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>	U.S. Environmental Protection Agency	17-P-0140
^	\ Office of Inspector General	March 23,2017
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At a Glance
Why We Did This Review
This report addresses the
U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency's (EPA's) progress
toward workforce restructuring
goals after EPA employees
accepted payments of up to
$25,000 in 2014 to separate
from federal employment. The
U.S. Office of Personnel
Management (OPM) gave the
EPA buyout authority through
Voluntary Early Retirement
Authority (VERA, or "early out")
and Voluntary Separation
Incentive Payment Authority
(VSIP, or "buyout") so it could
downsize and restructure its
workforce. Once an agency's
VERA-VSIP plan gets
approved, the agency should
administer the VERA-VSIP plan
as approved by OPM.
The EPA paid $11.3 million in
incentives in 2014 to get 456
employees to voluntarily leave
the agency. EPA's other VERA-
VSIP goals included reducing
surplus positions, decreasing
the staff-per-supervisor ratio,
and reducing the pay grades of
targeted positions.
This report addresses the
following EPA goal or
cross-agency strategy:
• Embracing EPA as a high-
performing organization.
Send all inquiries to our public
affairs office at (202) 566-2391
or visit www.epa.gov/oia.
Listing of OIG reports.
EPA's 2014 Early-Out and Buyout Activities Aided
Workforce Restructuring Goals, and Continued
Monitoring of Progress Can Show Value of Restructuring
What We Found
The EPA used its VERA-VSIP authority to
buy out employees in certain targeted
positions. This helped the agency accomplish
certain restructuring goals, including reducing
the size of program and regional offices,
reducing the number of highly graded
positions, and eliminating surplus positions.
Monitoring results of
workforce restructuring
activities informs decisions
about the value and benefits of
employee buyout incentives.
Although progress has been made in filling positions designated for restructuring
under VERA-VSIP, not all workforce restructuring goals had been achieved at the
time we concluded our review. Two of five EPA organizations we reviewed
reported that all the VERA-VSIP-vacated positions planned for restructuring had
been filled. Overall, approximately 80 percent of the positions (57 of 73) in our
sample targeted for restructuring had been filled.
Other VERA-VSIP goals—such as increasing the number of staff per supervisor
and obtaining staff with new skill sets—were also not complete at the time we
concluded our review. Further, there are limitations in determining whether goals
for increasing the staff-per-supervisor ratio and changing organizational structure
were met, because some EPA organizations did not specify a metric for their
goals or an identifiable end point for restructuring. Specific metrics were not
required by OPM.
The EPA complied with OPM's reporting requirements during and immediately
after the completion of the early-outs and buyouts. In addition, the agency
developed "hiring templates," which were designed to track the status of positions
vacated through the buyouts, so that positions targeted for elimination were not
refilled and positions targeted for restructuring were filled using different position
descriptions. However, the agency did not have a system to monitor its progress
in achieving all of the remaining VERA-VSIP goals. As a result, the agency could
not assess the overall impact, effectiveness and value of VERA-VSIP as a
workforce restructuring tool.
Recommendations and Agency Corrective Actions
We made two recommendations to the Assistant Administrator for Administration
and Resources Management to monitor the remaining VERA-VSIP activities and
determine the value of VERA-VSIP as a workforce tool. The Office of
Administration and Resources Management concurred with both
recommendations and provided sufficient corrective actions, which have been
completed.

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