Independent Report on Employee Benefits, Withholdings, Contributions, and Supplemental Semiannual Headcount Reporting Submitted to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management
Objective:
We performed procedures agreed upon by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management’s (OPM) Inspector General and the OPM’s Chief Financial Officer. This attestation engagement is an annual requirement of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget.
Our objective was to assist the OPM in assessing the reasonableness of U.S. Postal Service employee health benefits, life insurance, and retirement withholdings; Postal Service benefit contributions; and enrollment information submitted via the headcount report.
This report is not suitable for any other purpose.
What the OIG Found
We performed the procedures agreed upon by the OPM’s Inspector General and the Chief Financial Officer to assist the OPM in assessing the reasonableness of health benefits, life insurance, and retirement withholdings; Postal Service benefit contributions; and enrollment information submitted via the headcount report.
We identified issues related to health benefit subscription rates, life insurance elections, military deposits headcounts, and life insurance reporting.
Specifically:
- The OPM did not issue official subscription rates for the health benefit plan elected by three of 25 employees reviewed.
- We could not verify life insurance elections for one of 25 employees reviewed.
- The difference between the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General (OIG) recalculated headcount for military deposits and that reported by the Postal Service for one headcount report exceeded the OPM’s reportable threshold.
- The difference between the Postal Service OIG recalculated withholdings for Option C – Family Life Insurance and withholdings reported by the Postal Service for one selected pay period exceeded OPM’s reportable threshold.
As a result of our engagement, the Postal Service took corrective action on two of the four findings identified in this report: life insurance election form and military deposits headcount.
The health benefits subscription rate finding is a result of an OPM omission. The optional life insurance withholdings finding is a result of methodology differences recognized by the OPM. Neither of these findings require Postal Service action.
We were not engaged to perform, and did not perform, an examination or review, the objective of which would have been the expression of an opinion or conclusion, respectively, on the withholdings and contributions for health benefits, life insurance, and retirement, or enrollment information. Accordingly, we do not express such an opinion or conclusion. Had we performed additional procedures, we might have found other matters that we would have reported.
What the OIG Recommended
This report is provided for information only, and we offered no recommendations. Accordingly, no management action is required.