An inspector general's report found that the Consumer Product Safety Commission failed to complete an OMB-mandated report outlining its future of work and post-pandemic office space plans. pooiekoo / Getty Images
Consumer Product Safety Commission Failed to Complete Mandated Future of Work Plan, Report Says
The agency tasked with preventing unreasonable risks of injury and death from consumer products has not yet completed a required plan that considers post-pandemic office reentry and property management strategies, according to an inspector general's report.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission has failed to complete an annual capital plan that supports the future of work and considers lessons learned throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new report.
An inspector general management alert published on Thursday said the agency, which is tasked with preventing unreasonable risks of injury and death from consumer products, had not completed the report by December 2022, as required by the Office of Management and Budget.
OMB issued a memorandum in July 2022, instructing agencies to consider the future of work in their fiscal year 2024 agency-wide capital plans while identifying real property resources needs. The memorandum called on agencies to consider "broader workforce and workplace trends, lessons learned from agency operations during the COVID-19 pandemic and the need for the federal government to be competitive for top talent as employers in the broader labor market."
The management alert said that CPSC was specifically required to define real property resources in the future of work context and for reentry into the workplace following closures associated with COVID-19 guidelines. CPSC was also required to complete the plan while submitting its annual budget request. While the agency submitted its budget request on time, the OIG report found that it failed to complete its required annual capital plan or include any information in its budget request about real property resource needs.
OMB began instructing agencies to submit capital plans outlining their real property management strategies in 2019, but the reporting requirement was paused throughout the pandemic. When restarting annual capital plan reports last year, OMB only required non-CFO act agencies to complete their capital plans rather than submit them.
In response to this week's report, CPSC executive director Jason Levine said agency management previously did not believe the requirement to complete capital plans applied to CPSC, since the General Services Administration enters into all real property lease agreements for the agency.
CPSC said it expects to complete its real property capital plan by the end of fiscal year 2023.