For general availability and Designated Scheduling Group (DSG) questions, please contact the External Liaison Unit (ELU) at OHO.NSD.NSS.ELU.General.Inquiries@ssa.gov or 1-866-964-1714 (Monday through Friday) from 8:00am to 5:30pm Eastern Time. You can also reference the “Contacting the ELU” tab for more information. For matters involving scheduled cases, you should contact the servicing hearing office/National Hearing Center (NHC) or use the secure messaging function within Electronic Records Express (ERE). Please do not send any case-specific information or other case-specific Personally Identifiable Information (PII) via email. You may email the ELU and refer to a specific hearing office or NHC, the ALJ, and the date and time of a scheduled case so long as the email does not include any claimant PII.

SSA generally schedules cases on a "first in, first out" (FIFO) basis determined by request for hearing date, unless an exception applies (HALLEX HA 01210.055).

An appointed representative may run a status report for their cases using Electronic Records Express (ERE). Schedulable statuses include cases in the following statuses: Master Docket, Pending Review, Pre-Hearing Review, Pending Folder Assembly, Folder Assembly, Pre-Hearing Development, Pending ALJ Assignment, and Ready to Schedule.

If a representative does not enroll in ERAP, they will not be able to submit monthly availability. In these instances, SSA will consider the representative to be fully available to schedule for hearings. A representative may enroll in ERAP at any time. If a representative does not want to be considered fully available, we encourage them to enroll in ERAP. Once a representative enrolls, they may submit availability. Please see the “Getting Started” section in the ERAP home tab on this website for more information regarding enrollment.

Though Portal use is highly recommended and encouraged for your ease of submission, use of the Portal is not mandatory, and your availability can continue to be submitted by email at RepAvailability@ssa.gov.

If a representative does not have an EIN, they should state that in their submission.

This decision depends on how a representative chooses to handle their caseload. If a representative’s firm or group typically assigns representatives from within their own firm or group to hearings after a hearing is scheduled, Consolidated availability may be the most appropriate option. However, if a representative is a solo practitioner or their firm's representatives handle cases from start to finish, Solo availability may be the most appropriate option.

Your DSG might include only one affiliated representative (yourself). When providing monthly availability, contract representatives will be considered the DSG’s available representatives. Your DSG should indicate how many representatives will be available to cover hearings on a given day and, if desired, how many hearings each available representative can handle per day. The DSG does not need to provide the names of the representatives at the time you submit availability to the ELU, but they should provide the number of representatives who will be available to handle hearings that month and their specific availability, if desired. For example, the DSG of C. Representative provides that it will have three available representatives each day in August, all for full days, with up to three hearings per day for each representative and a monthly cap of 90 hearings.

In this situation, you must identify yourself as affiliated with the DSG, particularly considering you are the appointed principal representative on many cases associated with the DSG. However, when providing monthly availability for the DSG, you should not include yourself in the monthly count of available representatives unless you plan to appear at some hearings. For monthly availability purposes, you should only indicate the number of representatives available to attend hearings in the Target Scheduling Month (TSM). When providing monthly availability, you are not required to identify the names of available representatives. You only need to provide the number of representatives available to attend hearings in the TSM and the availability for each representative.

In this situation, it would be appropriate to form two separate DSGs, each with the solo-secondary modification. For example, if Paul Partner is a partner in the firm of Paul Partner & Associates and the principal representative listed on all the Claimant’s Appointment of Representative forms (1696) submitted, and Paul Partner has two associates with distinct caseloads, then the firm may want to consider creating the following two DSGs: Paul Partner & Associates/Abigail Associate and Paul Partner & Associates/Adam Associate. Each month, the firm would submit two sets of availability, one for each of the DSGs. If your firm plans to create DSGs in the manner described above, it is critical that the non-principal representative submit a 1696 before or concurrent to submitting availability. If at the time that availability is submitted, the non-principal representative has not submitted a 1696, schedulers cannot associate a particular case with the availability submitted by the DSG.

No

No. For Solo DSGs with a Solo Secondary modification, the non-principal representatives for whom availability will be provided must submit their appointment of representative form prior to case scheduling. A consolidated DSG would be appropriate in your situation, with the principal representative reflected as the DSG’s affiliated representative. Your practice group may wish to consider your personal availability for hearings when submitting monthly availability for the available representatives for the consolidated DSG.

No. Geographic preference is not considered when scheduling remote hearings. The geographic preference is only considered when scheduling in-person or VTC hearings.

No, this option is no longer available. Hearing offices will not call representatives to schedule hearings. All hearings will be scheduled using ERAP availability submissions

Representatives can review the “How to Submit Representative Availability” tab on our ERAP website at SSA's Hearing Process for more information regarding how to submit monthly availability.

The representative will receive an automated reply email confirming receipt of their availability submission.

You can choose to have another individual, such as a scheduling coordinator, submit availability on behalf of your DSG. You may also name a non-representative contact person for the DSG. This option applies for both the Representative Availability Portal and email submissions.

No, we consider any representative with cases in a schedulable status to be fully available for hearings unless they provide monthly availability.

A DSG may submit their availability for the TSM as soon as it is ready, up to 11 months beyond the current TSM’s due date. Submissions for subsequent months will not be accepted. However, please note that SSA expects representatives to consider the number of cases in a schedulable status when providing availability for the TSM. Therefore, we encourage representatives to submit availability no earlier than 10 days prior to the availability due date for the TSM and no later than the due date.

No. Representatives, through their DSGs, must provide SSA their availability for hearings by the first day of the month, five months before the start of the TSM. SSA will not accept late availability submissions from representatives in the portal or via email. If a representative does not submit their availability timely, they will be considered fully available and will be scheduled accordingly.

No. A DSG should only include the start times of hearings when providing availability. If a DSG does include a time range for hearings in their submission, the time range should signify the first start time of a hearing and the last start time of a hearing within that range. SSA does not accept requested end times for hearings. If the DSG includes a time range in their availability submission, SSA will consider the end of that range as the start time of the last hearing.

When providing the times of availability, a DSG has some options. A DSG may provide:

• The same availability for all available representatives,
• A full day of availability for all or some available representatives,
• The start time for the first hearing of the day, or the start time for the last hearing of the day, or
• Intermittent availability during the day.
• A DSG must provide the time zone of the availability for each representative.

Yes. A time zone must be reflected for every available representative, whether a time range is provided or not.

Yes, SSA will ensure a sufficient buffer time between hearings, as applicable. A DSG does not need to include a request for buffer time in its monthly availability submissions.

No. Manner of Appearance (MOA) designations should be handled on a case-by-case bases through normal channels and is not part of the ERAP process.

No, providing a maximum number of cases per day and/or maximum case cap for the month is optional. SSA does not accept requests for a weekly cap.

Yes, a representative may request a change to their DSG’s availability. If a DSG submitted availability timely, a representative may submit a request to change their DSG’s availability. Send requests to modify timely submitted availability to the RepAvailability@ssa.gov email box. Please include “Modification” as well as the TSM and DSG name in the subject line of the email. A DSG should send changes as soon as the DSG is aware of the change in availability. SSA may be able to accommodate modifications of your DSG’s availability if the modification request is received by the end of the same month that availability is due for a TSM. For example, March availability is due October 1. A DSG that timely submitted availability by October 1 may request modifications to March availability until October 31. If your DSG timely submitted availability by the TSM’s due date, we will attempt to accommodate requests to modify availability received after the end of the month that availability was due for the TSM. If your DSG’s modification request is to add additional days or times of availability, or add additional available representatives, we can always accommodate that request. However, if your DSG is requesting to remove previously submitted days or times of availability, or remove previously identified available representatives, and that request is submitted after the due date for that TSM, SSA cannot guarantee that we can accommodate the modification request. Generally, the earlier a modification request is received, the more likely it can be accommodated.

No. You only need to submit availability in one time zone for each representative.

No. Even if your pending cases are in different time zones, you only need to submit availability in one time zone and SSA will convert that availability to the time zone of the pending case and schedule within that converted time. However, if you do have representatives in multiple time zones, you can submit availability for multiple time zones.

A DSG must submit separate availability monthly emails for each individual region to the appropriate ELU regional availability mailbox. The ELU will not process availability submissions that are sent to incorrect email boxes and will not forward misrouted availability submissions to the correct regional availability mailboxes. It is the DSG’s responsibility to ensure availability is submitted to the appropriate mailboxes. If a DSG does not timely submit availability to the appropriate mailbox, the DSG will be considered fully available in each region where the DSG’s affiliated representatives have five or more schedulable cases pending.

Generally, an available representative will only be scheduled for one physical location per day for in-person or agency video hearings. There may be exceptions to this general guidance if there are multiple hearing offices in close geographic proximity. SSA will not accommodate a DSG’s request to not schedule in-person hearings at different physical locations on the same day. on the part of the DSG. Therefore, it is the DSG’s responsibility to submit the correct availability across each time zone. To avoid any issues, all availability for all representatives can be submitted in one time zone.

Will SSA schedule in-person hearings in different hearing offices on the same day for the same available representative? If so, can a representative request to not have hearings scheduled at different physical locations on the same day?

Yes. For a DSG to submit availability through the portal, either the appointed representative or a member of their staff must obtain a personal my Social Security account to obtain access to the portal.

A personal my Social Security account is an online service you can use to check your Social Security information and conduct business with us. You can create your my Social Security account through our credential service providers, Login.gov or ID.me. For more information on the online services available and how to create an account, go to the What is an Account and Create an Account pages.

Although users are required to have a my Social Security account to access the Portal, the user’s my Social Security account is only used to authenticate the user in the Portal as part of the log-in process. Portal use does not impact or involve a user’s personal my Social Security account other than for log-in authentication purposes. Once the sign-in and authentication process is completed, the user will be directed back to the Portal.

A user login session will time out after 30 minutes of inactivity and reflect this error. If you are having any additional issues, please contact the ELU at our toll-free number: 1-866-964-1714. ELU staff are available to answer scheduling-related questions Monday through Friday, 8:00am to 5:30pm Eastern Time. Or you can send an email to the ELU’s general inquiries box: OHO.NSD.NSS.ELU.General.Inquiries@ssa.gov.

RepAvailability@ssa.gov.

The representative will receive an automated reply email confirming receipt of their availability submission.

No. Manner of Appearance (MOA) designations should be handled on a case-by-case basis through normal channels and are not part of the ERAP process.

No. SSA does not accept conditional requests for start times of hearings. If a DSG includes conditional start times in their availability submission, SSA will consider the earlier of the times provided to be the start time of hearings for the day.

No, SSA will not accommodate a DSG’s request to have only in-person/agency video or only remote hearings scheduled on the same day for the same available representative. SSA may schedule both in-person or agency video and remote hearings on the same day for the same available representative. SSA will ensure sufficient buffer time is built in to allow a representative to travel between different locations. For example, if an in-person hearing is scheduled earlier in a day, and a remote hearing later in the same day, SSA will ensure there is sufficient buffer time to account for the hearing and travel time to the second location. The DSG does not need to include a request for buffer time in their monthly availability submission.

Generally, an available representative will only be scheduled for one physical location per day for in-person or VTC cases. There may be exceptions to this general guidance if there are two hearing offices is in close geographic proximity. The Agency will not accommodate a DSG’s request that we do not schedule in-person hearings at different geographic locations on the same day.

A representative should provide availability commensurate with the number of claimants you represent, monitoring both the number of newly acquired claimants and those currently waiting for a hearing to be scheduled. You should provide sufficient availability for SSA to schedule hearings in a manner that keeps pace with the number of claimants you agree to represent and with the number of schedulable cases pending without delaying SSA’s ability to schedule your clients’ cases. SSA is positioned to offer hearing dates to most claimants as soon as manner of appearance development is completed.

If a representative/DSG does not provide sufficient availability, the ELU will contact you by email and/or phone to request a specific number of additional hearing slots. We will communicate using the scheduling contact information associated with your DSG. The representative will have five (5) business days to provide additional availability. SSA asks that you submit additional availability to the appropriate email box promptly. You will be able to provide us information regarding additional available days and/or additional available representatives by email for the Target Scheduling Month (TSM). If we do not hear from you after five (5) business days, we will send you a second follow-up email. If no response is received after another five (5) days, we will schedule additional cases as appropriate, based on our request for additional availability. We will attempt to accommodate the additional availability on the days you previously identified as available for the TSM. However, if you did not provide us additional days or representatives to cover the additional hearings we need to schedule, we may schedule hearings for days and times that you did not indicate as available for your DSG. Providing insufficient availability may violate our rules of conduct and standards of responsibility (20 CFR 404.1740/416.1540 (b)(3)(iii).

If you believe your DSG timely submitted availability for a TSM, but received an email stating that the DSG will be considered fully available due to a failure to timely submit availability, you should call the ELU at 1-866-964-1714 or send an email to the ELU General Inquiries email box at: OHO.NSD.NSS.ELU.General.Inquiries@ssa.gov. If contacting us by email, you must provide documentation of your DSG’s timely submitted availability. You must include “Correction Needed” in the subject line of this documentation email.

The External Liaison Unit (ELU) shares the availability your DSG provides. A representative does not need to send separate availability for cases pending with the NHCs or the SRC. DSGs should consider their schedulable NHC and SRC cases when assessing how much national availability to provide for a TSM.

The NHC shares the availability your DSG provides to each region. A representative does not need to send separate availability for cases pending with the NHC. However, as NHCs generally share representative availability with the region where the case originated, DSGs should consider their schedulable NHC cases, and where the cases originated, when assessing how much availability to provide for a region.

You should count it as a schedulable case in the region to which it was transferred. You should not count it a schedulable case in the originating region.

If you encounter this issue, please reach out to the ELU as soon as possible after you receive notice of the case transfers.

SSA recommends that a representative monitors their cases in Electronic Records Express (ERE). Once a case has been scheduled in our case processing system(s), it will show as being scheduled in ERE. A representative can ensure their availability was considered by cross-referencing the dates and times their hearings are scheduled.

If a representative suspects that they have been double-booked, and a Notice of Hearing (NOH) has been issued for a particular case, the representative should notify the servicing hearing office (HO) or National Hearing Center (NHC) and request a change in the time or place of the hearing. The representative must direct their request to postpone or change the hearing time or place to the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) assigned to the case. The ALJ has the discretion to decide whether postponement or a change in the time or place of the hearing is appropriate and will take all relevant factors into consideration when deciding whether to grant the request.

If there is a double-booking, or other potential scheduling-related error and the hearing has not yet been noticed, the representative should notify the servicing hearing office (HO) or National Hearing Center (NHC).

Yes, please use these encryption instructions: EMAIL ENCRYPTION INSTRUCTIONS.

No. It is never appropriate to communicate by email if you are including the claimant’s Personally Identifiable Information (PII), even if the email is encrypted.

No, as monthly representative availability submission should not contain any Personally Identifiable Information (PII). However, emails relating to the creation or modification of a DSG should be encrypted.