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Post by rightspeech on Sept 7, 2022 9:54:41 GMT -5
lol you're right I gotta get off this thing its almost like social media. Good luck to all. Cheers
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Post by operationalj on Sept 7, 2022 9:59:02 GMT -5
I think the discussion started by Rightspeech is really starting to take us off the point of this thread and the April ALJ Hiring Announcement. Perhaps the policy discussions and discussion of economic trends relating to disability filings would be more germane for a separate thread. It seems like the tone is changing as a result of this discussion. Just my opinion. On a more positive note, I absolutely think more ALJ's are needed and would contribute to more efficient case flow and due process protections, as alluded to by others previously. With the level of ALJ attrition alone and a lack of ALJ hiring in years, it would be hard for anyone to argue against hiring more ALJ's in the agency. Good point! On that note, just 3 weekends until the end of the 2022 fiscal year!  |
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Post by hillsarealive on Sept 7, 2022 10:09:35 GMT -5
It's an inconvenient truth and yall are ignoring macro trends. Its not just the business cycle, back then boomers were the largest generation in a century they were in disability prime years. Unemployment was significantly higher and wages were significantly lower. Now, Gen X a small generation is disability prime years unemployment low, wages high. There can't be as many disabled people. Moreover, the agency believes that 1200 ALJs should be disposing of at least 600k claims per year. We got 350k this year, there's only 344k pending. Its not like DDS is suddenly going to release a million all at once. They are going to gradually come in and we are going to be able to dispose of them with our existing excess capacity. Reality is theyre probably just trying to get all they can get under united government anticipating divided government and government shutdowns. We're gonna get CR through the mid term election. Then R gonna take the house. In the lame duck session R will claim they have a mandate and only pass another CR until new congress. In new congress youre gonna have a fight with possible/likely hiring freezes and shutdowns. We've seen this movie before. They should be using this money to hire HCSS I wouldn't overthink it. They haven't hired any ALJs for 5 years. In the meantime the average ALJ has gotten older and closer to retirement. Even if the 1200 number is too high, TPTB probably figured out the number they should hire to partially offset retirements so that the total number is more or less "right size" from one year to the next. The trick is to never get in a situation where there are too few bodies to do the work and yes, they probably need to plan around political realities such as shutdown stunts, stagnant budgets, hiring freezes, etc. As you say, we've all seen that movie before. |
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Post by neufenland on Sept 7, 2022 12:07:55 GMT -5
I think the discussion started by Rightspeech is really starting to take us off the point of this thread and the April ALJ Hiring Announcement. Perhaps the policy discussions and discussion of economic trends relating to disability filings would be more germane for a separate thread. It seems like the tone is changing as a result of this discussion. Just my opinion. On a more positive note, I absolutely think more ALJ's are needed and would contribute to more efficient case flow and due process protections, as alluded to by others previously. With the level of ALJ attrition alone and a lack of ALJ hiring in years, it would be hard for anyone to argue against hiring more ALJ's in the agency. Good point! On that note, just 3 weekends until the end of the 2022 fiscal year! Does anyone have updated guesses? WA or educated? Or both? I'm looking for whatever crumbs I can find... |
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Post by Gaidin on Sept 7, 2022 12:18:39 GMT -5
Good point! On that note, just 3 weekends until the end of the 2022 fiscal year! Does anyone have updated guesses? WA or educated? Or both? I'm looking for whatever crumbs I can find... I hate to tell you this but I am going to guess y'all should take the next two weeks to clean out your closets and focus on pumpkin spice season. I think calls come the last week of the month. I thought they would roll out week before last but with Pixie's post about TPTB trying to finagle more ALJs I believe they're going to end up going to the wire. It was never easy to relax when I was in your spot but.... |
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Post by christina on Sept 7, 2022 12:24:39 GMT -5
Does anyone have updated guesses? WA or educated? Or both? I'm looking for whatever crumbs I can find... I hate to tell you this but I am going to guess y'all should take the next two weeks to clean out your closets and focus on pumpkin spice season. I think calls come the last week of the month. I thought they would roll out week before last but with Pixie's post about TPTB trying to finagle more ALJs I believe they're going to end up going to the wire. It was never easy to relax when I was in your spot but.... Yuck. We feel for all of u |
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cielo
Full Member
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Post by cielo on Sept 7, 2022 12:25:42 GMT -5
Does anyone have updated guesses? WA or educated? Or both? I'm looking for whatever crumbs I can find... I hate to tell you this but I am going to guess y'all should take the next two weeks to clean out your closets and focus on pumpkin spice season. I think calls come the last week of the month. I thought they would roll out week before last but with Pixie's post about TPTB trying to finagle more ALJs I believe they're going to end up going to the wire. It was never easy to relax when I was in your spot but.... I thought ppl had to be onboarded by the end of the fiscal year (Sept 25th) to use the funding for FY22. Can they be onboarded later? |
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Post by neufenland on Sept 7, 2022 12:32:09 GMT -5
Does anyone have updated guesses? WA or educated? Or both? I'm looking for whatever crumbs I can find... I hate to tell you this but I am going to guess y'all should take the next two weeks to clean out your closets and focus on pumpkin spice season. I think calls come the last week of the month. I thought they would roll out week before last but with Pixie 's post about TPTB trying to finagle more ALJs I believe they're going to end up going to the wire. It was never easy to relax when I was in your spot but.... I agree with you on all counts. I'm not privy to the inner machinations of SSA, but the administrative hurdle is higher than what most of us were thinking, so it's bound to take extra time. It's good news, though, since the reason for it taking a bit longer is that more folks will have an opportunity to be an ALJ. It's been a while with no info, though, so we do look for crumbs and other nibbles that might help ease the wait. Pixie's latest info is certainly helpful in that respect. I don't know how it is for other applicants, but for me, it can be hard to talk about it with others who aren't in the same boat. I mean, I have bored my wife with it for a couple of months now, and she even said "thank God you have that Board." |
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Post by neufenland on Sept 7, 2022 12:42:16 GMT -5
I hate to tell you this but I am going to guess y'all should take the next two weeks to clean out your closets and focus on pumpkin spice season. I think calls come the last week of the month. I thought they would roll out week before last but with Pixie 's post about TPTB trying to finagle more ALJs I believe they're going to end up going to the wire. It was never easy to relax when I was in your spot but.... I thought ppl had to be onboarded by the end of the fiscal year (Sept 25th) to use the funding for FY22. Can they be onboarded later? I think the word on the street is that you just have to have accepted an offer by Oct 1 to be counted for FY 22. The actual on-boarding can be after the first of next month. |
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Post by overprivatepractice on Sept 7, 2022 12:45:12 GMT -5
It's been a while with no info, though, so we do look for crumbs and other nibbles of info that might help ease the wait. Pixie's latest info is certainly helpful in that respect. I don't know how it is for other applicants, but for me, it can be hard to talk about it with others who aren't in the same boat. I mean, I have bored my wife with it for a couple of months now, and she even said "thank God you have that Board." I’m completely grateful, and I am hanging on to every word people post, but if I didn’t have the board, I would have applied once, assumed they hired someone else and not thought about it again. (I would never have even applied a second or third time or gotten as far as I have either). So, thanks to everyone for being here for us all! Since I still have that glimmer of hope, I’m at a standstill. I really want to schedule a short vacation in the near future, and I’m scared to do so in case I get the call. Any educated guesses as to whether the start date will be before October 15? |
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Post by christina on Sept 7, 2022 12:46:08 GMT -5
I thought ppl had to be onboarded by the end of the fiscal year (Sept 25th) to use the funding for FY22. Can they be onboarded later? I think the word on the street is that you just have to have accepted an offer by Oct 1 to be counted for FY 22. The actual on-boarding can be after the first of next month. Yes I’ve seen that happen for non judge hires. |
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Post by legallysufficient on Sept 7, 2022 13:34:37 GMT -5
Seems like it would be pushing it to wait until the final couple days of the last week of fiscal to extend offers for this type of position. My guess is that if it goes out that far, it will be the early part of the last week of the fiscal year.
That being said, one has to wonder how many layers of the bureaucracy they must go through to get the funding for additional positions beyond the original 25.
Assuming ALJ training is virtual, that makes things a lot easier for the agency in terms of logistics and would seemingly give them a cushion here to take as much of the remaining fiscal year as possible to get the additional positions approved and hired.
All we can do is hope for the best at this point!
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Post by hillsarealive on Sept 7, 2022 14:05:58 GMT -5
Seems like it would be pushing it to wait until the final couple days of the last week of fiscal to extend offers for this type of position. My guess is that if it goes out that far, it will be the early part of the last week of the fiscal year. That being said, one has to wonder how many layers of the bureaucracy they must go through to get the funding for additional positions beyond the original 25. Assuming ALJ training is virtual, that makes things a lot easier for the agency in terms of logistics and would seemingly give them a cushion here to take as much of the remaining fiscal year as possible to get the additional positions approved and hired. All we can do is hope for the best at this point! I am ignorant about such things. Does anyone have a sense of the steps involved? I mean the broad strokes not the details. For example, would the white house need to approve additional ALJ hiring? |
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Post by tripper on Sept 7, 2022 15:10:39 GMT -5
Calls can go out as late as Friday Sept 30. They did in 2016.
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Post by fowlfinder on Sept 7, 2022 15:54:18 GMT -5
Good point! On that note, just 3 weekends until the end of the 2022 fiscal year! Does anyone have updated guesses? WA or educated? Or both? I'm looking for whatever crumbs I can find... I think the calls will go out the week after the CR is signed into law, when ever that is. As the language of the CR will determine whether SSA hires 25 or 40. I also think it could be after Sep 30 if the CR isn't signed until then. If they are going to operate on a CR, its just FY22 again. Which means they have funding for 25, when ever they get the cash. And I think TPTB will hold out until the 59th minute of the 11th hour hoping for some more funding to be shaken out of the tree. |
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Post by theadjudicator on Sept 7, 2022 16:12:05 GMT -5
The reliable information that has trickled down to me, and I am assuming others on this board, is that the selections are complete and offers should be imminent. No, I did not receive "the call."
IF I were to take a WAG, I say give it a week, at most, likely less. This will be my last attempt at a projection, I promise.
Good Luck Friends!
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Post by voyager on Sept 7, 2022 17:31:02 GMT -5
The reliable information that has trickled down to me, and I am assuming others on this board, is that the selections are complete and offers should be imminent. No, I did not receive "the call." IF I were to take a WAG, I say give it a week, at most, likely less. This will be my last attempt at a projection, I promise. Good Luck Friends! Based on the same reliable information😬, I agree with your projection… |
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Post by ARobeByAnyOtherName on Sept 7, 2022 17:57:35 GMT -5
The reliable information that has trickled down to me, and I am assuming others on this board, is that the selections are complete and offers should be imminent. No, I did not receive "the call." IF I were to take a WAG, I say give it a week, at most, likely less. This will be my last attempt at a projection, I promise. Good Luck Friends! Aaaaand now we find out if my definition of “soon” is the same as TPTB. If they mean “soon” in the same way that I do when my kids ask when we’re going to Disney World, we’re in trouble. |
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Post by neufenland on Sept 7, 2022 18:27:59 GMT -5
The reliable information that has trickled down to me, and I am assuming others on this board, is that the selections are complete and offers should be imminent. No, I did not receive "the call." IF I were to take a WAG, I say give it a week, at most, likely less. This will be my last attempt at a projection, I promise. Good Luck Friends! Aaaaand now we find out if my definition of “soon” is the same as TPTB. If they mean “soon” in the same way that I do when my kids ask when we’re going to Disney World, we’re in trouble.The meaning of "imminent" and "soon" certainly depends on context, doesn't it?...Hahahaha. |
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Post by ARobeByAnyOtherName on Sept 7, 2022 19:53:01 GMT -5
Help me brainstorm. I feel like if I am fortunate enough to get the call, my brain will immediately stop functioning and I will forget everything I meant to ask, let alone need to ask. So, during the initial phone call, what is information that the newbie hire needs to know? And likewise, perhaps a different list, what would be information that would be generally useful for the board? It may be that the entire phone call is just the offer and acceptance with an instruction to watch my email for more to come, but in case it’s not… Things I would want to know (assuming I get the call): 1) HR contact name, number, email and best way to get ahold of them 2) Start date (and if it’s contingent on anything, like “we’d like you to start on xxxx, provided we can get all of your paperwork squared away.”) 3) Location (how/when/who will provide info about telework) 4) Contact name/number for HOCALJ, HOD, and whomever else I need to get in contact with prior to start date 5) Starting salary (confirm it’s above current GS base salary) 6) Anything that I need to do/take action on/next steps/timeline 7) Any details on training (dates, location, etc.) Things I think the board would want to know: 1) How many offers are being made in total? Are there backups if people decline? 2) How many offers have been made already? How many people are left to call? 3) How many people from HR are making the calls? When do they expect to finish, i.e., how many days do they expect to be making calls? 4) Are candidates being offered their first choice location? Are locations negotiable? 5) Are the calls being done in any particular order? Alphabetically by last name? (good for me, since my name starts with “A,” but bad for voyager all the way down at “V”) East to West? By score? Randomly? What other questions would be good to ask? I’m imagining it’s going to be like at the doctor’s office and I’ll wish someone was there to take notes because it’ll all be going right over my head. I hope I get the chance to find out. |
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