The Ohio Inspector General has issued a report of investigation today after the Ohio Governor’s Office alleged two employees at the Ohio Board of Nursing were converting accrued hours of vacation time to cash payments in excess of the amount permissible under law.

Investigators determined that over a 4-year period, the executive director of the agency was permitted to convert 544 hours of accrued vacation time to cash. As a result of the conversion, the executive director received payments over the 4-year period of more than $31,500. Over the same time period, a program manager at the agency also converted 160 hours of accrued vacation time worth more than $7,500.

As the investigation was in progress, a senior human resources officer at the Ohio Board of Nursing came forward to admit responsibility for the errors because she was still applying an outdated version of the law. Under certain circumstances, Ohio law permits state employees to convert accrued vacation time to cash payments.

Both employees have entered into agreements to recompense the state of Ohio by deducting the equivalent of the excess hours converted to cash from their accrued vacation leave balances.

Ohio Inspector General Report of Investigation file number 2015-CA00007 is now available at:

http://watchdog.ohio.gov/Investigations/2015Investigations.aspx