Manassas Social Security office open fewer hours starting Nov. 19

Effective Nov. 19, 2012, the Manassas Social Security office 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, the office will close to the public at noon every Wednesday.

While Social Security 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. 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 David Melton, Social Security’s spokesman for this region.

In addition, on Nov. 23, the day after Thanksgiving, all Social Security field offices will be closed to the public.  Employees working that day will focus on reducing backlogged workloads, as was done in 2011.

According to Melton, most Social Security services do not require a visit to a local office.  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 Social Security of a change of address or telephone number are conveniently available at http://www.socialsecurity.gov or by dialing toll-free 1-800-772-1213.  People who are deaf or hard of hearing may call the TTY number, 1-800-325-0778.  Many of of Social Security’s online services also are available in Spanish at http://www.segurosocial.gov Melto,n added.