nobody here wants to hear it. I get told to find another job, which I have tried, but when you take this job and move/establish your family in a small community there is nothing to be had. If I lived in DC I would have been gone so very long ago. But to follow up on Bartleby- YES! Grow some and stand up to the Agency. You schedule more hearings than you can handle and your grievance goes away. And then they will be all over you for exceeding the benchmarks. This is the outcome I predicted so long ago with all of you who were donating time to the Agency just to keep your behinds out of trouble, the heck with everybody else. (Boy, I am cleaning this up dramatically). You gave them statistics they are just throwing back in our faces. This has been a tough period, very distracting, to be treated this way by the Agency. I never thought I would be micromanaged and threatened at this stage in my career after giving them 15 years of good performance. And when you point out that some of the writing is terrible, that we have some significant issues with the clerical staff teleworking, that the computer issues are constant and chronic, that the representative community won't cooperate, all you are met with is silence.... Similar problems in my office -- poor writing, workup blunders, CPMS mistakes, computer problems, etc... E-mails to management usually disappear into a black hole. Any response that happens to materialize contains a litany of phrases that make it appear like they are addressing the situation ("constantly striving to improve"; "management takes these problems seriously"; "we continue to learn from our mistakes"; "ODAR is committed to excellence in public service"; "we value your feedback and are taking appropriate measures to address your concerns"). Ex nihilo nihil fit. |
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Post by Pixie on Mar 17, 2017 8:58:34 GMT -5
For you who don't know Latin, Gargole said, "Out of nothing comes nothing." Most appropriate. I know that Gary knows (pig) Latin, so he may have figured it out. Pixie
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Post by bartleby on Mar 17, 2017 13:10:16 GMT -5
IIRC, the current pay rate is 44-46% nationally. I, too, will expect the pay rate to jump due to time constraints. What the heck, it's only $250,000.00 to $400,000.00 worth of benefits per pay case.. I can't do 50 a month and keep my sanity and ethics.. I am sorry.
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Post by mamaru on Mar 17, 2017 13:53:00 GMT -5
For that kind of money, bart, they could afford to fix our computers! Then we could all go faster.
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Post by gary on Mar 17, 2017 14:11:45 GMT -5
For you who don't know Latin, Gargole said, "Out of nothing comes nothing." Most appropriate. I know that Gary knows (pig) Latin, so he may have figured it out. Pixie Nope. Now if he'd said: Exay ihilonay ihilnay itfay. Maybe. |
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Post by Pixie on Mar 17, 2017 14:34:02 GMT -5
Sorry, but I can't read (pig) Latin, but I can speak and understand it.
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Post by bartleby on Mar 17, 2017 16:48:40 GMT -5
Mamaru, you would think for that kind of money we could send investigators out on most cases or at least check their facebook pages... The fraud is rampant..
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Post by bowser on Mar 17, 2017 17:12:00 GMT -5
In our shop, they just rejiggered the support staff's telework. Not sure why - maybe because of some recent departures (of the best, as usual.) Bottomline, some folk are required to be in the office more often then they have been, I believe based on when they filed their initial telework application, and to stay above 50% telework on any given day.
I believe at least a couple of greivances are coming from that - tho I imagine whatever mgmt did was w/in the contract. But when staff gets down to a certain point, the small number of folk ON HAND end up having to do WHATEVER actually needs to be done by a warm body, and cover for anyone who takes leave. Man, this is going to increase resentment, both towards mgmt, and among staff. Fun times ahead!
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Post by ncatty007 on Mar 17, 2017 17:23:03 GMT -5
Mamaru, you would think for that kind of money we could send investigators out on most cases or at least check their facebook pages... The fraud is rampant.. I reported a claimant suspected of fraud once. The investigative report I received back began along the lines of "On X date we contacted claimant Y to advise them that we were investigating a potential fraud issue with their claim for benefits and would like to schedule a time to come by and interview them about it." They also included social media pictures of the claimant post-aod at the beach, a lake, and other places clearly having a good time, without a walker. The report ultimately concluded that the claimant appeared limping and using a walker when the investigator showed up for the interview, so the fraud couldn't be substantiated. SMDH |
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Post by Pixie on Mar 17, 2017 18:36:06 GMT -5
Mamaru, you would think for that kind of money we could send investigators out on most cases or at least check their facebook pages... The fraud is rampant.. I reported a claimant suspected of fraud once. The investigative report I received back began along the lines of "On X date we contacted claimant Y to advise them that we were investigating a potential fraud issue with their claim for benefits and would like to schedule a time to come by and interview them about it." They also included social media pictures of the claimant post-aod at the beach, a lake, and other places clearly having a good time, without a walker. The report ultimately concluded that the claimant appeared limping and using a walker when the investigator showed up for the interview, so the fraud couldn't be substantiated. SMDH Yes, it really isn't worth the time it takes for you to write up the report of suspected fraud. Most of us learned that early on, as you now have. Just let it go by you like water off a duck's back. Pixie |
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Post by thankful1 on Mar 18, 2017 0:39:48 GMT -5
I try to stay off the forum since I am so dissatisfied with the job and nobody here wants to hear it. I get told to find another job, which I have tried, but when you take this job and move/establish your family in a small community there is nothing to be had. If I lived in DC I would have been gone so very long ago. But to follow up on Bartleby- YES! Grow some and stand up to the Agency. You schedule more hearings than you can handle and your grievance goes away. And then they will be all over you for exceeding the benchmarks. This is the outcome I predicted so long ago with all of you who were donating time to the Agency just to keep your behinds out of trouble, the heck with everybody else. (Boy, I am cleaning this up dramatically). You gave them statistics they are just throwing back in our faces. This has been a tough period, very distracting, to be treated this way by the Agency. I never thought I would be micromanaged and threatened at this stage in my career after giving them 15 years of good performance. And when you point out that some of the writing is terrible, that we have some significant issues with the clerical staff teleworking, that the computer issues are constant and chronic, that the representative community won't cooperate, all you are met with is silence.... Yup. All of it. |
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Post by christina on Mar 18, 2017 8:22:23 GMT -5
I reported a claimant suspected of fraud once. The investigative report I received back began along the lines of "On X date we contacted claimant Y to advise them that we were investigating a potential fraud issue with their claim for benefits and would like to schedule a time to come by and interview them about it." They also included social media pictures of the claimant post-aod at the beach, a lake, and other places clearly having a good time, without a walker. The report ultimately concluded that the claimant appeared limping and using a walker when the investigator showed up for the interview, so the fraud couldn't be substantiated. SMDH Yes, it really isn't worth the time it takes for you to write up the report of suspected fraud. Most of us learned that early on, as you now have. Just let it go by you like water off a duck's back. Pixie true unless it is horribly egregious. i have some fun reporting fraud stories too and they got nowhere. not like the one above. ours were more it is important to have ALL the facts before jumping on the fraud bandwagon.  |
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Post by meateater on Mar 18, 2017 11:18:03 GMT -5
This question isn't exactly related to the string, but do you all get any type of medical benefits as part of your retirement? Did the ALJs recently get a raise?
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Post by christina on Mar 18, 2017 11:40:40 GMT -5
This question isn't exactly related to the string, but do you all get any type of medical benefits as part of your retirement? Did the ALJs recently get a raise? Look on opm website for that answer. Yes we do but there are rules. I think one requirement is we mantain federal insurance for the last 5 years before we retire. But check on opm. They have more details on their website. |
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