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Open Recommendations

Labor Organization Oversight: Department of Labor Should Enhance Enforcement and Assistance Processes
GAO-25-107297
Jun 17, 2025
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7 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Labor The Secretary of Labor should ensure the Director of OLMS establishes written criteria investigators can apply when determining whether to require an amended financial disclosure report following a compliance audit. (Recommendation 1)
Open
OLMS agreed with this recommendation. The agency said it would seek information from the field regarding those instances where investigators request an amended report to identify the justification leading to the requests. OLMS will then evaluate the factors and justification that investigators and managers will consider to help determine when to require an amended report and will place a stronger emphasis on this area during agency training. In addition, OLMS plans to develop written considerations that are balanced and adaptable, and recognize the unique characteristics of each union's structure and audit findings. They will also need to consider additional OLMS staffing and resources needed to provide unions with compliance assistance to complete their amended reports. We await further progress on these efforts.
Department of Labor The Secretary of Labor should ensure the Director of OLMS assesses whether voluntary compliance results in labor organizations taking corrective action after violations are identified during a compliance audit. For example, OLMS could regularly follow up on a sample of violations to help estimate how often voluntary compliance results in an actual change of behavior. (Recommendation 2)
Open
OLMS agreed with this recommendation. The agency said it will work to develop a method to obtain a representative sample of violations to help estimate how often voluntary compliance results in an actual change in behavior. This analysis will also help OLMS know if the new performance indicator is an effective indicator of compliance and use of OLMS resources. We will monitor the progress of these efforts.
Department of Labor The Secretary of Labor should ensure the Director of OLMS establishes documented procedures to track labor organizations that OLMS officials determine merit follow up based on past violations identified during a compliance audit. (Recommendation 3)
Open
OLMS agreed with this recommendation. The agency recognizes the importance of establishing a consistent procedure to document when an investigation uncovers a violation warranting follow up action. OLMS plans to develop a method to track and assess these case-based determinations and actions. We await the completion of these efforts.
Department of Labor The Secretary of Labor should ensure the Director of OLMS develops a mechanism to cite related compliance assistance publications in compliance audit closing letters. (Recommendation 4)
Open
OLMS agreed with this recommendation. The agency will take steps to revise the training and closing letter language guide to include prompts for documentation and distribution of relevant compliance assistance publications that correspond to violations and other issues found during investigations. The agency believes these changes will help investigators and serve as a reference to union officials and their successors. We await the completion of these efforts.
Department of Labor The Secretary of Labor should ensure the Director of OLMS establishes a systematic process to regularly review and update as needed its compliance assistance publications. For example, OLMS could use information on common violations identified in its compliance audits to assess whether there are any gaps in topics covered by its publications. (Recommendation 5)
Open
OLMS agreed with this recommendation. The agency noted that it established a Compliance Assistance Workgroup to review available OLMS compliance assistance publications to ensure they are current, relevant and available. The workgroup will work with others to develop a systematic process to regularly update compliance assistance publications to include a review of compliance audit violations and closing letters. We await further progress on these efforts.
Department of Labor The Secretary of Labor should ensure the Director of OLMS establishes a systematic process to collect and track feedback from compliance assistance sessions, ensuring feedback is used for program improvement across all regions. (Recommendation 6)
Open
OLMS agreed with this recommendation. The agency noted that it created a standardized evaluation form that will ask compliance assistance attendees to provide feedback on the design, presentation and value of the session. OLMS Compliance Assistance Workgroup will then develop a systematic process to ensure feedback collected on evaluation forms is tracked, analyzed and, when appropriate, used to improve OLMS presentations and practices. We await further progress on these efforts.

Federal Remote Work: OPM Guidance Could Help Relevant Agencies Evaluate Effects on Agency Performance
GAO-25-107363
Jun 17, 2025
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Office of Personnel Management The Director of the Office of Personnel Management should issue guidance for agencies to assess the benefits and costs when offering remote work positions, including its effects on the mission and outcomes of the agency, employee recruitment and retention, and operational costs. (Recommendation 1)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Federal Civilian Firefighters: DOD Should Take Action to Address Long-Standing Staffing Gaps
GAO-25-107288
Apr 30, 2025
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6 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Defense The Secretary of Defense should ensure the Safety and Public Safety Functional Community Manager (Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Force Safety and Occupational Health) develops and implements a DOD-wide strategy to mitigate and close staffing gaps in the civilian firefighter workforce, which should include an analysis of work schedule and compensation differences between DOD and local fire departments that may affect staffing levels. (Recommendation 1)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of Defense The Secretary of Defense should ensure that the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness implements monitoring activities to verify that the Safety and Public Safety Functional Community and the heads of the DOD components, in collaboration with DCPAS, set annual staffing targets for civilian firefighters and report progress in closing staffing gaps to OPM, as required. (Recommendation 2)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of the Air Force The Secretary of the Air Force should update and implement the Air Force's Fire and Emergency Services civilian strategic human capital plan and ensure that the updated plan assesses the current state of the Air Force's civilian firefighter workforce and forecasts future workforce requirements. (Recommendation 3)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of the Navy The Secretary of the Navy should update and implement the Navy's Fire and Emergency Services civilian strategic human capital plan and ensure that the updated plan assesses the current state of the Navy's civilian firefighter workforce and forecasts future workforce requirements. (Recommendation 4)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of the Army The Secretary of the Army should develop and implement a Fire and Emergency Services civilian strategic human capital plan and ensure that the plan assesses the current state of the Army's civilian firefighter workforce and forecasts future workforce requirements. (Recommendation 5)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of the Navy The Secretary of the Navy, in coordination with the Commandant of the Marine Corps, should develop and implement a Fire and Emergency Services civilian strategic human capital plan for the Marine Corps and ensure that the plan assesses the current state of the Marine Corps' civilian firefighter workforce and forecasts future workforce requirements. (Recommendation 6)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Federal Workforce: OPM Needs to Take Additional Actions to Improve the Federal Early Career Talent Pipeline
GAO-25-106658
Mar 20, 2025
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3 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Office of Personnel Management The Director of OPM should develop and implement a plan to collect and assess the evidence OPM needs to identify factors impacting hiring trends of existing Pathways Programs. (Recommendation 1)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Office of Personnel Management The Director of OPM should develop and implement a plan to collect and evaluate feedback data from Pathways participants on their satisfaction with existing Pathways Programs. (Recommendation 2)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Office of Personnel Management The Director of OPM should develop and implement a process for collecting and sharing lessons-learned associated with recruitment and outreach for existing Pathways Programs. (Recommendation 3)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
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