Report: DHS Employees Claim Unworked Overtime

According to whistleblowers in a report submitted to the White House and Congress by the Office of Special Counsel, employees of the Department of Homeland Security are routinely claiming overtime they did not actually work—widespread behavior which is costing the department millions of dollars a year and letting workers inflate their paychecks by up to 25 percent.

The added hours, the Washington Post reported,  fall under administratively uncontrollable overtime, which is the kind of work that arises when an emergency or other unforeseen circumstances occur. AUO "is intended to be used only when an employee's hours cannot be scheduled in advance due to a substantial amount of irregular work."

Employees have apparently been claiming AUO for years, to the tune of $8.7 million annually, and the letter states that, "Despite this definition, thousands of DHS employees routinely file for AUO, claiming up to two hours a day, nearly every day, even in headquarters and training assignments where no qualifying circumstances are likely to exist."

Read the full story at the Atlantic Wire