Federal employees: how to report time and attendance fraud?

[Anonymous]

I'm a manager at a federal agency. How do I report time and attendance fraud of an employee? An employee on my team has been coming to work and teleworking but admitted he has not done any work the past month. I contacted our employee-labor relations and am documenting it hopefully terminate him. I am at my wits end. I don't think I should approve his timecard. I looked on the OIG website for our agency and did not find any information of how to report agency employees.

[Anonymous]

Your human resources person shoukd work with you to stsrt an adverse action....which may be suspension or termination. If you only suspect, but don't know for sure you can make an annonymous report to the IG. There is always a hotline or mail address to usr. But since you seem to be the supervisor, the IG route doesn't make much sensr. Your job is to suoervise and that includes dealibg with misbehavior. He can be removed if you can prove it. I handled an mspb appeal for removing an employee who was constantly mia. It was upheld (i.e. the agency decision to terminate was upheld....I represented the afency).

[Anonymous]

Sorry for all the typos...hopefully you got the ideas.

[Anonymous]

I agree with 16:34. You need to consult with your HR person. They should also be pulling his computer log in/log out info. I know several people over the years that have been busted for time fraud that way. Good luck. It's not easy or fun but is worth it.

[Anonymous]

What do you mean he admitted to not doing any work? Did you give him work to do? If so why did it take you a month to notice he had not done it? Or are you trying to ease this guy out and thus not giving him any work, and now are trying to make it look like he committed time and attendance fraud to get rid of him?

I've seen people get set up like this. Not necessarily for TA fraud, but to push someone out, don't give them work, freeze them out of projects, then complain they aren't working.

You are the manager. It is your job to make sure people who are getting paid do work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What do you mean he admitted to not doing any work? Did you give him work to do? If so why did it take you a month to notice he had not done it? Or are you trying to ease this guy out and thus not giving him any work, and now are trying to make it look like he committed time and attendance fraud to get rid of him?

I've seen people get set up like this. Not necessarily for TA fraud, but to push someone out, don't give them work, freeze them out of projects, then complain they aren't working.

You are the manager. It is your job to make sure people who are getting paid do work.

+1 to these questions.

[Anonymous]

OP sounds like he/she is being a hardass.

[Anonymous]

Does he have work to do? I know some federal employees with nothing to do. Unfortunately I've been in that situation a few times myself and usually start looking for another office or agency when that happens.

I've noticed some federal hiring managers hire far too many people and therefore lots of people end up not having enough to do.

[Anonymous]

Op you do not report him. You discipline him.

[Anonymous]

You aren't dealing with time and attendance fraud if your employee is coming to work. That would apply if s/he actually didn't show up to work (or came, but left early) but put down hours. You need to consult with HR and get a handle on the work rules and your responsibilities as manager.

[Anonymous]

OP, you sound like a terrible manager. Why do you have to have your employee tell you that he hasn't been working for the past month? I would know right away if one of my staff weren't working. It sounds like this situation is at least as much your fault as the employees.

And, unless your employee is dumb enough to put in writing that he's done no work for the past month, it seems you have no ability to independently substantiate that. Which, again, makes you look like a very poor manager.

THe fact that you frame this as fraud rather than a disciplinary issue makes you sound even more incompetent. be very careful how you handle this -- and get HR involved -- else you may be the person terminated for incompetence.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, you sound like a terrible manager. Why do you have to have your employee tell you that he hasn't been working for the past month? I would know right away if one of my staff weren't working. It sounds like this situation is at least as much your fault as the employees.

And, unless your employee is dumb enough to put in writing that he's done no work for the past month, it seems you have no ability to independently substantiate that. Which, again, makes you look like a very poor manager.

THe fact that you frame this as fraud rather than a disciplinary issue makes you sound even more incompetent. be very careful how you handle this -- and get HR involved -- else you may be the person terminated for incompetence.

Yup.

[Anonymous]

Agree with PPs. His supervisor you need to give him work and document whether he completed or not.
If he came in to work and sat at his desk all day it is not time and attendance from h if he came into work and sat at his desk all day it is not time and attendance fraud.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't be so quick to call OP a bad manager. He/she is not well-trained in performance management and misconduct terminology. That may not be his/her fault.

OP, what you describe is either a performance problem of non-performance or a misconduct problem of failure to follow instruction. While the right course of action is generally HR, some agencies(whether as a result on of a weak HR or established investigation procedures) offer the alternative of reporting to some type of internal affairs or investigations branch.

My advice is to continue to engage with HR and to give written instructions with firm deadlines on exactly what the employee must do.

[Anonymous]

I'm in HR and I don't quite understand how this is time and attendance fraud. Is he coming to work then leaving and not doing any work? Is he coming to work and just surfing the net and not turning in work and missing deadlines? How is he not doing any work? Has he been assigned work? May be a performance issue but doesn't sound like a time and attendance issue.