fed up with ODAR BS

[kingfisher]

peejay said:

Back in the day, all PDs said "and other duties as assigned." Is that still the case? If so, good luck in trying not to do extra work.

In a previous federal job, the "and other duties as assigned" was used consistently by upper management to require the HOSA to do all functions pertaining to any and every task not already assigned to secretaries or attorneys. It really got out of hand, but frankly, short of leaving his federal job it appeared the HOSA had little control over it. He finally transferred to another part of the country within the same federal agency. Wish I had some helpful insight. I do not. But, for what its worth, I wanted you to know you are not alone in this experience. And, if any HOSA not affiliated with SSA is reading this, perhaps you will offer some insight?

[notherhosa]

kingfisher said:

peejay said:

Back in the day, all PDs said "and other duties as assigned." Is that still the case? If so, good luck in trying not to do extra work.

In a previous federal job, the "and other duties as assigned" was used consistently by upper management to require the HOSA to do all functions pertaining to any and every task not already assigned to secretaries or attorneys. It really got out of hand, but frankly, short of leaving his federal job it appeared the HOSA had little control over it. He finally transferred to another part of the country within the same federal agency. Wish I had some helpful insight. I do not. But, for what its worth, I wanted you to know you are not alone in this experience. And, if any HOSA not affiliated with SSA is reading this, perhaps you will offer some insight?

The PD no longer states it so I don't understand how it can be implied?? We can only each handle so much work. Once the stress level climbs, some people actually produce less work because , like a hard drive, their brain disk space becomes fragmented and brain matter gets full. Retrieving the mental data becomes more difficult. Region and HQ has to decide who is our boss and who gives us work. It's allot like high school. Every teacher piles on homework and constantly wants to gradeyou on production. We are all on production overload. Time for all of us to slow down and do the job correctly as per the PD.

[techgeek]

cano149 said:

IS THE MARS IN THE HOSA PD???

The MAR report is a mgmt function, a mgmt report. It is not in the HOSA PD. Some HOSAs do it and some don't. I think HOSAs at smaller offices have more free time on their hands so the HOD uses them for functions that a HOSA in a larger office might not have time to handle. Bottom line is any office over 30 people should probably have two full time HOSAs. This way, you have two people learning and sharing inormation, helping the staff, training the staff and you have someone there when the other HOSA is on leave. If the office is large enough for several Admin Aids, there should also be several HOSAs. I'll bet two HOSAs are approved but mgmt is using the funding for other positions. Of course, if there were two HOSAs , they would also be able to handle some other responsibilities.

[techgeek]

Notherhosa,
I'd say we should still be cooperative and not refuse work if we have the time to perform the task. After all, we are being paid to work a 40 hr week so who cares what we do. Except, if our duties are substantially the same as other higher paid positions, then our 40 hr week should be paid at that grade level.
I would hope for communication and negotiation rather than the alternative which I guess might equate to bitterness and commotion. I would imagine the extra stress would way heavily on our ability to perform at a high level. I mean, we all can only go full pace plus for so long and then everyone begins to falter. The agency is pushing us harder and harder(all of us , not just the HOSAs and again, lots of ct, sct and other positions have been filled but no help for the hosa) to accomplish miracles and we personally are starting to feel burned out and over loaded and maybe that is why we are more resentful that our pay is not equal to others in the SSA tech field. Someone said something about the staff leaning to heavily on us and I agree. People are not trying to figure anything out or look at infocast, just call the HOSA. They don't care that we also have work to handle. I am now handling this in a different way because, these people are not new and nothing we are doing is new anymore. They are familiar with edib, eview , cpms etc. If they are new, I give them fast attention. If they are "regulars ", they get a phone diagnoses and if the problem is a real one, I am there to fix it or, if I am to busy, they can wait until I can get to it. That forces them to use their brains. If they don't want to get farther behind, they must figure it out or network with co-workers that perform the same job(just as the hosa does to learn.) One of the biggest employee failures in this area is that they don't take notes on their PC. They write things on scrap paper, then, when cleaning their area up, they throw it out. My time is not dispensible, it is indespensible. My attitude is, if you don't care enough to help yourself, don't expect me to do your job for you. "Ask your supervisor" is something I have begun saying to those that refuse to learn. When the sups get tired of showing, pacs ratings and awards will be where they should be. The good get nice awards and the bad get none.Meanwhile, they will see just how busy we are.

[nonamouse]

odarhosa,

No, I don't think all writers or attorneys are equal just as all HOSAs are not equal. I do believe that less competent people hurt us in the eyes of the agency since attorneys have a ridiculous pay scale at SSA in comparison to attorneys at other federal agencies where they can reach GS-15. We also have no student loan repayment program at SSA in part because the largest and loudest union (AFGE) represents primarily non-attorneys with little to no student loan debt. Attorneys being crushed by loans are not their problem, so the issue is not pushed during bargaining.

I spend a good part of my day with a line of underqualified people asking me repetitive questions that they should know at their pay grade. Does that sound familiar to you and your daily experience at SSA?

As I said before, I believe that the agency undervalues all of its employees, not just the HOSAs. That being said, I'm not currently spending my time advocating for HOSAs. You have your union and I'm in a different union. Our agendas and needs are not identical, so I'm going to focus my efforts in other directions most of the time unless our agendas coincide. I can sympathize with your frustrations, but all of us are overworked, underpaid and undervalued. We can deal with it, whine about it or move on. I don't rule out any of those choices, depending on the day.

[techgeek]

nonamouse said:

odarhosa,

No, I don't think all writers or attorneys are equal just as all HOSAs are not equal. I do believe that less competent people hurt us in the eyes of the agency since attorneys have a ridiculous pay scale at SSA in comparison to attorneys at other federal agencies where they can reach GS-15. We also have no student loan repayment program at SSA in part because the largest and loudest union (AFGE) represents primarily non-attorneys with little to no student loan debt. Attorneys being crushed by loans are not their problem, so the issue is not pushed during bargaining.

I spend a good part of my day with a line of underqualified people asking me repetitive questions that they should know at their pay grade. Does that sound familiar to you and your daily experience at SSA?

As I said before, I believe that the agency undervalues all of its employees, not just the HOSAs. That being said, I'm not currently spending my time advocating for HOSAs. You have your union and I'm in a different union. Our agendas and needs are not identical, so I'm going to focus my efforts in other directions most of the time unless our agendas coincide. I can sympathize with your frustrations, but all of us are overworked, underpaid and undervalued. We can deal with it, whine about it or move on. I don't rule out any of those choices, depending on the day.

Well nonamouse,

All I can say is, I'm more than ready to move on for the right opprtunity and I am looking. I may not find any less of a workload but for 10 - 20 grand more, I'll make the best of it. So far, I am working on ending the repetitive questions. I'll show anyone anything a few times. After that, no more. They can ask one of their peers or their supervisor. This will help the sups really get to know the skill level of the employee. And, it may force the employee to start relying on their own brains. After all, I am just a computer assistant. Can anyone help me find the punch cards, teletype room and oh, where is the microfiche reader?

Can someone call IBM? My typewriter is broken!