November 01, 2013 

Federal whistleblowers have alerted the White House to what they say is a “gross waste of government funds” by Department of Homeland Security agents, the likes of which has cost the United States approximately $8.7 million a year.

The US Office of Special Counsel sent a report to President Barack Obama on Thursday, and in it are allegations of alleged overtime abuse being committed by federal workers and on the tax payers’ dime at no fewer than six DHS offices across the country.

According to the complaint, DHS employees are routinely working hours on the clock while earning pay through the federal Administratively Uncontrollable Overtime program, or AUO. Employees can earn as much as 25 percent extra while working AUO, but are only permitted to do so when their hours cannot be scheduled in advance due to a substantial amount of irregular work.

“Despite this definition,” Special Counsel Carloyn N. Lerner wrote to the White House, “thousands of DHS employees routinely file for AUO, claiming up to two hours a day, nearly every day, even  in headquarters and training assignments where no qualifying circumstances are likely to exist.”

14-1 DI-13-0002 - Letter to the President.pdf

The PresidentThe White HouseWashington, D.C.20500

U.S. OFFICEOFSPECIAL CO UNSEL 1 73 0 M Street ·.w. Suite l OO wash ln gt

October31,2013Re: OSC FileNo.DI-13-0002Dear Mr. President:I write to express deepconcernsabout long-standing abuse

of

overtimepayments by theDepartment

of

Homeland Security(DHS}.Theenclosedreport detailsone

of

sixwhistleblowercasescurrentlybefore the Office

of

Special Counsei.(OSC).Each

of

the six casesdisclosesmisuse

of

a specificpay authority known asAdministratively UncontrollableOvertime

AVO).

According to information provided

by

the whistleblowers, abuse

of

VO

atthese six DHSoffices alonecoststhe taxpayersapproximately$8.7 million annually,a grosswaste

of

government funds.Theenclosedreportsubstantiates disclosuresmade

by

DHSemployeeJose

R

Ducos-Bello.Thereport confirms thatemployeesin theCommissioner's Situation Room (SituationRoom),

an

office' within Customsand BorderProtection (CBP)inWashington,D.C., violatethe federal

VO

regulation byclaimingtwohours

of

VO

paynearlyevery day. Thereporf also confirmsthat the Situation Room Directorand AssistantDirectorauthorize and abet theimproper use

of

AVO.·

OSC recently referredto theSecretary

of

Homeland Security five additionalAUO

cases-

a strongindication that DHS

ha

sa profound andentrenched problem.

VO

isintended to

be

used only when

an

employee'shourscannotbescheduled

in

advancedueto asubstantialamount

of

irregularwork.For example,underthegoverningregulation,

VO

isappropriate

if

an employee's workhours depend

on

respondingto thebehavior

of

suspected criminals anditwould constitutenegligencefortheemployeeto leavethe

job

unfinished. CBPandother DHS componentshavethe authority touse

VO

toeffectively securethe borders,which mayrequireirregular andunpredictableworkbeyondanemplo

yee s

normalshift. See 5 C.F.R. §150.151-154. Despitethisdefinition,thousands

of

DHS employeesroutinelyfilefor AUO, claimingupto twohoursaday,nearly every day,eveninheadquartersandtrainingassignments where no qualifying circumstancesare likelyto exist.Theattachedreportconfirms thatSituation Room employees

in

Washington,D.C., claim

to

have worked two hours

of

VO

following their assigned shift89percent

of

the time.Theseroutine

VO

paymentstoSituation Room employees functionally[extend] their dailyshiftbytwo

hou rs

each

da

y,butarenottheresult

of

any unpredictable

or

compellinglawenforcementneed.Most

of

the claimedovertime workisadministrativein nature,often consisting

of

Headquarters

or

localtaskings thatdo not qualifyfor AUO.Mr. Ducos-Belloallegedthatthe

Lerner added that seven whistleblowers have alerted the Special Counsel’s Office of instances that leaves her to believe there’s been a “pervasive misuse of overtime pay” at half-a-dozen DHS officers throughout the US.

The instances of overtime abuse are not overly egregious, Lerner suggested, but nonetheless represent the rampant and unwarranted waste of taxpayer money.

“These are not border patrol guys chasing bad guys who can’t stop what they are doing and fill out paperwork for overtime. We are not questioning that,” Lerner told the Washington Post. “These are employees sitting at their desks, collecting overtime because it’s become a culturally acceptable practice.”

Jose Rafael Ducos Bello, one of the seven whistleblowers who spoke up to Lerner’s office, told the Post that AUO abuse amounts to “pickpocketing Uncle Sam” of millions of dollars annually.

“Employees will sit at their desks for an extra two hours, catching up on Netflix, talking to friends or using it for commuting time,” said Ducos-Bello, a 24-year veteran of the federal workforce.

Those employees, according to the complaint, work for DHS offices throughout the US, including four within Customs and Border Protection. Ducos-Bello told the Post that he estimated that 27 employees in the Commissioner’s Situation Room, which is part of CBP, cost the country a total of $696,000 in unwarranted AUO pay.

“It was such misuse that I felt I had a legal obligation to report. I will sleep better at night,” he added to the Post. “It’s like a father who has a son who commits a crime and has to report it for the health of their child’s future.”

Lerner said “Such abuse of overtime pay is a violation of the public trust and a gross waste of scarce government funds. It is incumbent upon DHS to take effective steps to curb the abuse. It is up to the administration and Congress to develop a revised pay system, if warranted, that ensures fair compensation for employees who are legitimately working overtime.”

Other offices included in the complaint are The Office of Security and Integrity at the US Citizenship and Immigration Services headquarters in Washington, DC and a Houston, Texas facility used by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Peter Boogaard, a spokesperson for DHS, told the Associated Press that his agency “takes seriously its responsibility to ensure proper use of taxpayer fund” and acknowledged that Acting DHS Secretary Rand Beers has requested a “comprehensive, department-wide review” of the AUO program.

http://rt.com/usa/dhs-complaint-auo-waste-095/