IG: Postal supervisors altered employee records
Time and attendance data was changed, deleted to limit hours worked, report finds.
Supervisors at the U.S. Postal Service changed and deleted the number of work hours recorded by employees in five cities, according to a recent audit.
In response to complaints that some postal workers were not receiving the pay they were owed, the USPS inspector general in March found that supervisors had altered employee time and attendance records.
The agency lacks controls to ensure this information is accurately recorded, the audit found. The office of inspector general could not determine why records were changed, however.
USPS processes payroll centrally for more than 500,000 employees. Supervisors use the time and attendance collection system to enter, adjust and monitor workers' schedules, leave, overtime and pay adjustments, and they can delete or edit information once it has been entered.
Managers also can deny previously recorded "on the clock" time or unauthorized overtime if they know the employee did not work during that period, but they must complete additional forms to explain the change.
In a survey of postal locations in five cities, the OIG found that supervisors did not complete the forms required to properly document the employee-entered time and annual leave requests they denied, and they failed to obtain employee signatures.
Supervisors also deleted recorded employee time in excess of established work-hour limits, including the five-minute allowed grace period. Some managers reported that the extra time was added incorrectly, while others made adjustments to conform to work-hour standards.
The audit also found that supervisors did not follow procedures for documenting out-of-schedule changes. Employees receive premium pay if a manager requests that they work outside of their normal shift.
In a letter to the OIG's office, Dean Granholm, vice president of delivery and post office operations wrote the agency agreed with the report's recommendations. USPS will develop training webinars to educate managers about the payroll system requirements and develop a review process to ensure employee hours are recorded correctly.
A second OIG report issued last month found that Postal Service employees' overtime increased 17.2 percent in fiscal 2010 compared to the previous year. The agency paid an additional $419.5 million in overtime due to lower staffing levels, changes in mail routing and delays in deploying technology designed to reduce work hours. USPS reduced overall work hours by 77.3 million, or $1.51 billion, during the same period but did not effectively plan for overtime, the audit found.