Whistleblower Protection: VA Did Little Until Recently to Inform Employees About Their Rights
GGD-00-70
Published: Apr 14, 2000. Publicly Released: May 17, 2000.
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Highlights
Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) whistleblower protection, focusing on the: (1) actions VA has taken since October 29, 1994--the enactment of the 1994 Whistleblower Protection Act amendments--to inform its employees about their rights to protection against reprisal when reporting misconduct; (2) extent to which VA employees are aware of their rights to such protection; (3) extent to which VA employees are willing to report misconduct in VA operations, should they become aware of it; and (4) number and disposition of whistleblower reprisal complaints filed by VA employees with agencies responsible for providing whistleblower protection.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Veterans Affairs | The Secretary of Veterans Affairs should establish a long-term plan of intended actions with target dates for: (1) informing on a periodic basis all employees of their whistleblower rights; and (2) measuring the effectiveness of such actions, such as with a periodic survey of employees. |
Closed – Implemented
VA's Assistant Secretary for Human Resources and Administration has established a number of intended actions to inform VA employees on a periodic basis of their whistleblower rights. VA has implemented all of the intended actions. The last action, issuing the employee handbook which addresses whistleblower rights, was issued in February 2002. However, VA is still in the process of determining how it will measure the effectiveness of such actions.
|
| Department of Veterans Affairs | The Secretary of Veterans Affairs should design and implement a system for tracking overall whistleblower complaints; complaints for which reprisal was determined or the complaint was settled; and what actions, if any, VA took against VA managers when reprisal was found to have occurred. |
Closed – Implemented
In September 2003, VA's Acting Assistant Secretary for Human Resources and Administration signed a memo stating that VA's Office of Human Resources Management (OHRM) implemented a database for tracking overall whistleblower complaints and collected information from VA organizational components and the MSPB database. The information in the OHRM database concerns the number of findings and the redress provided, and is intended to help monitor whistleblower activity.
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| Department of Veterans Affairs | VA should analyze these data periodically to ascertain whether additional steps are needed to ensure that reprisal is not tolerated. |
Closed – Implemented
In December 2003, VA's Acting Assistant Secretary for Human Resources and Administration signed a memo stating that VA's Office of Human Resources Management implemented a database for tracking overall whistleblower complaints and collected information from VA organizational components and the MSPB database. The memo provided an analysis of the status of complaints filed over the 3-year period 1998 through 2001.
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Agency proceedingsFederal employeesLabor relationsInvestigations into federal agenciesLegal rightsMalfeasancePersonnel managementReporting requirementsWhistleblowersEmployee misconduct