Federal Government Policy and Business

Agencies Spent $80M in 2014 Forcing Employees Not to Work

Government Executive: A sample of 18 federal agencies spent more than $80 million last year for some employees to not work for at least one month, according to a new report, and one lawmaker has vowed to finally reform the process legislatively.

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, released a report more than one year in the making to expose the often opaque practice of administrative leave. Agencies frequently use the practice, in which employees are paid their normal salaries while prohibited from working, while investigating workers for misconduct. Administrative leave is not defined in federal statute, which Grassley lamented leaves agencies with great flexibility in how they use it. The practice, he said, is “ripe for abuse.”

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