Social Security ends flexible work schedules, teeing up clash with union

The Social Security Administration is ending flexible work schedules for its employees, soon after imposing new restrictions on annual leave and sick time. 

Under these flexible work schedules, SSA employees generally worked longer hours, in exchange for an extra day off each week or two-week pay period. Employees on these flexible schedules still work the same total hours as their peers working a standard five-day workweek. 

The American Federation of Federal Employees, which represents tens of thousands of SSA employees, said many employees relied on these flexible work schedules for medical treatment or to provide family care, and that removing this option would push more staff to leave the agency. 

SSA told its workforce that a consistent five-day workweek “strengthens our ability to deliver the service the public expects,” even for employees who don’t work directly with the public. 

Employees received an email on Monday informing them that alternative work schedules would no longer be permitted, starting Nov. 16. SSA employees will be allowed to remain on flexible work schedules through Nov. 13. 

Prohibited work schedules include employees working 10-hours days four times each workweek, or working eight nine-hour days and one eight-hour day for a two-week pay period.

“Management was given zero notice, so we are scrambling,” an SSA manager told Government Executive. “Many of us just approved people for new AWS schedules in the last few weeks.” An SSA spokesperson declined to comment further, referring back to the email employees received on Monday. 

In the email, SSA Chief Human Capital Officer Florence Felix-Lawson told staff that “all employees will transition to a standard five-day workweek.” 

“The American people depend on SSA to deliver on its mission every day, and that mission depends on a workforce that is present and available throughout the week. AWS, which allow employees to complete their work hours in fewer than five days, reduce staffing on the days employees are off,” Felix-Lawson wrote. “The cumulative effect across the agency is significant and impacts our service to the public.” 

AFGE’s SSA General Committee filed a national grievance, arguing that the agency unilaterally ending flexible work arrangements amounts to an illegal repudiation of its contact with the union. 

The Trump administration eliminated collective bargaining at more than 20 agencies last year through a pair of executive orders, on the grounds that these changes were necessary for national security reasons. SSA, however, wasn’t impacted by the executive orders and still recognizes AFGE. Its contract with the union is effective until Oct. 25, 2029. 

AFGE’s SSA General Committee said in a statement that SSA “paints a false picture of an agency overwhelmed by employees with alternative schedules.” The union says public-facing field offices and hearing offices must have a minimum staffing level to be eligible for flexible work schedules, and cap the number of public-facing employees who can be off any given day.

The union said that an “overwhelming majority of employees” already work a regular five-day workweek, and that “a small portion of SSA’s total workforce utilized an alternative work schedule.” Employees at smaller offices, for example, are not eligible for flexible work schedules.  

The union argued that these changes “will harm public service by further depressing morale in an already overwhelmed workforce, and that many employees will leave the agency, "exacerbating attrition and further depleting service capacity."  About 7,000 SSA employees took voluntary separation incentives last year, bringing the agency to its lowest staffing level in about 50 years.

SSA, along with the IRS, announced in July that employees would no longer be granted advanced annual or sick leave until further notice. 

Federal employees are generally allowed to use “advanced” annual or sick leave for major medical emergencies, family care and bereavement of an immediate family member if they have already exhausted their annual leave or sick leave. With advanced leave, employees essentially borrow from a reserve of leave hours they will eventually accrue. 

Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., led colleagues in denouncing this new policy as a “cruel and unjustified plan that is likely to drive additional employees out the door.”

“Like with advanced leave, many SSA employees utilized alternative work schedules to make time to seek medical treatment and take care of loved ones without loss of pay. SSA’s action will fall harshest on those workers who will have to choose between getting paid or getting care. The cruelty of this move cannot be overstated,” the union wrote. 

The union is calling on Congress to pass legislation that expands unions’ ability to seek injunctive relief in unfair labor practice cases. It’s also urging the Senate to pass the Protecting America’s Workforce Act. The bill, which passed the House last December, would restore collective bargaining rights to over 3,000 SSA IT workers and approximately 1 million federal workers.