PorkChopSandwiches
03-20-2015, 02:08 PM
Employees of Amtrak, the publically-funded railroad service, earned themselves a round of bonuses because their agency only lost $214 million last year.
A second set of bonuses was scrapped after Amtrak fell far short of its customer satisfaction goals, according to the agency's inspector general.
Amtrak handed out $11.2 million in bonuses as part of a short-term incentive program, which was designed to reward staff if they managed to keep operating losses under $305 million in 2014.
The other half of the incentive program would have seen millions in additional bonuses showered on employees had they been able to satisfy 84.25 percent of their customers.
Perhaps because that was considered a lofty goal, Amtrak said it would still pay a partial round of bonuses if customer satisfaction levels had reached 83.5 percent. Customer satisfaction sat at 81 percent last year.
Amtrak overpaid employee bonuses by $36,907 to 32 staff members, the report said.
Even so, the agency declined to reclaim its overpayments. The railroad service's management "opted not to collect overpayments," Amtrak said in comments on the report, because "payments were made to employees who were underpaid."
The agency also had little in the way of a plan when it began the incentive program.
"Award-payment policies and procedures for certain cases were developed as the process was being implemented," the inspector general found.
The report acknowledged the possibility of a similar set of bonuses being approved for 2015.
A second set of bonuses was scrapped after Amtrak fell far short of its customer satisfaction goals, according to the agency's inspector general.
Amtrak handed out $11.2 million in bonuses as part of a short-term incentive program, which was designed to reward staff if they managed to keep operating losses under $305 million in 2014.
The other half of the incentive program would have seen millions in additional bonuses showered on employees had they been able to satisfy 84.25 percent of their customers.
Perhaps because that was considered a lofty goal, Amtrak said it would still pay a partial round of bonuses if customer satisfaction levels had reached 83.5 percent. Customer satisfaction sat at 81 percent last year.
Amtrak overpaid employee bonuses by $36,907 to 32 staff members, the report said.
Even so, the agency declined to reclaim its overpayments. The railroad service's management "opted not to collect overpayments," Amtrak said in comments on the report, because "payments were made to employees who were underpaid."
The agency also had little in the way of a plan when it began the incentive program.
"Award-payment policies and procedures for certain cases were developed as the process was being implemented," the inspector general found.
The report acknowledged the possibility of a similar set of bonuses being approved for 2015.