Va Raters To Work Manditory Overtime On Claims Till Sept 30Th

[manning01]

Check this article out. Glad to see they are making them work more hours to work on our claims that have been sitting around collecting dust. Whether they accomplish anything more from this OT remains to be seen along with these so called provisional claims. At the same time as a DOD employee I'll be taking 11 days of furlough time off without pay starting in July till Sept while they do all this extra OT to make them look like they saved the day for us vets.

http://www.va.gov/opa/pressrel/pressrelease.cfm?id=2444

http://www.stripes.com/news/va-workers-told-to-work-overtime-to-clear-claims-backlog-1.221099

[carlie]

If they ever worked 8 hours in any one day actually trying to help a veteran they could take the rest of the week off.

Veterans are supposed to get the benefit of the doubt on all claims and cases because they are not lawyers. This is not happening. The VA is overexamining every nickel and dime and making up the rules as they go. Totally ignoring CFR 38. We need to march on Washington. Slow

Certain criteria has to be met for application of the BOD.

[indyman]

Overtime starts at 17:01, not 6 PM. Night differential is an issue that the Union needs to address. VBA controls the union, and they are weak. All that has to be done is the union notify management that they are considering a second shift with night diff, and then there is a vote. Two wks is all that is needed, in a way of advanced notice. Two weeks for change of shift notice. I did 22 yrs + in the Fed, and we had a good union (NTEU), who went to bat for us.

[Notorious Kelly]

Veldrina,

We appreciate you and the many others working so hard on our behalf.

Many of us realize The Process is the main problem.

Hang in there and have a Faire season!

[AFButch]

Goodness, why would differential pay come into play when OT is merely extending a work day? (Maybe there is a cut off, 4 hours OT into night shift or something like that = shift differential?) Now a second shift is a totally different issue. Are there available staff available to fill a second shift? Maybe I missed something here. I thought the issue was that they have been mandated 20 hours MONTHLY for each employee to work on this backlog. That is an hour extra a day. Not so sure it is enough to be of any help anyway especially if used at one hour intervals. Would have been more practical to call for volunteers with Supervisory assignments of what exactly they would work on.... that is difficult for supervisors to co-ordinate, maybe that is the problem. I speak from experience. Wondering if Saturday could come into play with focused hours rather than a measly hour a day.

Just as in all the excellent ideas for solutions I have read on HADIT for all the problems with the VA, we the Vet in need have NO control over any of this. Can say that based on their administrative handling of our claims, they will likely mishandle this OT as well. OT was like a gift where I came from. I had PLENTY staff WANTING to work it. (The money was great, when allowed some enjoy the comp time as an option.) I set up the assignments well before they arrived and we got enormous amounts of work done, especially on Saturdays when there were no outside interruption. Specific task assignment was a given, with expected results. My staff jumped in and did exactly what was expected. (The donuts I brought may have come into play with their sugar highs, LOL.) My supervisor and theirs all the way to the Warden knew exactly what we had to work on and expected productivity from that OT. Oh well, I JUST worked at one of the most notorious Prisons in the US, maybe didn't know what we were doing, LOL.

OT is really NOT the focus here, who works when etc, the focus is what will be accomplished with this mandated OT. Accountability with expected and achieved goals for it should be mission.

[Pete53]

They should pay whatever it takes to clear these claims.

[JT24usn]

It's not just raters. All veterans service representatives are. Be ready for Saturday phone calls and what not.