Review of Federal Overtime Practices

In response to a congressional request, GAO reviewed overtime practices at various Government organizations, including the Air Force Accounting and Finance Center (AFAFC). The purpose of the review was to determine whether: (1) justification for overtime is appropriate; (2) alternatives to overtime are considered or used; (3) controls on overtime use are adequate; and (4) ways to reduce overtime costs can be identified.

GAO found that errors and irregularities in overtime records have occurred and gone undetected because of weaknesses in AFAFC internal controls. Work section and building logs are not generally reviewed or compared to detect errors and inconsistencies. GAO believes that the AFAFC procedures for reviewing and verifying overtime are ineffective because supervisors are not provided the data needed to monitor work hours. Consequently, employees have received overtime pay for work not actually performed.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

Director: No director on record Team: General Accounting Office: Denver Regional Office Phone: No phone on record