The latest version of an annual report by Senate Republicans criticizing certain government spending programs and tax policies as wasteful cites as an example the practice of putting federal employees on paid time off without charge to leave.
The report, this year titled “Federal Fumbles” and issued by Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., cites a 2014 GAO report that departments spent more than $3 billion over 2011-2013 for some 57,000 employees who were on excused absence, also called administrative leave, for a month or longer.
OPM earlier this year tightened rules on use of such leave, especially when the purpose is to get an employee out of the workplace pending disciplinary action. However, agency IG reports from various agencies have continued to highlight the issue.
Said the Senate report, “Congress should support a clear process for agencies to handle employees who are accused of misconduct or who have been placed on administrative leave for any other reason. If someone receives a paycheck, he or she needs to actually show up for work. It is not fair to employees to keep them in limbo for months or years, and it is definitely not fair to hard-working American taxpayers to make them foot the bill for agencies that are unable to handle employee issues.”
