The Office of the Comptroller of Puerto Rico issued a qualified opinion on the fiscal operations of the Office of Administration and Transformation of the Human Resources of the Government of Puerto Rico. A qualified opinion is issued when the instances of non-compliance, individually or in the aggregate, are significant but not pervasive.
The Report reveals that the Office of Administration and Transformation of the Human Resources (OATRH) did not provide evidence of having enabled the systems for gathering employee information, nor of having structured a system for evaluating employees' performance, productivity, achievements, and compliance with quantifiable metrics.
The lack of these systems prevented, among other things, the government's human resources directors and employees from having access to appropriate information to expedite personnel transactions, and citizens from being able to learn the outcome of the administration of the merit principle.
This situation is attributed to the fact that the then-director, as of April 3, 2020, requested that the Office of Management and Budget transfer $1,945,000 to pay payroll, related costs, and rent debts from prior years.
The two-finding audit notes that, as of December 16, 2021, the OATRH director did not have a follow-up and audit plan to administer human resources; as of April 20, 2022, she did not have an interview system with uniform and fair compensation plans for trust employees; and as of February 28, 2023, she also did not electronically publish personnel transactions.
These situations fail to comply with several provisions established in Act 8-2017, the act that created the Office of Administration and Transformation of the Human Resources.
The auditors detected multiple deficiencies in the recording and preparation of accounts-receivable invoices. For example, gaps or jumps were identified in the numbering of invoices, by which 189 receivable invoices totaling $76,275 had not been entered in the Invoice Registry. Of a sample of 10 receivable invoices, 60% did not include the due date, nor did 20% include the transaction date.
These situations of the absence of effective control make it possible for the OATRH to be unable to carry out timely and effective management of accounts receivable, and for errors to be committed that cannot be detected in time. The OATRH offers external services for training, position analysis, and labor-related advisory services for which it issues invoices.
The Report comments that, as of June 25, 2020, the OATRH entered into a settlement and general release agreement to settle the collection of $1,444,000 from a lessor whose building continued to be occupied as a warehouse, even though the then-director had canceled the lease agreement in 2017. The Agreement stipulated the payment of $850,000 as overdue lease payments and, on August 5, 2020, formalized a new lease agreement with a monthly payment of $45,625.
The resources to finance the OATRH's operational activities come from the General Fund Joint Resolution, special appropriations, and state special funds. The OATRH received appropriations of $28,690,073, incurred expenses of $19,008,983, for a balance of $9,681,090, during fiscal years 2018 to 2023.
The Report recommends to the OATRH director that mechanisms be established to comply with the functions and powers entrusted to her by Act 8-2017.
This Audit Report covers the period from January 1, 2018, to December 31, 2022, and is available at www.ocpr.gov.pr.
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Audit Report OC-24-42 can be obtained on our website: www.ocpr.gov.pr.
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