Dual Employment Performance Audit FY23-25

Fiscal Years Ended June 30, 2023-2025

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Report Summary

Background

The Dual Employment Law (the Law) (29 Del. C. Ch. 58, Subchapter III), enacted in 1986, is intended to ensure that public employees are not compensated by multiple taxpayer-funded employers for coincident hours worked. The Law requires Covered Organizations to maintain accurate time records for dually employed officials, verify work hours through supervisory review at least once each pay period, and reduce or prorate compensation when employees are “absent” from their primary employment to perform elected or appointed duties.

The Office of Auditor of Accounts (AOA) conducted this performance audit to determine whether State agencies and political subdivisions complied with the Law for the fiscal years ended June 30, 2023, 2024, and 2025. The audit was conducted pursuant to AOA’s authority under 29 Del. C. § 2906 and the statutory requirement that the Law be audited annually.

Key Information and Findings

The audit revealed that the State continues to lack a comprehensive process for classifying, identifying, and monitoring dual employment relationships and activities. AOA continued to face longstanding challenges previously identified in prior audit cycles.  AOA could not successfully develop AOA was unable to fully assess whether State agencies and political subdivisions complied with the Law. This condition existed because the State continues to lack a comprehensive process for classifying, identifying, and monitoring dual employment relationships and activities. AOA could not successfully develop a complete and accurate population of dually employed individuals by combining information from the Payroll Human Resources Statewide Technology (PHRST) system, Public Integrity Commission (PIC) disclosure documents, and Legislative Hall records.

AOA continued to face longstanding challenges previously identified in prior audit cycles.  Significant weaknesses in both statewide oversight and Covered Organizations level compliance are outlined below:

• At the statewide level, the PIC, the entity responsible for administering the State’s dual employment requirements, lacks sufficient staffing, technological resources, and centralized data collection processes to effectively carry out its oversight responsibilities. The PIC currently relies primarily on annual self-disclosure filings and has no automated system capable of identifying individuals employed concurrently by multiple public entities.
• At the statewide Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system level, the absence of standardized, enterprise-wide reporting of individuals with dual employment relationships materially limits the State’s ability to consistently monitor compliance, detect potential instances of noncompliance, and provide complete and reliable audit evidence.
• At the Covered Organizations level, AOA found inconsistent implementation of statutory requirements. Many organizations did not maintain the separate verified time records required by the Law, had not incorporated dual employment requirements into their internal control processes, and lacked formal procedures to ensure supervisory verification of work hours or appropriate payroll adjustments for coincidence hours.

• AOA encountered significant scope limitations affecting the engagement. Most notably, the University of Delaware declined to provide certain requested personnel, payroll, and scheduling records, limiting AOA’s ability to independently verify compliance for employees may have been subjected to State appropriations.

Overall, the audit concludes that Delaware’s current dual employment oversight framework is fragmented and largely dependent on manual processes and employee self-reporting. The absence of centralized oversight, monitoring, automated detection capabilities, and clearly defined accountability significantly increases the risk that coincident hours worked by dually employed individuals will not be identified or corrected.

To strengthen compliance and improve accountability, AOA recommends that the PIC and responsible oversight entities consider statutory and administrative improvements that will achieve the following:

• Define, clearly, the responsibilities of employment in Covered Organizations, PIC and dually employed individuals.
• Establish a centralized, automated statewide process and reporting for classifying, flagging, tracking and monitoring dual employment relationships, both historical and current dual employment status and associations.
• Strengthen agency accountability for maintaining required time records, supervisory certifications, and payroll adjustments.
• Add PIC staff to improve statewide coordination and oversight to ensure consistent compliance with the requirements of the Law.

These improvements would enhance transparency, strengthen internal controls, and reduce the risk of improper compensation from multiple taxpayer-funded sources during coincidence work hours.