In January of 2022 Social Security’s employee unions reached a deal with the agency to commence with a reopening plan to get employees back in Social Security offices by the end of March 2022. Negotiations are ongoing about the reopening particulars so no one really knows what Social Security’s reopening plan will look like.
Below is the announcement from Acting Social Security Commissioner Kilolo Kijakazi indicating the agency had agreed on a reopening plan with its employee unions.
“I am very pleased to share that we have successfully reached agreement with our three labor unions on our reentry plan.
This will be a significant step toward improving access to our services as we implement this plan.
I want to thank our labor representatives for working with management to achieve this outcome, which will help us better serve the public.
I also want to thank the public and our employees for their patience during this unprecedented time.
I know the public will have questions about what this means to them.
For now, you should continue to reach us online at www.socialsecurity.gov or by calling our National 800 Number or your local office. We will let you know when we are able to restore additional services.”
Since March of 2020 Social Security offices have been pretty much closed to the public due to the COIVD-19 pandemic and no in-person service was available at field offices for two years, but hopefully that is going to change within the next few months.
Employee union representatives are still concerned about safety protocols should all Social Security employees be required to return to the office on a full-time basis, but that is not likely as the agreement reached does provide for a portion of telework for most Social Security employees. Telework is the term Social Security used to refer to employees working from home.
The Federal News Network recently reported the ongoing negotiations between the agency and employee unions. That story can be found here. In the story Social Security talked to Mark Hinkle, Social Security’s press officer who said the agency still plans to bring back employees to SSA offices at the end of March, but that plan is “dependent on the course of the pandemic.”
Few people expect Social Security to return to business as usual and go back to operating prior to the pandemic. After all, the pandemic has not ended, although there are positive signs that it has been relenting for the past few weeks, but no one knows when another COVID variant might pop up. Either way, expect some pushback from employees who have requested that the agency include telework options within a reopening plan. In the article, Angela Digeronimo, a vice president of one of the employee unions said she understands the need for SSA to reopen, but safety of SSA employees need to be considered.
“We weren’t really discussing meat-and-potato issues. What we want to talk about is health and safety, how are people going to go back into the offices and be safe, and also keep the public safe, especially in the field offices,” Digeronimo was quoted in the story.
