The Department of Energy’s (Department) mission has evolved in recent years, which
necessitated changes in the contractor workforce requirements. In 1993, Congress
approved Section 3161 of the National Defense Authorization Act (Act), which mandates
that if a change in the workforce is necessary, the Department must develop a plan for
workforce restructuring that will minimize the impact on the affected employees and the
surrounding communities. Since the passage of the Act, the Department has managed
numerous contractor workforce restructurings that resulted in a reduction in the
Department’s contractor workforce. For example, workforce restructuring efforts in
Fiscal Years 2005, 2007 and 2009 at the Savannah River Site (Site) reduced the
contractor workforce by 1,184 employees.
The Office of Inspector General (OIG) received a hotline allegation that employees of the
Washington Savannah River Company (WSRC), a former management and operating
contractor, had inappropriately received severance payments under the 2007 Savannah
River workforce restructuring. It was alleged that these employees were subsequently
rehired to perform in the same or similar functional job areas but were not required to
repay severance money. The contractual agreement between the Department and WSRC
prohibited employees from receiving severance pay if they were offered employment at
the Site, performing the same or substantially the same type of work with comparable pay
and benefits, by any WSRC contractor or subcontractor. At the same time, the OIG’s
Office of Investigations was in the process of reviewing a similar allegation received
from Savannah River Operations Office (SRO) officials. The OIG’s Office of
Inspections initiated an inspection to consolidate the information and review the facts and
circumstances regarding both allegations. Our efforts focused on the Fiscal Year 2007
workforce restructuring which cost $9.7 million and resulted in the reduction of 312
contractor employees.
