If you work for the government and you don’t stay on the straight and narrow, then you risk being told to go home and take some time off … with pay and benefits. Might be for three months to a year – time enough to catch up on those overdue home improvement project. Could be for one to three years. Long enough to write that novel you’ve been thinking about.
As Steve Watkins of Federal Times reports:
The GAO, analyzing data for 60 percent of the federal civilian workforce for the 2011-2013 period, found that more than 57,000 employees were put on paid administrative leave for over a month at a cost of $700 million in salary
And:
the biggest reason cited for extended periods of paid administrative leave is “personnel matters.” [which] includes such things as investigations into alleged misconduct, criminal matters, or security concerns as well as settlement agreements, pending adverse actions due to inappropriate behavior, and interim relief.
The agency where with the most workers sent home? The VA, unsurprisingly.
