Report I2019-2 Recommendations
After the State Auditor's Office completes an investigation and issues a copy of its investigative report to the state department involved, the department is required by the Whistleblower Protection Act to provide the State Auditor with information about the actions it has taken in response to the report. Within 60 days of receiving the report, the department must report to the State Auditor any disciplinary action it has taken or intends to take against any employee who was a subject of the investigation. Also within 60 days, the department must report to the State Auditor any actions it has taken or intends to take to implement the recommendations made in the report to prevent the continuation or recurrence of the improper activities described in the report. When the department has not completed all of its intended actions within 60 days, the department must report on its actions monthly thereafter until all of its intended actions have been taken. Below is a listing of each recommendation the State Auditor made in the report referenced, as well as a link to a summary of what the department has reported to the State Auditor about its actions in response to the report. Information about the department’s responsive actions and the State Auditor’s assessment of those actions will be updated on this site quarterly.
Recommendations in Report I2019-2: Investigations of Improper Activities by State Agencies and Employees: Inefficient Management of State Resources, Misuse of State Time and Inaccurate Attendance Records, and Inadequate Supervision (Release Date: April 2019)
Recommendations for Case I2017-0405 Department: Judicial Council of California | ||
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Number | Recommendation | Status |
4 | To ensure its efficient management of the Assigned Judges Program (AJP) funding and to determine the impact of its recent program changes, the Judicial Council should reassess the AJP no later than June 30, 2019, and it should examine in particular its allocation of service days and AJP funding to superior courts with surplus judges. |
Fully Implemented |
5 | To ensure that it has successfully implemented its recent AJP changes at the superior courts, the Judicial Council should periodically evaluate trial court compliance with the recent program changes. |
Fully Implemented |
Recommendations for Case I2017-0638 Department: Social Services, Department of | ||
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Number | Recommendation | Status |
27 | The California Department of Social Services (Social Services) should require that the supervisor retake supervisory training regarding managing employee performance and the importance of following the State's progressive discipline process. |
Fully Implemented |
28 | Within the guidelines of the relevant bargaining unit agreement, Social Services should place appropriate documentation in the office technician's personnel or supervisory file to demonstrate that he failed to complete his work and wasted state time in the event that he returns to his job at Social Services. |
Fully Implemented |
Recommendations for Case I2017-0905 Department: Water Resources Control Board | ||
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Number | Recommendation | Status |
15 | The State Water Board should require Employee A's supervisor to continue to monitor and examine weekly time reports for Employee A and other subordinate employees to ensure that they account properly for all of the time worked and the leave taken. |
Fully Implemented |
Recommendations for Case I2017-1245 Department: Industrial Relations, Department of | ||
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Number | Recommendation | Status |
25 | The Department of Industrial Relations (Industrial Relations) should provide instruction to all supervisors to maintain an accurate record of subordinate staff's daily work hours by either requiring all hourly employees to record the hours worked on their timesheet or using another reliable and consistent system to record daily hours worked by subordinate staff. |
Fully Implemented |
26 | Industrial Relations should provide training to the two supervisors regarding proper time and attendance procedures. |
Fully Implemented |
Recommendations for Case I2017-1308 Department: Controller's Office, State | ||
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Number | Recommendation | Status |
21 | The State Controller's Office (SCO) should immediately recover overpayments made to the employee or adjust her leave balances by 23 hours to account for her missed work time. |
Fully Implemented |
22 | By April 2019, the SCO should review attendance for the employee for the time period that she worked an alternate schedule to determine whether she owes the State any additional hours as a result of informally switching her regular day off (RDO). If she does, the SCO should recover any overpayments or adjust her leave balances accordingly. |
Fully Implemented |
23 | By June 2019, the SCO should review the attendance records of the manager's other staff to determine whether the other employees also failed to account for any missed work time. |
Fully Implemented |
24 | The SCO should determine whether other managers or supervisors at the SCO also allowed employees to informally switch their RDOs. If so, the SCO should review the attendance records for the relevant employees to verify that they accurately recorded their time off and hours worked. To the extent that the SCO determines other employees improperly accounted for their time, the SCO should recover any overpayments or adjust their leave balances accordingly. |
Resolved |
Recommendations for Case I2018-0009 Department: Transportation, Department of | ||
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Number | Recommendation | Status |
16 | The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) should ensure that it recoups all overpayments that it made to the associate. |
Fully Implemented |
17 | Caltrans should notify all Caltrans employees of the limitations of bereavement leave and where bargaining agreements can be located for additional information specific to bereavement leave. |
Fully Implemented |
18 | Caltrans should remind supervisors of their responsibility to ensure that employees properly charge leave, including bereavement leave, and to not exceed the allowable limits that the bargaining agreements outline. |
Fully Implemented |
19 | Caltrans should consider revising its policy to require supervisors to request employees to submit substantiation, such as a funeral announcement, for each claim of bereavement leave. |
Resolved |
20 | Caltrans should consider conducting leave audits of the other subordinate staff that the supervisor formerly oversaw. |
Fully Implemented |
Recommendations for Case I2018-0027 Department: Water Resources Control Board | ||
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Number | Recommendation | Status |
11 | The State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board) should take appropriate disciplinary actions against Engineers A, B, and C for their misuse of state time and dishonesty during their interviews. |
Fully Implemented |
12 | The State Water Board should determine the amount of time it can charge Engineers A, B, and C to account for their missed hours, reduce their leave balances accordingly, and if applicable, seek to recover from them any wages paid for time they did not work. |
Fully Implemented |
13 | The State Water Board should take appropriate corrective or disciplinary actions against the three engineers' supervisor, which should include providing supervisory training to ensure that he holds the three engineers accountable for their missed work time. |
Fully Implemented |
14 | The State Water Board should require this supervisor to implement policies and procedures to ensure that his subordinates account for all of their missed work hours. |
Fully Implemented |
Recommendations for Case I2018-0053 Department: Tax and Fee Administration, California Department of | ||
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Number | Recommendation | Status |
1 | The California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (CDTFA) should recover overpayments or adjust leave balances for the 25 exempt employees that this report identifies. |
Fully Implemented |
2 | CDTFA should review attendance records for these 25 exempt employees to determine whether the State owes them any holiday credits or other leave credits because the employees may have unnecessarily charged leave time on days that they were scheduled to be off. |
Fully Implemented |
3 | CDTFA should survey or otherwise determine leave use for all exempt employees who worked alternate schedules during the past three years to ascertain whether and by how much those employees were overpaid and to recover any overpayments as state law requires. |
Fully Implemented |
Recommendations for Case I2018-0210 Department: University, California State | ||
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Number | Recommendation | Status |
6 | The California State University (CSU) campus should take immediate and appropriate disciplinary action against the police officer for failing to be fully prepared to perform her duties and for inaccurately reporting the hours she worked while in the investigation unit; consider deducting her leave balances for the hours during which she was not performing her duties. |
Fully Implemented |
7 | The CSU campus should take immediate and appropriate disciplinary action against Sergeant I for approving and allowing the police officer to remove part of her uniform and to lie down while on duty, as well as for his failure to perform his supervisory duties. |
Fully Implemented |
8 | The CSU campus should develop a written policy within 90 days that explains how and when the police department expects employees to check in and out of their shifts. The policy should specify where all employees should be when they check in and out--for example, it should state whether the employees should be physically on campus. |
Fully Implemented |
9 | The CSU campus should provide training within 90 days to all police department staff that covers relevant sections of the police department policy manual, including the following requirements for all uniformed police department employees: -- Employees should be prompt, prepared, and ready to work on assignments.
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Fully Implemented |
10 | The CSU campus should remind supervisors immediately of their responsibility to identify and document when employees are perceived to be unable to perform their duties because of physical conditions, as outlined in applicable policies. |
Fully Implemented |