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By: FEDweek StaffAgencies have automated tools to make sure that teleworking employees are working when they say they but supervision also is important, GAO has said in a blog posting that indirectly at least addresses criticisms from both outside and inside the government about the potential for teleworkers to abuse their time and attendance records.
GAO said is currently studying challenges that arose as telework jumped due to the pandemic but noted that in speaking with agencies for a report issued a year ago, “most agencies said that the risk of fraud was generally low” in reporting of time. In a look at the 24 Cabinet departments and largest independent agencies, it found that IGs of 19 had confirmed only five or fewer incidents of time and attendance fraud over a four-year period, a period it said “reflects normal agency operations” before the pandemic.
“Timekeeping systems are increasingly automated, allowing agencies to implement specific internal controls that may provide management with the confidence that the system is working as designed. For example, separating duties for validating and certifying a timecard within an agency’s timekeeping system ensures that someone else needs to check each employee’s timecard,” it said.
“While these internal controls are designed to prevent errors, agencies provided examples of how these internal controls and technology can also be used to prevent and detect time and attendance misconduct. For example, one agency used a data analytics tool to monitor time and attendance reporting to look for outliers that might warrant additional investigation. Another agency said it runs reports on employees who hold significant advance leave balances since this can indicate future time and attendance problems,” it said.
“Agencies noted that a first-line supervisor’s management is still the most important internal control for managing time and attendance,” it added.
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