The Commerce inspector general has faulted National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration management after it found that employees participating in a team-building event counted lunch and an afternoon screening of Star Trek as official time.
The team is working on a satellite system being jointly developed by NOAA and NASA. The IG said time and attendance adjustments made by GOES-R Ground Segment staff members after an investigation was launched to account for their participation in the team event in May 2013 were insufficient.
Staff members participated in the team event, and 17 of the employees properly accounted for the event or made up the time by working extra hours during the same pay period.
However, four contract employees improperly billed their participation in the event to project and did not otherwise make up the time, amounting to $1,460.12 in wages charged to the government.
The IG said that management failed to provide guidance to its staff regarding appropriate timekeeping for the event, which would have resolved the apparent confusion among participants. The companies ultimately refunded the wages billed but the IG noted that none of these corrections would have taken in the absence of a review.
The IG called on NOAA to issue guidance on proper timekeeping to agency and contract staff as well as to provide training to agency and contract staff.
