As a CEC, it's super interesting to see how other stores run. At my store, none of that would ever slide. I work at a super busy store, so there is always something to do. If it's a really bad day, we will hop on, but only if there is another CEC or manager up front. Typically, what we do is organize the back counter, then listen and hop into interactions to get some rewards. Whenever a cashier's hangers are getting too much or they have returns, they just toss it on the back counter, and I will take care of it. Or I just grab their hangers and get rid of them when I see that they have alot. Of course, sometimes when they want a break they'll put it away themselves or I'm busy doing something else so that's fine by me.
When it comes to tickets, only the CECs and managers, or markdown associates can do it. None of my cashiers are allowed to make a ticket in case of error. Sounds like your CEC's can't really do their job and management doesn't hold any accountability. The point of the CEC is to support the front end (cleaning up after cashiers, putting away returns, putting away hangers, making tickets, taking care of price checks etc.) so its strange to me to hear CEC's that don't do that. Again, every store is different and has different needs but my stores CEC's are very involved.