Federal Manager's Daily Report

More Attention to Retention Incentives at EPA Recommended

The EPA has made progress in addressing problems with its retention incentives program identified in an earlier audit but some issues remain unresolved, an IG report has said.

The report was a followup to a 2014 audit that found the EPA did not maintain documentation of the required annual recertification of employee eligibility for the incentives–one employee was paid a retention incentive for four years beyond the date of the employee’s promotion, for example. In response, the agency drafted a new policy defining its requirements and processes.

However, the latest audit found that the policy remains in process and that for the meantime the agency is not performing monitoring reviews “due to a misunderstanding of oversight responsibilities.”

“We also identified two requirements that should be included in the agency’s new policy–quarterly reviews and performance ratings. Without an up-to-date policy, the agency has no assurance that retention incentives are authorized and activities are monitored consistent with its policy and federal requirements, or that payments are valid,” auditors said.

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