Federal Overtime Practices

In fiscal year 1977, the executive branch spent $1.5 billion in overtime pay, an increase of $300 million over 1976. Overtime should generally be used to meet temporary needs during emergencies or for certain special projects which cannot be completed during normal working hours. When a particular individual or group is working an inordinate amount of overtime, it may indicate that the staff is either not large enough or is not performing efficiently. System weaknesses were identified at four agencies. At the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, overtime authorizations were not always properly approved and contained alterations with no indication that the changes had been approved. Time and attendance and payroll processes did not have controls to ensure that documents and data affecting employees' pay were not lost or added during processing. At the Drug Enforcement Administration, procedural weaknesses were identified which could permit erroneous or fraudulent claims for overtime pay. Overtime authorizations were not properly or consistently completed, and the payroll section did not check them before payment. At the Forest Service, false overtime hours were apparently added to the time cards of several employees. In some instances, a personnel officer added false overtime hours to the time cards for himself and for others. At the Civil Rights Commission, certain system weaknesses permitted some employees to be paid for overtime not worked. Better monitoring of the use of overtime is needed, and agency internal audit groups need to constantly monitor their payroll systems to ensure that internal controls are in place and properly implemented.