EPA Needs to Substantially Improve Oversight of Its Military Leave Processes to Prevent Improper Payments

Date Issued

Monday, December 28, 2020

Submitting OIG

Environmental Protection Agency OIG

Other Participating OIGs

Environmental Protection Agency OIG

Agencies Reviewed/Investigated

Environmental Protection Agency

Report Number

21-P-0042

Report Description

See the additional details link below for the full report, report summary, multimedia or any agency follow-up.

Report Type

Audit

Agency Wide

Yes

Number of Recommendations

Open Recommendations

This report has 9 open recommendations.

Recommendation Number	Significant Recommendation	Recommended Questioned Costs	Recommended Funds for Better Use
21-P-0042_1	No	$0	$0
Adopt and implement policies and procedures on military leave and pay requirements that comply with 5 U.S.C. §§ 5538, 6323, and 5519.
21-P-0042_2	No	$0	$0
Provide resources for supervisors, timekeepers, and reservists on theirroles and responsibilities related to military leave under the law and Agency policies.
21-P-0042_3	No	$0	$0
Establish and implement internal controls that will allow the Agency to monitor compliance with applicable laws, federal guidance, and Agency policies, including periodic internal audits of all military leave, to verify that(a) charges by reservists are correct and supported and (b) appropriatereservist differential and military offset payroll audit calculations are being requested and performed.
21-P-0042_4	No	$0	$0
Require reservists to correct and supervisors to approve military leave time charging errors in PeoplePlus that have been identified during theaudit or as part of the Agency’s actions related to Recommendations 5 and 6.
21-P-0042_5	No	$0	$11
Recover the approximately $11,000 in military pay related to unsupported 5 U.S.C. § 6323(a) military leave charges, unless the Agency can obtain documentation to substantiate the validity of thereservists’ military leave.
21-P-0042_6	No	$0	$118
Submit documentation for the reservists’ military leave related to the approximately $118,000 charged under 5 U.S.C. § 6323(b) to the EPA’spayroll provider to perform payroll audit calculations and recover any military offsets that may be due.
21-P-0042_7	No	$0	$0
Identify the population of reservists who took unpaid military leave pursuant to 5 U.S.C. § 5538 and determine whether those reservists are entitled to receive a reservist differential. Based on the results of this determination, take appropriate steps to request that the EPA’s payrollprovider perform payroll audit calculations to identify and pay the amounts that may be due to reservists.
21-P-0042_8	No	$0	$0
For the time periods outside of the scope of our audit (pre-January 2017 and post-June 2019), identify the population of reservists who charged military leave under 5 U.S.C. § 6323(b) or 6323(c) and determine whether military offset was paid by the reservists. If not, review reservists’ military documentation to determine whether payroll audit calculations are required. If required, request that the EPA’s payroll provider perform payroll audit calculations to identify and recover military offsets that maybe due from the reservists under 5 U.S.C. §§ 6323 and 5519.
21-P-0042_9	No	$0	$0
Report all amounts of improper payments resulting from paid military leave for inclusion in the annual Agency Financial Report, as required by the Payment Integrity Information Act of 2019.