Friday, March 20, 2020

No Answers From Social Security

Louisa Loveluck March 20, 2020 Covid-19, Telework

At the Social Security Administration office in an Auburn office building, the routine has been the same each day.

Dozens of workers touch the same keypad to enter the building. They use the same bathroom doors. They don’t always sit 6 feet away from colleagues. They share a kitchen, a copier and a fax machine.

While President Donald Trump urges people not to gather socially in groups of 10 or more, employees in many federal offices have been doing that day after day - and worrying about whether they’re being exposed to the coronavirus. ...

The agency has taken steps this week to implement telework policies. Agency spokesmen in Washington, D.C., and Seattle did not answer requests for comment.

Nor has the agency responded to some congressional requests.

“Social Security employs approximately 40,000 public-facing workers, some of whom have reported an array of concerns from lack of ability to telework, limited access to cleaning supplies,” wrote Rep. John Larson, D-Connecticut, chairman of the House Social Security subcommittee, and others, to Social Security Commissioner Andrew Saul on Tuesday.