Paid administrative leave - April 2025
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Paid Administrative Leave Released: April 2025 Download the Full Report here We undertook this audit based on a referral from the city's inspector general. In this audit, we assessed how often paid administrative leave is used, for how long it is used, and whether it is used for its intended purpose. To ensure that the city uses administrative leave consistent with city code and that these actions are documented and tracked, the commissioner of human resources should: • develop detailed policies and procedures • require staff to consistently use and maintain standardized documentation • create criteria for coding in Oracle to differentiate administrative leave from other types of leave • require staff to periodically review employees placed on administrative leave |
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We found:
- Departments placed employees on administrative leave for a variety of reasons inconsistent with city code
- 1,276 employees were on paid administrative leave during fiscal years 2014 to 2024; some up to five times
- HR staff did not consistently code leave transactions in Oracle or document leave transactions
- Median time spent on paid administrative leave was 11 business days; eight employees were on leave for 415 to 528 business days
- In fiscal year 2024, the city paid over $1.1 million in regular pay (not including benefits) to employees on administrative leave
- Employees on paid administrative leave continue to accrue vacation and sick leave and to receive holiday pay
- HR has not established policies and procedures to guide departments' use of administrative leave