Script for audio podcast: 
“Early Warning Report: Some EPA Employees Found to Be on Paid Administrative Leave for Years” (Report #15-N-0025)


[Ashley Negron] Hello. I am Ashley Negron with the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Office of Inspector General (OIG) speaking with Leah Nikaidoh, a project manager in our Office of Audit. Today we will discuss an early warning report alerting the EPA Administrator to the fact that employees were on extended periods of administrative leave in fiscal year 2014, which ran through September of this calendar year. 

[Ashley Negron] Leah, before we discuss what the OIG found, can you explain to our listeners the difference between an early warning report and a regular audit report? 

[Leah Nikaidoh] Yes. The purpose of an early warning report is to quickly provide to the agency significant, time-critical information obtained during an audit that is still in progress.
 
The purpose of this early warning report is to provide initial information about administrative leave obtained during the OIG’s broader time and attendance audit of the EPA, which is ongoing. 

I should point out that an early warning report is for informational purposes. Any recommendations that the OIG may have for the EPA will be included in a final report after the audit is completed. 
 
[Ashley Negron] For those unfamiliar with the term, can you explain what “administrative leave” means in federal employment?

[Leah Nikaidoh] Sure. Administrative leave is an excused absence without loss of pay or charge to personal leave hours.

[Ashley Negron] What did your team find warranting an early warning report? 

[Leah Nikaidoh] During our audit of overall time and attendance issues, we looked at a sample of EPA employees. Within that sample, we identified eight employees who were on extended administrative leave for 4 or more months. Half of those individuals were on administrative leave for more than a year.

[Ashley Negron] Wow. How do those facts translate into costs to the taxpayers? 

[Leah Nikaidoh] Well, the total amount of administrative leave taken by these eight employees totaled 20,926 hours. Multiplied by their pay rates, the cost to the government – and the taxpayers – was an estimated $1,096,868.
	
[Ashley Negron] How did this happen? Doesn’t the EPA have policies or guidance in place for time and attendance? 

[Leah Nikaidoh] Yes, the EPA does have a leave manual that provides agency policy and procedures for administration of leave benefits. The manual identifies a variety of circumstances in which administrative leave may be authorized. However, the manual does not provide any guidance as to an acceptable amount of administrative leave or list other personnel matters that would qualify.

[Ashley Negron] What else did you find? 

[Leah Nikaidoh] During the process of collecting data, we became aware of two payroll codes used by one employee that raised concerns because of the large amount of time charged closely preceding this employee’s extended administrative leave. The suspect time charges included hours designated as for dispute resolution and general labor management. 

We could not identify any information in the leave manual or other EPA guidance that either authorized or described circumstances under which the dispute resolution or general labor relations categories were allowed to be used. According to the EPA Office of Administration and Resources Management, these labor categories are used to track official time for union representation.  

[Ashley Negron] Before we wrap up, has the OIG provided any additional information to the Administrator on this topic besides what is included in this early warning report? 

[Leah Nikaidoh] Yes. Inspector General Arthur Elkins met with EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy on October 30 to brief her on our work related to this matter. The Administrator subsequently requested background information on the relevant employees for follow-up by the agency’s Office of Administration and Resources Management, which we provided earlier this month. 

[Ashley Negron] Thank you so much, Leah, for sharing the early results of this important audit. To read the report and for more information about the EPA Office of Inspector General’s work, please visit our website at www-DOT-epa-DOT-gov-FORWARD SLASH-oig and be sure to follow us on Twitter at epaoig.