VA Requiring Mandatory Overtime To Reduce Backlog of Veterans’ Claims

With more veterans returning from service overseas each day with injuries that leave them unable to perform job duties, the Department of Veterans’ Affairs has a massive backlog of claims for Veteran’s Disability Benefits. The backlog has resulted in numerous veterans being required to wait years to receive decisions on their claims.

In an effort to reduce the number of veterans who are awaiting decisions, the government has announced that claims processors will have to work overtime to catch up. According to Stars & Stripes, the demand has been met with negative feedback from workers, who claim the extra hours will do little, if anything, to reduce the number of claims awaiting approval.

The workers argue that similar plans for overtime enacted in the last two years resulted in less than stellar results. Numbers tend to support this too, considering that a four-month period of required overtime for workers last year resulted in no change to the number of backlogged claims. When mandatory overtime was enacted in 2011, they number of backlogged claims actually increased by 4 percent. Workers are also blaming a new computer processing system for slowing down their ability to approve or deny claims.

The Richmond Personal Injury Lawyers with Geoff McDonald & Associates recognize how complex the process of receiving veterans’ disability benefits can be. The firm may be able to help an individual who is considering applying for such benefits.