Audit of the Railroad Retirement Board's Organizational Structure and Field Service Operations

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Date Issued

Thursday, February 8, 2024

Submitting OIG

Railroad Retirement Board OIG

Other Participating OIGs

Railroad Retirement Board OIG

Agencies Reviewed/Investigated

Railroad Retirement Board

Report Number

24-03

Report Type

Audit

Agency Wide

Yes

Number of Recommendations

Questioned Costs

Funds for Better Use

Open Recommendations

This report has 8 open recommendations.

Recommendation Number	Significant Recommendation	Recommended Questioned Costs	Recommended Funds for Better Use	Additional Details
1	No	$0	$0	Management partially concurred with this recommendation. This recommendation remains open as written because the Office of Inspector General for the Railroad Retirement Board continues to see the need for the entire recommended corrective action.
The Office of Administration should work with the Bureau of Field Service to create an agency wide capital planning report for fiscal years 2024-2028 that includes all field offices (in addition to headquarters) and addresses all considerations required by the Office of Management and Budget's latest Memorandum M-22-14.
2	No	$0	$0	Management concurred with this recommendation.
The Office of Administration should adequately document exemptions of the Office of Management and Budget's memorandums related to agencywide capital planning requirement.
11	No	$0	$0	Management concurred with this recommendation.
The Bureau of Field Service should create policies and procedures for Railroad Retirement Board employees to assist customers with limited English proficiency.
13	No	$0	$0	Management concurred with this recommendation.
The Bureau of Field Service should provide resources to employees to ensure access to language assistance resources.
14	No	$0	$0	Management concurred with this recommendation.
The Bureau of Field Service should provide training for employees on how to assist customers with limited English proficiency.
15	No	$0	$0	Management concurred with this recommendation overall. See the report for additional details.
The Bureau of Information Services should work with the Bureau of Field Service to develop and implement a detailed project plan to document and formally communicate project implementation steps to modernize RRB's technology to better serve its customers and carry out the agency's primary mission. At a minimum, the Bureau of Information Services should ensure the plan contains: insights from the Veterans Affairs' design and implementation strategies of their online Veteran Benefits Administration benefits; a course of action to develop and increase availability of an advanced, comprehensive system to include online Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act and Railroad Retirement Act applications; insights from the Veterans Affairs' transition to a paperless environment; and a course of action to ensure the use of secure login credentialing services for the railroad community such as Login.gov and ID.me.
16	No	$0	$0	Management concurred with this recommendation.
The Bureau of Fiscal Operations should track costs both by field office and by object class code to ensure that the costs of each of the 53 field offices and staff are readily available and determine how often the cost data will be updated.
17	No	$0	$0	Management concurred with this recommendation.
The Bureau of Fiscal Operations should establish a process to ensure the breakdown and total cost of the Bureau of Field Serice is consistently monitored and reported.