The U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC) today alerted the President and Congress to a software flaw at the U.S. Treasury Department that resulted in nearly $92 million in uncollected debts owed to the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). The debts, comprising nearly 11,000 delinquent fines owed by employers for workplace safety violations, were referred by OSHA to Treasury for collection on behalf of OSHA. An anonymous whistleblower alerted OSC to the software problem, alleging it resulted in Treasury's failure to collect the debts. OSC referred the matter for investigation by the U.S. Treasury and Labor Departments, and both substantiated the allegations [Treasury report, Labor report]. The investigations also revealed that the software problem impacted debt collections by Treasury for 12 additional federal agencies, unrelated to OSHA.
The investigative reports recommended substantial corrective actions in response to their findings. Treasury's Bureau of the Fiscal Service has already corrected the software issue and is now actively collecting all OSHA debts and any other agency debts affected by the error. Both Labor and OSHA also updated their debt-collection procedures for monitoring and transferring debts. In addition, Treasury has committed to provide OSC with a follow-up report once it has completed an audit to determine the monetary value of the remaining uncollected debts owed to other agencies.
“I commend the whistleblower for bringing these serious allegations forward," said Special Counsel Henry J. Kerner. “I am encouraged to see that both agencies appear to have taken prompt corrective action, including a commitment by Treasury to begin collecting the millions of dollars in safety fines owed to OSHA and to assess the outstanding debts owed to 12 additional agencies. OSC will continue to monitor the results of Treasury's supplemental audit and stands ready to work with these agencies to ensure that the money they are owed is collected for the full benefit of American taxpayers."
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