NCJ Number
81074
Date Published
1981
Length
90 pages
Annotation
This report conveys the results of a survey of Federal employees in 15 agencies regarding their knowledge of illegal or wasteful activities affecting their agencies and their procedures for reporting such activities without reprisal.
Abstract
The survey is based entirely on the self-reported experiences of approximately 8,600 employees who completed and returned the questionnaire in December 1980. Findings revealed that about 45 percent of the surveyed employees claimed to have observed one or more instances of illegal or wasteful activity during the previous 12 months. Over half of these claimed that it involved more than $1,000 in Federal funds or property. The percentage of employees who claimed to have observed specific types of fraud, waste, and mismanagement varied considerably from one agency to another. In addition, 70 percent of those who claimed to have personal knowledge of some type of fraud, waste, or mismanagement did not report the misconduct; the percentage of respondents within each agency who did report such activity ranged from a low of 22 percent to a high of 51 percent. Reasons for not reporting included fear of reprisal and the belief that nothing would be done to stop the activity. Over a third of those who reported a serious incident and were identified as the source of the report believed that reporting the incident resulted in some form of 'negative experience' for them. Federal employees overwhelmingly agreed that fraud, waste, and mismanagement should be reported. However, a substantial percentage of employees were skeptical of the effectiveness of protections against reprisal. Moreover, only 47 percent said that they would know where to report illegal or wasteful activity. A total of 81 percent of the respondents said that knowing something would be done to correct the activity would encourage them to report it. The report recommends that institutions (such as the Merit Systems Protection Board and agency Offices of Inspector General) charged with responsibility for investigating complaints of illegal or wasteful activity should continue intensive efforts to inform all Federal employees about where and how they can confidentially report such activity. Although the risk of reprisal is serious, employees should be made aware that nearly two-thirds of their peers who stepped forward to report such activity either suffered no consequence or were recognized for their action. Footnotes, graphs, and tables are provided. Written comments from survey respondents and the survey questionnaire are appended. (Author summary modified)