Merit Systems Protection Board

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed allegations made against senior officials of the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB), on: (1) the time-and-attendance (T&A) practices of the three MSPB Board members and their personal staffs; (2) MSPB detailing of certain Schedule-C appointees and the pay level MSPB set for a Schedule-C appointee during a limited emergency Senior Executive Service (SES) appointment; (3) the role and organizational independence of the MSPB Inspector General (IG) in reviewing MSPB activities; and (4) a racially and sexually discriminatory working environment.
GAO found that: (1) MSPB Board members are not required to work specific duty schedules or specific hours and can maintain whatever work schedules and office hours they deem appropriate to do their work, but all other MSPB employees must comply with the agency's established T&A procedures and requirements; (2) T&A records showed that Board and Executive Office employees, timekeepers, and supervisors frequently failed to properly prepare and process T&A requirements; (3) MSPB improperly detailed three Schedule-C appointees from the Vice Chairman's office in November 1990, when their employment should have ended upon that key official's departure; (4) MSPB made three initial SES appointments at a pay level higher than its pay-setting policy authorized; (5) the MSPB IG improperly reported to the Executive Director rather than directly to the Chairman, which violated the GAO standard and an Office of Management and Budget requirement for IG independence; and (6) of 31 current and former MSPB staff interviewed, 9 stated that they were the victims of racial or sexual discrimination or perceived that such discrimination existed at MSPB.