Beginning Monday, the local Social Security office will implement the first of two reductions in services available to the public.

Kylle’ D. McKinney, a public affairs specialist with the SSA, said effective Nov. 19, the Andalusia 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 – and beginning Jan. 2, 2013, the 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,” McKinney said. “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.”

He said all field offices will be closed to the public on Nov. 23, the day after Thanksgiving.

“As we did last year, employees working that day will focus on reducing backlogged workloads,” he said.

McKinney said 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 us of a change of address or telephone number are conveniently available at socialsecurity.gov or by dialing our toll-free number, 1-800-772-1213,” he said.

People who are deaf or hard of hearing may call the TTY number, 1-800-325-0778, and many of online services also are available in Spanish at segurosocial.gov.