Effective November 19, the Greece and Rochester Social Security offices will be open to the public Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. – a reduction of 30 minutes each weekday. In addition, beginning January 2, 2013, each office will close to the public at noon every Wednesday.
While agency employees will continue to work their regular hours, this shorter public window will allow them to complete face-to-face interviews and process claims work without incurring the cost of overtime, according to a press release from the Social Security Administration. The significantly reduced funding provided by Congress under the continuing resolution for the first six months of the fiscal year makes it impossible for the agency to provide the overtime needed to handle service to the public as it has done in the past, according to the press release.
In addition, on November 23, the day after Thanksgiving, all Social Security field offices will be closed to the public. Employees working that day will focus on backlogged workloads, according to the press release.
Many services, including applying for retirement, disability or Medicare benefits, signing up for direct deposit, replacing a Medicare card, obtaining a proof of income letter or informing of a change of address or telephone number are available at www.socialsecurity.gov or by dialing our toll-free number, 1-800-772-1213. People who are deaf or hard of hearing can call the TTY number, 1-800-325-0778. Many of the online services also are available in Spanish at www.segurosocial.gov.
