06-24-15 - 15-107 - Performance Audit - Citywide – Use and Management of Staffing Agency Employees
The purpose of this audit was to review, test, and report on the use and management of staffing agency employees by City departments for an 18-month period from July 1, 2013 through December 31, 2014.
Summary
The City of Albuquerque’s (City) spending on staffing agency employees has increased 72.5 percent in the past five years, from $6.2 million in fiscal year (FY) 2010 to $10.7 million in FY2014. The City has not assigned responsibility to one department or division to act as the “owner” for the use and management of staffing agency employees. Instead, the various user departments manage the use of staffing agency employees independently.
Most user department personnel responsible for obtaining, using, and managing staffing agency employees are not aware of the contract terms, RFB terms, and P&P related to staffing agency employees. This lack of awareness has led to inconsistent compliance with rules and regulations over obtaining, using, and managing staffing agency employees. Due to this, staffing agency employees have not been properly requested; have been used for periods longer than permitted; and have performed duties not consistent with the positions they were engaged to fill. In addition, overcharges on vendor invoices for some staffing agency employees were not identified by the user departments.
Current contracts with staffing agency vendors should be rebid. Over the last two years the City has lost two vendors, and must now rely on the two remaining vendor contracts, which have been extended at least 17 times for periods of two to six months.
Recommendations & Benefits
By appointing one City department with overall responsibility for monitoring and managing the use of staffing agency employees the City will:
- Be able to ensure all user departments are appropriately obtaining, using, and managing staffing agency employees.
- Be able to continually update rules, regulations, P&P in an effective and efficient manner.
- Be able to quickly identify and remedy any issues.
By rebidding the staffing agency employee service contracts the City will:
- Be able to obtain the most competitive pricing.
- Be able to offer user departments better customer service from the vendors.
With the exception of appointing one City department with overall responsibility for managing the use of staffing agency employees, the Chief Administrative Officer agreed with the recommendations in the report. Detailed management responses can be found in the report.