Report Summary

Social Security Administration Office of the Inspector General

February 2009

Quick Response Evaluation:  Social Security Administration Employees
Who Were Absent Without Leave

(A-15-09-29076)

Objective

We initiated this quick response evaluation to determine (1) the number of Social Security Administration (SSA) employees who were absent without leave (AWOL) from 2005 through 2007 and (2) whether SSA possessed adequate management controls to recognize and respond to situations in which employees were AWOL.

Background

SSA’s Time and Attendance Policy and Procedure Guide defines AWOL as unpaid leave charged to an employee when an employee

• is absent without permission or approval;
• has not notified the supervisor of the absence; or
• has not provided satisfactory explanation or documentation for the absence from duty. 

To view the full report, visit http://www.ssa.gov/oig/ADOBEPDF/A-15-09-29076.pdf

Our Findings

We determined that on average 1,450 out of 71,000 SSA employees (approximately 2 percent) had instances of AWOL each year from 2005 to 2007.  Additionally, we determined SSA possessed adequate management controls to recognize and respond to situations in which employees were AWOL.

Matters for Consideration

To ensure SSA managers consistently address leave issues throughout the Agency, we believe SSA should consider

• centralizing and making available to all managers all guidance on identifying and correcting leave problems,
• periodically collecting and analyzing AWOL data to determine employee trends regarding the use of AWOL,
• providing employees an annual reminder related to the proper use of leave, and
• providing training to employees on AWOL and leave without pay and the implications of these non-pay statuses.

To ensure Agency wide consistency in the application of leave policies, SSA should continue to emphasize training to managers on the proper identification and handling of leave problems.