Budgetary Crunch Creates Potential Liability for SSA Managers
At the beginning of the current fiscal year, the Social Security Administration (SSA) requested an $800 million budget boost to facilitate necessary improvements throughout the agency. The agency maintains that despite providing invaluable services its previous funding has not been enough to effectively accommodate the public. SSA planned to use this additional funding to maintain level service by allocating enough overtime to handle workloads, hiring employees, funding information technology projects, and funding its fixed cost increases. Unfortunately, Congress only ended up allocating half of the requested budget amount.
In a recent statement on its blog, SSA explained the effects that years of underfunding have had on the agency. Since it has not had the funds to hire the level of staff needed, the agency has been operating with 4,000 fewer employees since prior to the pandemic. SSA is also experiencing historically high levels of employees leaving the agency due to unreasonable workloads resulting from the staffing shortage. These issues have contributed to what the agency describes as “unacceptable” levels for customer service – decisions on average disability claims have been taking an average of over six months and the wait time to speak to a representative on the SSA central customer service line has averaged over 30 minutes.
SSA has asked for support on a budgetary boost the Biden White House is seeking for the agency so it can deliver the services the public expects and deserves. While SSA says the current budget is not enough to cover the full year fixed cost increases or to maintain the hiring and overtime levels beyond December to improve service, the FY 2023 President’s budget request of $14.8 billion for SSA would allow the agency to improve customer service.
If this budget is not approved and SSA is unable to alleviate its staffing and customer service issues, SSA managers may face increased workloads, heightened scrutiny, and accountability demands, increasing their exposure to allegations or complaints of wrongdoing. Where there is increased scrutiny, disciplinary action and lawsuits often follow. Regardless of position or years of service, SSA managers regularly find themselves needing to hire and pay for outside legal counsel to defend and dispute these matters, even if the allegation is ultimately baseless and/or out of their control. Such complaints may include an alleged violation of the No Fear Act, discrimination allegations lodged by benefits applicants or other members of the public, and alleged systems sanctions violations. Allegations of wrongdoing concerning SSA managers could potentially be related to monetary losses to public programs, which may lead to calls for accountability from individuals, politicians, or public interest groups.
Alleged incidents involving SSA managers can lead to agency investigations. If an allegation is made against you, it is a necessity, not luxury, to have knowledgeable and effective counsel advocating on your behalf. Your agency attorney is not your attorney. It is the job of the agency attorney to defend the agency – not you. As an SSA manager, you need to have counsel that has specific experience representing federal employees with your professional vulnerabilities. A FEDS Protection professional liability insurance (PLI) policy can help.
FEDS Protection offers federal employee policies with $1 million, $2 million, or $3 million in civil liability protection for attorney’s fees and indemnity costs in the event you are sued in your civil capacity. The FEDS policy also includes $200,000 of legal representation coverage per incident for administrative actions and $100,000 of coverage for criminal defense costs. Annual premiums for FEDS Protection PLI start at $290, which is less than it would typically cost to hire a federal employment lawyer for an hour. Additionally, federal managers and law enforcement officers are eligible for a reimbursement of up to 50% the cost of their PLI policy through their agency. To learn more about how a FEDS PLI policy can protect you and your career, visit www.fedsprotection.com or call (866) 955-FEDS, M-F 8:30am-6pm to speak directly to a representative.
*This article is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.