Many details are unresolved, including how many days the field staff will continue to work from home.Īdministrative law judges who hear appeals of denied claims for disability benefits - and are now conducting hearings on the phone or through videoconferencing - will resume in-person work in May and June, the agency said. The deal followed criticism from advocates for the disabled and members of Congress about Social Security largely closing its doors while most government offices opened months ago or never closed to the public during the pandemic.įield offices are expected to reopen for appointments and walk-in visits that are crucial for disabled and elderly claimants who have trouble negotiating the internet and the phone. Bargaining over the timing of the move was contentious for months, officials on both sides acknowledge. The agency announced this month that it reached agreement with its major unions to begin a return to the office this spring. But officials say they are trying to improve assistance to low-income elderly and disabled people who rely on their local Social Security offices to navigate one of the government's most complex systems of subsistence benefits. Most Social Security employees have been working from home since March 2020.

The agency is putting the workaround in place while its network of 1,230 local offices remain closed until at least mid-April, apart from a smattering of in-person appointments. The Social Security Administration is expanding a pandemic service to taxpayers that it had restricted to just one hour a day, allowing drop boxes at its closed field offices to accept sensitive documents and forms for more hours as it eases toward opening some facilities.

Paper dropbox document alignment