Federal employees: how to report time and attendance fraud?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

+1

This person is not going to get fired.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

+1

This person is not going to get fired.

I disagree. This person could very easily get fired for poor performance, if what OP says is true. As I said earlier, Op's terminology is off. But it isn't crazy to mistakenly think that getting paid to do no work is "fraud.""

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

Yes, this sounds like a performance issue, not a time fraud issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

+1

This person is not going to get fired.

I disagree. This person could very easily get fired for poor performance, if what OP says is true. As I said earlier, Op's terminology is off. But it isn't crazy to mistakenly think that getting paid to do no work is "fraud.""

Oh, I don't know. In my agency you can get caught with porn on your work computer and not lose your job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

+1

This person is not going to get fired.

I disagree. This person could very easily get fired for poor performance, if what OP says is true. As I said earlier, Op's terminology is off. But it isn't crazy to mistakenly think that getting paid to do no work is "fraud.""

In the federal government you do not "fire" someone for poor performance. You put the person on a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) after rating that person Unacceptable in one or more Critical Elements. Failure to complete assigned work does not mean that the work that was completed was unacceptable. Failure to complete assigned work (if that is the case) is a conduct issue, not a performance issue. If the employee failed to complete assigned work, he should be reprimanded. If he was not assigned sufficient work to complete, that's a management issue. Unless he falsified his time card -- alleged he was in the workplace when he was not -- there is no abuse of time issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

Yes, this sounds like a performance issue, not a time fraud issue.

The teleworking aspect may change things. If he is logging the time as worked from home and then is not actually working (e.g. going out to run errands, watching TV) then I think it could be a time and attendance issue. Since time fraud isn't a performance issue, it is easier to prosecute (e.g. no PIPs, insane documentation over years, etc.).

[Anonymous]

so OP. did he miss any deadlines? Was there work that he was expected to complete that he did not? What led to the conversation that he hadn't done any work in a month? What has led to his disengagement? Wouldn't your energy be better spent in trying to re-engage this employee and in better monitoring his work output than coming to an anonymous message board looking for a way to fire him? You're a leader. LEAD.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

Yes, this sounds like a performance issue, not a time fraud issue.

The teleworking aspect may change things. If he is logging the time as worked from home and then is not actually working (e.g. going out to run errands, watching TV) then I think it could be a time and attendance issue. Since time fraud isn't a performance issue, it is easier to prosecute (e.g. no PIPs, insane documentation over years, etc.).

Telework is work. Period. Unless he has a signed telework agreement that says he can't leave his telework location (his home) without informing his supervisor, you can't treat telework any differently from the terms and conditions of regular work -- in other words, do you discipline employees for getting up from their desks and going to the bathroom without notifying you? Getting up and going to someone else's desk? Staring into space for a moment or two? If the answer is no, you can't discipline your teleworkers for "time and attendance fraud" for leaving their homes and walking around the block, unless you have a signed telework policy that mandates they stay home or notify you if they don't. You are disciplining them for violating that policy, not for fraud.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

Yes, this sounds like a performance issue, not a time fraud issue.

The teleworking aspect may change things. If he is logging the time as worked from home and then is not actually working (e.g. going out to run errands, watching TV) then I think it could be a time and attendance issue. Since time fraud isn't a performance issue, it is easier to prosecute (e.g. no PIPs, insane documentation over years, etc.).

Telework is work. Period. Unless he has a signed telework agreement that says he can't leave his telework location (his home) without informing his supervisor, you can't treat telework any differently from the terms and conditions of regular work -- in other words, do you discipline employees for getting up from their desks and going to the bathroom without notifying you? Getting up and going to someone else's desk? Staring into space for a moment or two? If the answer is no, you can't discipline your teleworkers for "time and attendance fraud" for leaving their homes and walking around the block, unless you have a signed telework policy that mandates they stay home or notify you if they don't. You are disciplining them for violating that policy, not for fraud.

Huh? This makes no sense. Getting up and going to the bathroom or talking to a coworker is not the same thing as, say, going grocery shopping when you should be teleworking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:


The teleworking aspect may change things. If he is logging the time as worked from home and then is not actually working (e.g. going out to run errands, watching TV) then I think it could be a time and attendance issue. Since time fraud isn't a performance issue, it is easier to prosecute (e.g. no PIPs, insane documentation over years, etc.).

Telework is work. Period. Unless he has a signed telework agreement that says he can't leave his telework location (his home) without informing his supervisor, you can't treat telework any differently from the terms and conditions of regular work -- in other words, do you discipline employees for getting up from their desks and going to the bathroom without notifying you? Getting up and going to someone else's desk? Staring into space for a moment or two? If the answer is no, you can't discipline your teleworkers for "time and attendance fraud" for leaving their homes and walking around the block, unless you have a signed telework policy that mandates they stay home or notify you if they don't. You are disciplining them for violating that policy, not for fraud.

Huh? This makes no sense. Getting up and going to the bathroom or talking to a coworker is not the same thing as, say, going grocery shopping when you should be teleworking.

If an employee was leaving the office to go to the grocery store for an hour every afternoon, without taking leave or notifiying me, yes I would consider that time fraud. They are getting paid for doing non-work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:


The teleworking aspect may change things. If he is logging the time as worked from home and then is not actually working (e.g. going out to run errands, watching TV) then I think it could be a time and attendance issue. Since time fraud isn't a performance issue, it is easier to prosecute (e.g. no PIPs, insane documentation over years, etc.).

Telework is work. Period. Unless he has a signed telework agreement that says he can't leave his telework location (his home) without informing his supervisor, you can't treat telework any differently from the terms and conditions of regular work -- in other words, do you discipline employees for getting up from their desks and going to the bathroom without notifying you? Getting up and going to someone else's desk? Staring into space for a moment or two? If the answer is no, you can't discipline your teleworkers for "time and attendance fraud" for leaving their homes and walking around the block, unless you have a signed telework policy that mandates they stay home or notify you if they don't. You are disciplining them for violating that policy, not for fraud.

Huh? This makes no sense. Getting up and going to the bathroom or talking to a coworker is not the same thing as, say, going grocery shopping when you should be teleworking.

If an employee was leaving the office to go to the grocery store for an hour every afternoon, without taking leave or notifiying me, yes I would consider that time fraud. They are getting paid for doing non-work.

Yes, clearly. But federal employees can go years with accomplishing very little while in the office. Many just tarry the day away. You can't have higher expectations just because they do telework. They can daydream the day away on telework too. As others have pointed out, it's up to OP -- the manager -- to supervise, to arrange sufficient workload, and to make sure expectations are met.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

Er.....what seems to be the problem?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:


The teleworking aspect may change things. If he is logging the time as worked from home and then is not actually working (e.g. going out to run errands, watching TV) then I think it could be a time and attendance issue. Since time fraud isn't a performance issue, it is easier to prosecute (e.g. no PIPs, insane documentation over years, etc.).

Telework is work. Period. Unless he has a signed telework agreement that says he can't leave his telework location (his home) without informing his supervisor, you can't treat telework any differently from the terms and conditions of regular work -- in other words, do you discipline employees for getting up from their desks and going to the bathroom without notifying you? Getting up and going to someone else's desk? Staring into space for a moment or two? If the answer is no, you can't discipline your teleworkers for "time and attendance fraud" for leaving their homes and walking around the block, unless you have a signed telework policy that mandates they stay home or notify you if they don't. You are disciplining them for violating that policy, not for fraud.

Huh? This makes no sense. Getting up and going to the bathroom or talking to a coworker is not the same thing as, say, going grocery shopping when you should be teleworking.

If an employee was leaving the office to go to the grocery store for an hour every afternoon, without taking leave or notifiying me, yes I would consider that time fraud. They are getting paid for doing non-work.

Yes, clearly. But federal employees can go years with accomplishing very little while in the office. Many just tarry the day away. You can't have higher expectations just because they do telework. They can daydream the day away on telework too. As others have pointed out, it's up to OP -- the manager -- to supervise, to arrange sufficient workload, and to make sure expectations are met.

Actually you can have higher standards for telework because it is a privilege that not all employees get. Only those with a sufficiently high performance ranking and who meet deadlines are granted telework in my organization. And while you're teleworking, you're required to be logged into the chat service we have, you need to be reachable by phone, and some supervisors require a check-in at the beginning of a telework day, and a check-out at the end, summarizing what's been accomplished. Those are all additional requirements that are not imposed for those who are working in the building that day.

If OP can verify that the employee was logged off, ie - not on work email, for hours at a time when supposedly teleworking and there was no big research paper delivered at the end of that - then yes, there is certainly potential for T&A fraud.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

+1

This person is not going to get fired.

I disagree. This person could very easily get fired for poor performance, if what OP says is true. As I said earlier, Op's terminology is off. But it isn't crazy to mistakenly think that getting paid to do no work is "fraud.""

In the federal government you do not "fire" someone for poor performance. You put the person on a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) after rating that person Unacceptable in one or more Critical Elements. Failure to complete assigned work does not mean that the work that was completed was unacceptable. Failure to complete assigned work (if that is the case) is a conduct issue, not a performance issue. If the employee failed to complete assigned work, he should be reprimanded. If he was not assigned sufficient work to complete, that's a management issue. Unless he falsified his time card -- alleged he was in the workplace when he was not -- there is no abuse of time issue.

Yes, you do fire someone for poor performance. Sure you PIP them first, but at the end of the day, if they do no work, they get fired for unacceptable performance. Failure to work is just as easily handled under a Chapter 43 Performance Management system than a Chapter 75 misconduct system. (If you want to be pendantic, I can use "removed" if you would prefer.)

[Anonymous]

LOL welcome to the government you really think he's the only one not doing anything. It's your job as a manager to delegate work.