News from the Whitehouse: On October 5, 2012, President Obama signed the Government Charge Card Abuse Prevention Act of 2012, Pub.L. 112-194. Most of the provisions of the statute were aimed at tightening up financial controls for federal agencies’ travel credit card programs in response to perceived abuses. Of particular relevance to federal employees is section 3 of Pub.L. 112-194, which in part requires that “each executive agency shall provide for appropriate adverse personnel actions to be imposed in cases in which employees of the executive agency fail to comply with applicable travel charge card terms and conditions or applicable agency regulations or commit fraud with respect to a travel charge card, including removal in appropriate cases.”
This provision potentially requires federal agencies to modify their tables of penalties so that all penalties, including removal, be considered in adverse actions for travel credit card violations–even on the first offense. Federal employees who have been issued travel credit cards should take special care to ensure their compliance with the relevant regulations.
If you are a current federal employee who has received a proposed adverse action relating to travel credit card issues or any alleged infraction, and would like to discuss your rights, please contact the law firm of [nap_names id=”FIRM-NAME-6″] & [nap_names id=”FIRM-NAME-4″], P.C. to request a consultation.
