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*. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency	20-P-0063
^ ¦¦ \ Office of Inspector General	December 19,2019
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At a Glance
Why We Did This Project
The U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency's (EPA's)
Office of Inspector General
(OIG) conducted this audit to
address concerns about time
and attendance irregularities
within the Office of Air and
Radiation. These concerns
were identified in a prior OIG
audit. Our objectives for this
audit were to identify and
analyze risks in the Office of Air
and Radiation's timekeeping
practices.
The U.S. Office of Personnel
Management develops and
maintains governmentwide
regulations and policies on
federal agencies' administration
of leave for their employees.
According to the
U.S. Government
Accountability Office, the
primary objectives of internal
controls in a time and
attendance system are to
obtain compliance with
applicable legal requirements,
support the reporting of reliable
financial information, and
operate effectively and
efficiently.
This report addresses the
following:
• Operating efficiently and
effectively.
Address inquiries to our public
affairs office at (202) 566-2391 or
OIG WEBCOMMENTS@epa.gov.
List of OIG reports.
Outdated EPA Leave Manual and Control
Weaknesses Caused Irregularities in the Office
of Air and Radiation's Timekeeping Practices
The Office of Air and Radiation
needs policies to increase
awareness of and controls to
strengthen timekeeping
practices.
What We Found
Entitlements under the Family and Medical
Leave Act of 1993 are not formalized in the
EPA's Leave Manual. Without a policy that is
updated to reflect current law, staff and
supervisors may not be aware of or fully
understand leave entitlements under the act,
which may result in decisions about leave that are contrary to public law.
Furthermore, our analysis of time and attendance records identified untimely prior
pay period adjustments, which resulted in salary overpayments. We also
identified the improper approval of Travel Compensatory Time Off—time off
earned for time spent in a travel status away from the employee's official duty
station that is not otherwise compensable.
These conditions occurred due to a lack of three things:
•	An up-to-date policy and understanding of leave entitlements under the
Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993.
•	Controls over pay period adjustments.
•	Supervisory enforcement of established time frames for submittal of Travel
Compensatory Time Off.
Without additional internal controls, employees can make after-the-fact
timekeeping adjustments to create salary overpayments and/or improperly
restore leave balances. Employees may also receive Travel Compensatory Time
Off that is not in compliance with the EPA's Pay Administration Manual.
Recommendations and Planned Agency Corrective Actions
We made various recommendations to the agency for improving its timekeeping
practices, including updating the leave policy to reflect current law and
regulations pertaining to the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, establishing
time frames and controls for prior pay period adjustments, and enforcing
compliance with the required time frames for the submittal and approval of Travel
Compensatory Time Off. The EPA should also determine whether employees
should forfeit improperly credited Travel Compensatory Time Off hours, as
required by the EPA's Pay Administration Manual, and whether the agency
should recover the value of awarded and used time off as needed. Of the report's
five recommendations, we consider Recommendations 1, 2 and 3 to be
unresolved; Recommendation 4 to be completed; and Recommendation 5 to be
resolved with corrective action pending.

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