tftD STAf.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency	15-P-0167
Office of Inspector General	June 15 2015
I
VPR0^°
At a Glance
Why We Did This Review
On August 27, 2013, a member
of the Senate Committee on
Environment and Public Works
requested that the
U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA), Office of
Inspector General (OIG),
initiate work in connection with
fraud committed by John C.
Beale, a former Senior Policy
Advisor with the EPA's Office of
Air and Radiation. One of the
areas we evaluated was the
EPA's time and attendance
process. This report addresses
potential time and attendance
fraud at the EPA in connection
with employees who received
salary payments while
appearing to be on extended
absence from their duties.
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.
The full report is at:
www.epa.gov/oig/reports/2015/
20150615-15-P-0167.pdf
Time and Attendance Fraud Not Identified for
Employees on Extended Absence, But Matters
of Concern Brought to EPA's Attention
We identified concerns over the
accuracy of time charges, use
of a personal computer, and
safety of telework space for
reasonable accommodations.
What We Found
Our audit did not identify any instances of
time and attendance fraud for employees
receiving salary payments while absent from
their duties for an extended period of time.
All employees interviewed provided evidence
of login or had a valid explanation for not
logging in to the agency's email system. We did not test for employees absent from
their duties for less than 4 consecutive weeks; if our sample period was reduced to
less than 4 consecutive weeks, additional issues may have been identified.
We identified matters of concern that warrant the agency's attention. These
matters pertain to:
•	Accuracy of time charges in the PeoplePlus timekeeping system.
•	Use of a personal computer to conduct official work.
•	Safety of reasonable accommodation employees on fulltime telework.
We did not fully evaluate these matters because they are outside the scope of this
audit. However, we are bringing these matters to the agency's attention due to the
frequency of occurrences. In our professional judgment, the number of such
occurrences is significant. We are bringing this to the agency's attention so that it
can address the specific issues noted as appropriate.
Recommendation and Planned Agency Corrective Actions
We recommend that the Deputy Administrator address the concerns regarding the
accuracy of time charges, use of personal computers for official work, and safety of
telework space for reasonable accommodation employees. The agency concurred,
has corrected the timekeeping errors, and is updating its policies and procedures
to address the remaining matters.
Noteworthy Achievements
In response to our December 2013 early warning report on Beale, the agency
identified corrective measures taken and planned regarding time and attendance.
These measures included generating additional payroll reports for management
review, conducting quarterly reviews and following up on employees who failed to
enter their time three pay periods during the quarter, removing the group
approval option in PeoplePlus, and amending the agency's time and attendance
policy to eliminate system-generated default pay and mass approval processes.

-------