The EPA’s policy and procedures on accumulation and use of religious compensatory time meet the requirements of federal laws and regulations, but are not specific enough to prevent abuse, an IG report has said.
Law allows federal employees to adjust their work schedules to earn time off for religious purposes. This compensatory time can be earned in advance or repaid after the religious observance.
Following a hotline complaint, the IG’s office examined how that policy was carried out in the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention. It concluded that inadequate controls allowed several employees there to maintain significant positive balances for extended periods without specifying when they would use the hours already earned, while for others significant negative balances were retained without a plan to make up for hours already missed.
The result was that 14 employees were paid more than $73,000 upon separating from federal service for unused religious comp time ,and the office is on the hook for nearly $82,000 more for current employees who have such unused time, it said.
Management agreed to recommendations that it require documentation of intended use plans, bar the earning of additional religious compensatory hours in excess of the maximum established balance, and develop training on proper use of the time. However, the IG said management has not been fully responsive to another recommendation, to modify payroll and time and attendance system to prevent employees from accumulating excessive time.
