December 5, 2003

Audit of Facility Contractor Employee Assignments by Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

In Fiscal Year (FY) 2003, the Department spent approximately $44 million for facility contractor work assignments to the Washington, D.C. area. Because of Congressional concerns, annual ceilings were established for the number of facility contractor employees that could be assigned. Congress also required the Department to annually report on the number of employees, the programs impacted, and the full cost for these employees.

To satisfy tracking and reporting requirements, the Department requires program and staff offices to submit annual staffing plans and update a facility contractor employee database. The database is used to provide data to Congress and to control the number of contractor employees at Headquarters. The ceiling for facility contractor employees permitted to directly support program offices in Washington, D.C. was 220 in FY 2003. EERE's FY 2003 plan proposed Headquarters program assignments for 56 employees.