We performed our inspection to determine whether the U.S. Department of Education (Department) ensured that contractors and grantees notified employees in writing of the whistleblower protections provided under 41 United States Code 4712 (Section 4712).
We found that the Department did not adequately ensure that contractors and grantees notified employees in writing of the protections provided under Section 4712. Specifically, we found that the Department did not always include the required contractor employee whistleblower protections clause in contract awards, did not include a sufficient reference to whistleblower protections in its Grant Award Notifications, and did not have a process in place to ensure that contractors and grantees actually notified their employees of the whistleblower protections.
We made four recommendations to improve the Department’s activities relating to its compliance with requirements relating to whistleblower protections for contractor and grantee employees. This included developing and implementing a process for ensuring that applicable employees receive written notification of their whistleblower protections and ensuring that Department acquisition staff are aware of applicable Department policies and Federal Acquisition Regulation requirements