Executive summary

Allegation information

A complaint was received via Concerned Citizen and Employee Hotline which lead to an investigation of the following allegation by Internal Audit under the oversight of the City’s Auditor General:

A named employee was not working their expected hours and was departing City operations during business hours to earn additional income elsewhere.

Investigation approach

For the allegation noted above we developed investigative procedures specific to the named employee as well as items to address the broader employee base. These procedures included items such as:

Named Employee Specific Procedures:

• Is management aware of how often the named employee left the City (during normal or expected working hours) during this past December to February?

• While the role may permit some flexibility, how does the City know the named employee is completing the required work/that the expected outcomes are achieved?

Broader Employee Base Considerations: ​

• Does the City have a formal policy for flexible work arrangements and/or a formal policy regarding additional/alternate employment loyalties outside the City?

• How many personnel does the City have working in flexible positions across the City?

• How many personnel does the City have who are working flexible schedules who are also employed by, or providing significant time/services, to other organizations?

• For these alternative approaches how does the City know each employee is completing their work, that the hours reported were worked or that the expected outcomes were achieved?

Details of our activities may be found in the Summary of procedures and results section later in this report.

Summary of procedures and findings

Based on the procedures we executed and the results of our testing, a summary of our analysis is included in the Summary of Procedures and Results section of this report.

With regards to the allegation we did not detect evidence to support the allegation as an issue. The named employee does provide services to another organization and receives compensation form that other entity; however, the City has practices in place to manage the flexible work schedule such that the City is aware of the absences and has mechanisms to manage and monitor that the named individual provides the City the employment services for which they are compensated. We did note that formalization of these controls should be enacted. Further, we noted additional improvement which should be implemented for the broader employee base.