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Post by arkstfan on Dec 21, 2020 15:59:22 GMT -5
I’ve got three at risk conditions and I’m closely approaching advanced age. I don’t expect to be vaccinated at our offices. Rather I suspect one of my physicians will order it done at a regular visit in the next few months.
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Post by jimmy224 on Dec 21, 2020 16:42:46 GMT -5
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Post by nylawyer on Dec 21, 2020 21:01:35 GMT -5
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Post by superalj on Dec 21, 2020 21:55:40 GMT -5
I’m more optimistic since we will finally get competent leadership in month.
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Post by nylawyer on Dec 22, 2020 9:01:14 GMT -5
You have reason to believe our future alien overlords are arriving next month?
The expectation is that we'll make great pets.
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Post by jagvet on Dec 22, 2020 11:59:18 GMT -5
You have reason to believe our future alien overlords are arriving next month? The expectation is that we'll make great pets. The main ingredient in the vaccine is...… SOYLENT GREEN! |
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Post by nylawyer on Dec 22, 2020 12:06:49 GMT -5
You have reason to believe our future alien overlords are arriving next month? The expectation is that we'll make great pets. The main ingredient in the vaccine is...… SOYLENT GREEN! "It's a cookbook!!!!" |
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Post by nappyloxs on Dec 22, 2020 22:02:21 GMT -5
... If/when Team hearings actually start happening, it will still be at telework. Why? To my minion knowledge, there have been no plans whatsoever of redesign in hearing rooms. ... Please explain. What redesign of hrg rooms is needed for me to sit there by myself and conduct hrgs, while the hrg monitor, clmt, rep, VE all participate from remote locations? Why would you be the only one in the hearing room? They could bring back VHRs to monitor, which would help tremendously with bandwidth, recording, and staffing issues. How is it it more effective to have an ALJ in the hearing office? Who cleans the hearing room between your days and your co-ALJ days? Are you spending the entire day in the hearing room and not entering your office, office space, breakroom, bathroom, or other common areas? They could bring back VHRs and have them work out of assigned hearing rooms since VHRs don’t need to access the office or other restricted areas. |
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Post by bowser on Dec 23, 2020 14:08:41 GMT -5
It could be done any number of ways.
If done on a voluntary basis, I assume not all ALJs would wish to come in. So it might be possible to assign 1 ALJ to each hrg room. Or ALJs could participate from their offices.
Any needed arrangements could be made re: breakroom/common areas. Our office is in rented space, so the common bathrooms are being cleaned.
I believe that hrgs at home - while a good effort when needed - do pose due process and privacy concerns - especially as we move to video hrgs. Is every ALJ is in a soundproof area of their home with no one else around? The hrg rooms - or even my office - are better set up to conduct hrgs than the space allotted in my home.
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Post by christina on Dec 23, 2020 23:03:06 GMT -5
You have reason to believe our future alien overlords are arriving next month? The expectation is that we'll make great pets. The main ingredient in the vaccine is...… SOYLENT GREEN! Ehhhh |
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Post by natethegreat on Dec 24, 2020 14:23:40 GMT -5
It could be done any number of ways. If done on a voluntary basis, I assume not all ALJs would wish to come in. So it might be possible to assign 1 ALJ to each hrg room. Or ALJs could participate from their offices. Any needed arrangements could be made re: breakroom/common areas. Our office is in rented space, so the common bathrooms are being cleaned. I believe that hrgs at home - while a good effort when needed - do pose due process and privacy concerns - especially as we move to video hrgs. Is every ALJ is in a soundproof area of their home with no one else around? The hrg rooms - or even my office - are better set up to conduct hrgs than the space allotted in my home. I understand the privacy concerns and I have heard concerns for a long time regarding whether video hearings offered appropriate due process, but is there something particularly egregious with regards to video hearings from home and due process? |
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Post by hamster on Dec 24, 2020 16:08:30 GMT -5
Not in my view. Things are different for the time being. It is not business as usual. If the claimants want to wait for an in-person hearing, fine by me. The reps have a pecuniary interest in hearings being held sooner rather than later. Every one I know wants to get the hearing over with, to keep their cash flow going in the event they win.
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Post by Ready-Now! on Dec 27, 2020 7:55:50 GMT -5
I cannot imagine how those small hearing rooms could ever be modified to the point where everyone in the room would not be breathing the same air within seconds of exhalation, sneezing, coughing, singing, etc.
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Post by statman on Dec 27, 2020 8:57:58 GMT -5
So we should never go back unless there is a 100 per cent guarantee. Your breathe the same air every time you shop at a store. The solution is to mitigate the risk to an acceptable level and this can be had by requiring vaccines and testing. Having everybody working from home forever is not a solution.
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Post by hamster on Dec 27, 2020 11:33:18 GMT -5
Some claimants don’t have much insight or thoughtfulness. Some are simply anti-social and angry. Some are mentally ill. In the days when we did hearings in person, I’ve had legions of hacking claimants, feverish claimants, and perhaps 20 vomiting claimants. Many would blow their nose, and throw the snot-soaked tissue on the table in front of them—the same table where the elderly vocational expert and the elderly hearing reporter would sit, and not far from the “I graduated high school more than 40 years ago” ALJ would sit. Some claimants were unwashed and had terrible body odor. Some had lice. Some claimants had MRSA. Would they tell us? Nope. Management did not care. Caring interferes with production. The claimants did not care. Caring interferes with their hearing. When they’d puke in the waiting area or hearing room, the janitor would clean it up.
I’m revolted by Management’s passivity and criminal lack of concern for the employees. The system is broken. I’ll be retiring before we return to the office en masse.
YMMV. Respectfully, Hamster
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Post by monday on Dec 27, 2020 14:05:09 GMT -5
So we should never go back unless there is a 100 per cent guarantee. Your breathe the same air every time you shop at a store. The solution is to mitigate the risk to an acceptable level and this can be had by requiring vaccines and testing. Having everybody working from home forever is not a solution. If I'm in a store, I don't sit near the same people for 15-30 minutes, and I have the option to leave or move away if someone's mask is ill-fitting or under their nose. I don't think that would be the case for ALJs/reps/claimants in a hearing room. It's often hard to understand what the ALJ or rep is saying on hearing recordings with no masks. I suspect that will just make matters worse for us decision writers or the AC. |
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Post by statman on Dec 27, 2020 17:28:56 GMT -5
Do you need a mask if you were vaccinated?
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Post by Thomas fka Lance on Dec 27, 2020 18:06:02 GMT -5
Do you need a mask if you were vaccinated? Yes, the only question yet unanswered is for how long. |
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Post by Thomas fka Lance on Dec 27, 2020 18:15:55 GMT -5
So we should never go back unless there is a 100 per cent guarantee. Your breathe the same air every time you shop at a store. The solution is to mitigate the risk to an acceptable level and this can be had by requiring vaccines and testing. Having everybody working from home forever is not a solution. No one said forever. No one expects it to be forever. It's a pandemic, and someday we will conquer it. Returning to the office too soon has a very real possibility of causing death. When an ALJ is in the office they are not, and will not be, there alone. Period. It is not just about the ALJ, it is about exposing, and possibly harming, your fellow employee. |
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Post by places2go on Dec 27, 2020 22:25:58 GMT -5
I cannot imagine how those small hearing rooms could ever be modified to the point where everyone in the room would not be breathing the same air within seconds of exhalation, sneezing, coughing, singing, etc. I have yet to have anyone sing during a hearing. That might be a nice addition though. |
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