Open Recommendations

We recommend that OCIO require all affected bureaus and offices to develop a review process to examine their purchase requests originally classified as "other" and reclassify any purchases with an appropriate IT user product code as necessary.

The Chief, Appeals, the National Taxpayer Advocate, and the Commissioner, TE/GE Division, should discuss the 29 instances of noncompliance with RRA 98 § 1204(b) due to missing or unsigned documents with the responsible managers to ensure that they understand the retention standard documentation requirements.

The Chief, Appeals, the National Taxpayer Advocate, and the Commissioner, TE/GE Division, should discuss the 37 instances where the retention standard was not acknowledged timely with the responsible managers, so employees are aware of the standard to treat taxpayers fairly and equitably.

The Chief, Appeals and the Commissioner, TE/GE Division, should discuss the six instances of the “Not Applicable” retention standard ratings with the responsible managers so they understand that all employees should be rated on the retention standard.

The Chiefs, Appeals, CI, and Taxpayer Services; the National Taxpayer Advocate; and the Commissioners, LB&I and SB/SE Divisions should discuss the 21 instances of RRA 98 § 1204(c) noncompliance with the responsible managers to ensure that they understand
the requirements of the Section 1204 certification process.

The Human Capital Officer should revise the quarterly self-certification questions to clarify the language used for the responses to increase the accuracy of the certification results and potential ROTERs reported.

Develop procedures to ensure survey responses are properly completed and reviewed in a timely manner and that managers are held accountable for when units are closed without valid justification.

Develop an automated tool for notifying field staff in real-time when units open late or close early and sending justification requests to local staff.

Develop system capabilities for recording, analyzing, reporting, and retaining data on units that open late or close early.

Develop procedures to ensure justification responses are properly completed and reviewed in a timely manner and that managers are held accountable when units open late or close early.

Augment suspension-related policies to include strategies for periodically and regularly communicating suspension statuses to impacted customers.

Establish accountability mechanisms, such as timeliness targets, for resolving suspensions in a timely manner and for monitoring performance.

Develop mechanisms to require Postmasters to properly update the status of suspended units to be displayed publicly on USPS.com.

Rec. 1.a: The DoD OIG recommended that the Director, Defense Health Agency, develop and implement a comprehensive plan to consolidate Medical Affirmative Claims program activities from the Military Departments to the Defense Health Agency. The comprehensive plan should include objectives and goals of the transition; identification of barriers or challenges to the transition and strategies to address them; and a schedule with key milestones to complete the transition of legal support office personnel to the Defense Health Agency.

Rec. 1.b: The DoD OIG recommended that the Director, Defense Health Agency, develop and implement a comprehensive plan to consolidate Medical Affirmative Claims program activities from the Military Departments to the Defense Health Agency. The comprehensive plan should include objectives and goals of the transition; identification of barriers or challenges to the transition and strategies to address them; and a schedule with key milestones to complete the development and implementation of standardized positions in the Uniform Business Office and legal support offices.

Rec. 1.c: The DoD OIG recommended that the Director, Defense Health Agency, develop and implement a comprehensive plan to consolidate Medical Affirmative Claims program activities from the Military Departments to the Defense Health Agency. The comprehensive plan should include objectives and goals of the transition; identification of barriers or challenges to the transition and strategies to address them; and a schedule with key milestones to complete the implementation of a common software platform for tracking and processing Medical Affirmative Claims.

Rec. 1.d: The DoD OIG recommended that the Director, Defense Health Agency, develop and implement a comprehensive plan to consolidate Medical Affirmative Claims program activities from the Military Departments to the Defense Health Agency. The comprehensive plan should include objectives and goals of the transition; identification of barriers or challenges to the transition and strategies to address them; and a schedule with key milestones to develop and implement common legal policies for the Medical Affirmative Claims program.

Complete an analysis and realignment of processing operations staff to improve efficiency and meet clearance time targets at the Omaha Processing and Distribution Center.

Implement a plan for supervisors to hold employees accountable for their performance, promote supervisor engagement with employees, and provide supervisor training to the remaining two supervisors at the Omaha Processing and Distribution Center.

Develop and implement a plan to verify thorough preventative maintenance is performed on all mail processing equipment at the Omaha Processing and Distribution Center.

Develop and implement a plan to verify employees attach accurate placards on mail transportation equipment at the Omaha Processing and Distribution Center.

Use the Mail Arrival Quality/Plant Arrival Quality system at the Omaha Processing and Distribution Center to communicate and resolve mail arrival quality issues with delivery units and other processing facilities.

Conduct a study to determine the feasibility of replacing or refurbishing the freight elevators at the Omaha Processing and Distribution Center for improved service.

Verify that the Omaha Processing and Distribution Center has sufficient trailers to accommodate its mail transport needs.

Coordinate with the Midwest Division Director, Processing, to develop and implement a plan to verify supervisors monitor and enforce scanning to improve compliance with the load and unload scanning goals at the Omaha Processing and Distribution Center.