^tDSrX	U.S. Environmental Protection Agency	15-B-0074
*t>	Office of Inspector General	February 4,2015
4® I
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 that
we reviewed was the EPA's and
OIG's time and attendance
process. This report addresses
the OIG's compliance with its
timekeeping policy regarding
use of the Inspector General
Enterprise Management
System (IGEMS).
This report addresses the
following OIG goal:
• Be responsible stewards of
taxpayer dollars.
EPA OIG Not Fully Compliant With OIG Policy on
Time and Attendance Reporting
Lack of complete and
accurate timesheets
can result in
improper payments.
What We Found
The EPA OIG did not always comply with its policy
for using IGEMS as its official internal system for
recording time and attendance, including approval for
leave and premium pay1 and other compensation.
Some employees did not submit or have approved
planned or actual timesheets in IGEMS when required under OIG Policy 323,
OIG Time and Attendance Reporting Policy.
The instances of noncompliance occurred because the time and attendance
policy needs more clarity, and some OIG employees and managers do not view
IGEMS time reporting as a high priority. Without complete and accurate planned
and actual timesheets in IGEMS, there is no basis for verifying that the data in
the agency's official payroll system (PeoplePlus) is accurate. The lack of planned
timesheets can also result in using leave or increasing government obligation
without proper authorization. In addition, IGEMS management reports may not
always provide accurate and relevant information for time and attendance
monitoring.
Recommendations and Planned Corrective Action
We recommend that the Deputy Inspector General require employees and
management to correct the instances of noncompliance identified and review
future IGEMS records for appropriateness. We also recommend the review and
revision of the OIG time and attendance reporting policy as necessary, and
implementing controls to ensure that OIG employees and management comply
with policy. The Deputy Inspector General agreed with our recommendations and
provided corrective actions and planned completion dates to address all
recommendations.
Send all inquiries to our public
affairs office at (202) 566-2391
or visit www.epa.gov/oiq.
The full report is at:
www.epa.aov/oia/reports/2015/
20150204-15-B-0074.pdf
Noteworthy Achievements
The OIG's Office of Mission Systems corrected agreed-to IGEMS report
programming errors noted by our audit as soon as the errors were brought to
their attention.
1 Premium pay includes overtime and compensatory time. The EPA OIG conducted a separate review of the OIG's compliance with
OIG and EPA overtime policies.

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