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Social Security Administration letting tax dollars go up in smoke
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- Wilkes-Barre Data Operations Center – photo by Bing Maps
By PPRN News Staff
We sometime hear of these stories of a single public employee, usually a Public Works employee who spends most sunny afternoons asleep in the city truck while on city time. The employee is fired and required to pay back his ill-gotten wages. Shame and humiliation await him at his next job, if he can find one.
The Wilkes-Barre Data Operations Center (WBDOC) is the Social Security Administration’s power house of form processing and telephone service. It employs approximately 1,200 men and women from the area. Without it, beneficiaries would rarely receive benefits in a timely fashion and wait times on the telephones would exceed hours long. It is led by Operations Director Carol Truskowski, and the Social Security Administration Commissioner is Michael J. Astrue.
The WBDOC is located within Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, where more than 30 government officials[1] have either been convicted of, or lost their jobs due to corruption. But imagine the outrage that the American People will feel when they learn that the WBDOC, the sole processing facility of many reports not just for the nation, but also for beneficiaries around the world, has a culture of abuse and fraud that makes a sleepy city employee seem like a wisp of smoke.
The smoke that comes from the WBDOC, originates at the end of a cigarette. While the national average for smokers is 19.8%, Pennsylvania holds at 21%[2] of the population smoking. And while a private sector business would limit a smoker taking a smoke break to previously scheduled breaks and lunches, the WBDOC allows for unscheduled smoke breaks, some as long as 25-30 minutes.
It is hard to believe that a non-smoker would begrudge a smoker a quick, 5 minute break during a busy workload, but according to my one source, Pat, and verified through other sources that work in the building, the smokers will take as many as five extra breaks just to smoke while others are processing forms, resolving issues with scanned images, or answering the phones and thus abusing the rest break system.
This abandonment of the non-smokers to carry the load of absent smokers breeds gross resentment, and causes undue stress on the non-smoker to complete a workload in a timely fashion. There is no room for error and missing a deadline is inexcusable. The non-smoker is burdened with an extra 10% of the work over what a smoker performs, and that does not include the time loss due to associated health conditions associated with smoking. A study[3] from Europe showed as much as 7 to 10 extra sick days are taken by smokers over non-smokers.
Adding insult to injury, many of those that abuse the system frequently receive the Recognition of Contribution (ROC) award, where they can receive a bonus of up to 10% of their base pay, and the usual award amount is approximately $400-700. Many non-smokers are agitated by this insult, for many of the non-smokers do more than their fair share of work and feel slighted by being denied any recognition for their dedication.
Just how is the system being abused? Look at the amount of time wasted while puffing on a cancer stick:
Assuming the following givens:
- Average smoke break: 15 minutes
- Average number of unscheduled breaks: 3
- Average number of smokers: (21% of 1,200 but only 1/3 abuse the breaks): 84
- Shift differential is not accounted for and the average hourly wage of all smokers (GS-6 step 8): $21.96[4]
|
Break length |
# Of Breaks |
Lost time |
# of smokers |
Hourly rate |
Daily costs |
|
15 min |
3 |
45 min |
84 |
21.96 |
$1383 |
Carried to 20 minutes a break and the daily cost rises to $1844, which is equal the sum if of these smokers take 2 extra breaks for 15 minutes.
These estimates are for only one day, and are estimates only, and for only one building within the jurisdiction of the Social Security Administration. The total amount for a year in wasted taxpayer’s dollars: $ 302,877 (accounting for Federal Holidays and a 4 week vacation). The extra 5 minutes a break or two additional 15 minute breaks brings an estimated waste of $403,976, again accounting for Federal Holidays and a 4 week vacation.
Is this really a fair assessment? Below is a transcript of a conversation that Pat and I had recently
