Thousands of federal employees are being kept on paid leave for extended periods of time while they are investigated for wrongdoing, according to a new report by the Government Accountability Office.
The GAO analyzed federal paid leave during fiscal year 2011 through 2013 using federal payroll data. According to their report, 97 percent of the 1,931,945 federal employees who were put on paid leave during the three-year period were on paid leave for a period of fewer than 20 days.
But 53,055 were put on paid leave for one to three months; 4,018 for three months to a year and 263 for one to three years.
In addition to receiving pay, employees continued to add to their pensions and lost no vacation or sick days. According to the Washington Post, “the tab for these workers exceeded $775 million in salary alone.”
According to the Post, the charges against the employees include “alleged violations of government rules and laws, whistleblowing, doubts about trustworthiness, and disputes with colleagues or bosses.”
Some employees also stay on paid leave as they challenge the results of their investigations.
James Sherk, a senior policy analyst in labor economics at The Heritage Foundation,recently testified before Congress about the difficulty of “separating federal employees from their jobs:”
“Managers who wish to fire problematic employees, whether because of misconduct or poor performance, must go through draining and time-consuming procedures that take about a year and a half. Consequently the federal government very rarely fires its employees, even when their performance or conduct justifies it.”
Sherk said that the federal system “shelters employees who engage in misconduct:”
“Most federal managers find letting all but the most egregious misconduct slide the path of least resistance. Congress should streamline the firing process in the federal government. The system should serve the interests of the public, not the civil service itself.”
Some federal employees are frustrated by the extensive leave. “Six months went by, and we didn’t hear anything,” Scott Balovich told the Washington Post. “You’re so anxious. You don’t know if you’ve got a job. You’re getting paid, but it’s no vacation.”
Balovich was put on paid leave by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. He has since been cleared of any wrongdoing and has returned to work. His attorney, Debra D’Agostino, told the Post that Balovich “got stuck in the inertia of bureaucracy.”
According to the Post, “this is the first time the government has calculated the scope and cost of administrative leave.”