Office of Inspector General inspection report on ``Inspection of an allegation regarding the voluntary separation program at the Savannah River Operations Office``
In April 1996, the Savannah River Operations Office received approval from DOE Headquarters to offer Westinghouse Savannah River Company (WSRC) and Bechtel Savannah River, Inc. (BSRI) employees early termination incentives to facilitate downsizing of the contractor workforce thereby minimizing involuntary separations. In 1996, 217 individuals at the Savannah River Site (SRS) accepted a Voluntary Separation Program (VSP) incentive. The Office of Inspector General (OIG) received an allegation that a former senior manager of the WSRC was provided an opportunity to terminate employment through a VSP. The complainant wrote that after separating from WSRC, and receiving a large bonus for doing so, the former senior manager returned to work at the Savannah River Site (SRS) without observing a required waiting period of one year. The inspection determined that the former senior manager terminated employment with WSRC under the VSP program. It was found that the former senior manager`s departure from WSRC was delayed for six months, until December 31, 1996, in order for a replacement to be relocated from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to SRS and be familiarized with the position. The underlying principle of the VSP was to allow WSRC and BSRI employees to voluntarily leave the SRS workforce, and, if necessary, only be replaced by current SRS employees. The Office of Inspector General concluded that WSRC allowed the former senior manager to participate in the VSP, and then replaced the senior manager with an individual from Westinghouse`s headquarters in Pittsburgh. Consequently, WSRC did not meet the test of prudent business judgment required by its contract with DOE. It was recommended that both the former senior manager`s VSP bonus payment of $99,762, as well as $36,892 in travel and relocation costs expended to move the replacement from Pittsburgh to SRS, be recovered from WSRC. They also recommended that the Manager, Savannah River Operations Office, determine whether any other senior WSRC or BSRI personnel who participated in the VSP were replaced by non-SRS personnel, and, if so, recover from the appropriate contractor the associated costs.
Year of publication: |
2008-02-05
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Subject: | mathematics, computers, information science, management, law, miscellaneous | SAVANNAH RIVER PLANT | EMPLOYMENT | FINANCIAL INCENTIVES | FINANCING | AUDITS | RECOMMENDATIONS |
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