Social Security Administration Employees with Conduct Issues Who Received Monetary Awards
Office Affiliation: The Office of Audit
Audit Report Number: A-08-15-50020
SSA uses awards to promote continuous quality service and recognize employee and team contributions to the Agency’s success. SSA’s two primary monetary awards are the Exemplary Contribution or Service Award (ECSA) and Recognition of Contribution (ROC).
SSA takes corrective actions to address employee performance and conduct problems. SSA generally uses progressive discipline to correct and improve employee behavior. SSA may initiate such progressive disciplinary patterns as reprimand, short- or long-term suspension, demotion, and removal. These are usually preceded by counseling and oral warnings.
In Fiscal Year (FY) 2014, SSA awarded almost $43 million to about 49,000 (82 percent) of its 60,000 employees. SSA disciplined 559 (1 percent) employees because of conduct issues in FY 2013.
We obtained and matched SSA data on awards it granted and disciplinary actions it took for employees with conduct issues in FY 2013. We did not independently verify the reliability of the data SSA provided.
We issued this report to determine whether the SSA issued monetary awards to employees who had conduct issues.