TN 19 (05-07)

A. Overview of PC contact with the FO

There are many instances in which the processing centers (PSC, OIO, and ODO) must request assistance from a particular FO in order to process a case to completion. Requests for assistance fall into two categories: “Routine” and “High Priority” requests.

1. Routine requests

Routine requests are those that do not meet the high-priority criteria established below. See GN 01070.420B. for making routine requests.

2. High priority requests

High Priority requests are critical to timely processing. The procedure used to process these requests is designed to ensure that certain types of actions are not unduly delayed by the development process.

B. High-Priority requests

Most pre-adjudicative development is done in the FO. However, PCs still need to develop to the FO pre-adjudicatively on ALJ allowances. There are also times when there is a question about some facet of an FO-prepared award (e.g., SDW) that requires high priority contact with the FO. PCs may request FO development after an unsuccessful DIRCON high priority if it is in connection with special workloads like WC Cleanups, where there is a deadline for completion.

Only High Priority requests that cannot be resolved via DIRCON (see GN 01070.300) will be processed using the telephone. Such requests are limited to the following situations:

• award and disallowance situations;

• start and stop payment actions;

• appeal situations;

• congressional inquiries; and

• public-relations problems.

See GN 01070.405 for making telephone requests. If the High Priority request is too complex or lengthy to convey on the telephone, use a written request. See GN 01070.420.

Note: Managers in Field Offices, Processing Centers, and National 800 Number Network (N8NN) sites may consider using the Manager-to-Manager (M2M) web application. See GN 01070.228A.5