Energy & Environment

Report: EPA paid employees on leave for years

The Environmental Protection Agency paid some employees who were on administrative leave for years, according to a watchdog report.

Based on a sample of employee leave records from four pay periods, the EPA’s inspector general (IG) found eight workers on administrative leave for more than four months, at a cost of more than $1 million to the agency and taxpayers.

{mosads}Half of the employees’ paid leave lasted more than a year, and one was being paid as of September, despite not working since January 2010.

The IG’s office warned that there could be more problems than the eight it identified based on a sample and brief analysis.

“Our audit work on EPA time and attendance is in process and could result in additional matters reported to the agency regarding the EPA’s use of administrative leave,” it wrote.

The IG did not identify the employees it singled out.

Under administrative leave, workers are paid their full salaries and do not have credit deducted from vacation or sick leave accrual.

The leave is generally used for voting, funerals, blood donation or similar reasons, as well as employees who the agency is trying to fire.

The IG did not find any legal violations in its analysis, nor did it provide recommendations to the EPA.

It presented its findings to EPA officials for them to follow up with individual employees, the IG said.

The EPA defended its personnel practices.

“EPA has carefully exercised its discretion in placing certain employees on administrative leave in cases of alleged serious misconduct,” spokeswoman Monica Lee said in a statement.

“The agency must work to address these issues in a way that is consistent with the law.”

The audit follows up on an October report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) that found that high use of administrative leave was common among agencies, though it accounted for less than 1 percent of payroll costs.

— This story was updated at 5:20 p.m.