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MEMORANDUM No. : 2010-027 Date: October 26, 2010 TO : All COA Officials and Employees

SUBJECT : Restatement with Clarifications and Amendments of COA Memorandum

No. 2009-019 dated May 14, 2009 To enhance the administrative procedures and guidelines prescribed under COA Memorandum No. 2009-019 dated May 14, 2009, re: Administrative Guidelines under the 2008 COA Organization Restructuring, a restatement with clarifications and amendments, is hereby issued. I. Official Domestic Travels, Daily Time Records, and Leave Applications

1. Official domestic travels outside of the designated official station, and with claims for traveling expenses shall be covered by a duly approved Travel Order and Itinerary of Travel. All other cases, including travels of audit personnel in the National Capital Region (NCR) outside of designated official station but still within the same Region, shall be supported with a locator slip which may be transmitted thru e-mail/fax to the approving official concerned.

2. Official domestic travels regardless of destination and duration, Daily Time Records,

and leave applications shall be approved in accordance with the delineation in Table I

Table I Approval of Official Domestic Travels, DTRs

and Leave Applications COA Personnel Documents For Approval Approving Official

Assistant Commissioner Chief Executive Staff and other Heads of Offices under the Office of the Chairman and the Office of the Commission Secretariat Director IV/Officer-in-Charge

Travel Order DTRs Leave application regardless of

duration, and with or without travel abroad

COA Chairman

Director III and Personnel with SG 26 and below

Leave application without travels abroad, exceeding six months Leave application with travel abroad, exceeding three months

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COA Personnel Documents For Approval Approving Official Staff, Office of the Chairman, and of the Office of the Commission Secretariat

Travel Order DTR Locator slips Leave application without travel abroad, not exceeding six months Leave application with travel abroad, not exceeding three months

Head of Office/Chief of Staff

Staff, Offices of the Commissioner I and II

Travel Order Leave application without travel abroad, for more than one month but not exceeding six months Leave application, with

travel abroad, not exceeding three months

COA Commissioner

Locator Slips DTRs Leave application without travel abroad, not exceeding one month

Chief of Staff

Staff, Office of the Assistant Commissioner

DTRs Leave application without travel abroad, not exceeding six months Leave application, with travel abroad, not exceeding

three months

Assistant Commissioner

Director III and Personnel with SG 25 and SG 26, including Heads of Services (Divisions)

Travel Order DTRs Locator slips Leave application without travel abroad, not exceeding six months Leave application, with

travel abroad, not exceeding three months Head of Office

Personnel with SG-24 and below (except the Support Staff of the Office of the Director)

Travel Order Leave application without travel abroad, for more than one month but not exceeding six months Leave application, with travel abroad, not

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COA Personnel Documents For Approval Approving Official exceeding three months

Support Staff of the Office of the Director (All Offices)

Travel Order DTRs Locator slips Leave application without

travel abroad not exceeding six months

Leave application with travel abroad, not exceeding three months

Director IV, or Director III upon delegation by the Director IV or in the latters absence

Personnel with SG-24 and below assigned at the Services (Division)

Leave application without travel abroad, not exceeding one month

Director III or Head of Office in the absence of Director III

Audit Team Leaders/Members, and Support Staff of the Audit Group

Leave applications without travel abroad exceeding two weeks but not more than one month

Personnel with SG-24 and below assigned at the Services (Division)

Locator Slips DTRs

Head of Services (Division)

Audit Team Leaders/Members, and Support Staff of the Audit Group

Locator Slips DTRs Leave application without travel abroad, not exceeding two weeks

Head of Audit Group/ Supervising Auditor

3. Travel orders, locator slips, DTRs, and leave applications for approval by the COA

Chairman shall be initialed by the Assistant Commissioners concerned. 4. The Regional Directors/Directors-in-Charge of COA Regional Offices may travel within

their respective regions of assignment/regional jurisdiction without prior authority from the COA Chairman however, with proper advice to the Regional Coordination Office through email or fax of their whereabouts. In case the travel within the region entails payment of per diem or allowance (i.e., travel beyond the 50-kilometer radius), the Regional Director shall secure prior authority from the COA Chairman to support said payment.

5. All official domestic travels for the purpose of attending seminars, conventions and the

like shall be approved by the COA Chairman through a signed office order.

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6. Within the month after the end of each quarter, Heads of Offices shall submit to the

Office of the Chairman a report on the Travel Orders he/she issued for the quarter, showing the following information:

a. Travel Order number and date b. Name(s), position and official station of person(s) authorized to travel c. Inclusive period of travel d. Destination e. Purpose of travel

7. Approval of leave of absence for 30 days or more without travel abroad shall be

supported by a duly approved COA Central Office Clearance in case of Central Office/NCR personnel, and by a Regional Clearance in case of all other personnel.

8. Approval of all leave applications for leave of absence for personal travel abroad shall

be supported by:

a. a duly approved COA Central Office Clearance (CCOC) issued by the Director, HRMO, regardless of place of assignment;

b. a duly approved COA Regional Office Clearance issued by the Regional

Director, in case of regional personnel; c. a duly approved auditee clearance for Audit Group Supervising Auditors,

Audit Team Leaders and Members; and d. a medical certificate in case of sick leave.

9. Applications for vacation leave without the required clearances shall be filed at least five working days before the intended absence, while applications for leave of absence with requests for personal travel abroad, regardless of duration shall be filed one month before the scheduled leave/travel to give enough time for the processing and routing of the required clearances.

II. Working Hours and Record of Attendance

1. All COA personnel shall render not less than eight hours of work a day for five days a week or a total of forty hours a week, exclusive of time for lunch. Flexible working hours allowed under COA Memorandum No. 2002-057 dated 4 October 2002 shall in no case be less than the herein prescribed number of working hours. Employees authorized by this Commission to follow the flexi-time work schedule or four-days-a-week work schedule of the agency where they are assigned are hereby reminded that regardless of their work schedule, all employees shall attend the flag-raising ceremony on Mondays and the flag retreat on Fridays.

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In case the flexi-time or four-days-a-week schedule of the audited agency provides for a day and time different from the regular schedules for the flag raising/retreat ceremonies, the COA personnel authorized to avail of such work schemes shall follow the audited agencys flag ceremony and flag retreat schedules.

2. Within three working days from the end of each month, all personnel shall sign their

DTRs and submit them with the approved leave application, locator slip, office order, reassignment order, travel order, medical certificate, clearances, or other supporting documents as may be necessary, to their immediate supervisors.

3. All records of attendance shall be summarized in the Monthly Report of Absences and

Undertimes (MRAU) in the manner prescribed under item III of this Memorandum. 4. The Chiefs of Services (Divisions), Audit Group Supervising Auditors, Audit Team

Leaders, or their designated staff, shall: a. Conduct random check on entries in the submitted DTRs against entries in the

attendance logbook;

b. Sign DTR/Bundy card certifying as to correctness of entries therein;

c. Forward to the designated staff, described under Item II.4 below, the signed DTRs/Bundy cards, together with leave applications, locator slips, office orders, reassignment orders, travel orders, medical certificates, clearances and other supporting documents within five working days from the end of the month.

5. Each Head of Office shall designate a responsible staff who shall:

a. Check completeness of documents attached to the MRAU and ensure that:

i. DTRs are signed by the personnel and the immediate supervisor;

ii. Approved leave applications, locator slips, medical certificates, and clearances are attached, where applicable;

iii. Office Orders, Reassignment Orders, Travel Orders are likewise attached, if applicable;

b. Review the computation of the undertimes and absences incurred;

c. Post leaves for the month to the Leave Cards, using the Table of Equivalents

(Annex A)

d. Balance/Update Leave Cards, add earned leave credits for the month and deduct undertimes and absences incurred;

e. Report Leave Without Pay (LWOP) to the Regional Accountant, in case of employees covered by Regional Payroll, or to the Accounting Office, Planning

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Finance and Management Sector, in case of employees covered by the Central Payroll Information System (CPIS) for salary deduction or billing;

f. Send call-up letters/memos to employees with unsubmited DTRs;

g. Prepare the MRAU discussed under Item III below, certify as to its correctness, and cause its approval by the Head of Office;

h. Ensure submission of the reviewed/approved MRAU to the HRMO following the timeline prescribed under Item III.4 below;

i. Be responsible for the safekeeping and filing of the DTRs, approved leave applications, locator slips, office orders, reassignment orders, travel orders, medical certificate, clearances and other documents supporting the MRAU and for their safekeeping, retrieval, retention, and coordination with the Records Management Services, GSO for their disposition following the approved Revised Records Disposition Schedule of the Commission;

j. Reconcile leave credit records maintained with those maintained by the Human Resource Welfare Services, HRMO.

6. The Head of Office shall have the following responsibilities insofar as MRAU

processing, leave administration and monitoring of attendance are concerned:

a. Review and approve the MRAU and cause its submission to the HRMO within the timeline prescribed under item III.4 hereof;

b. See that call-up letters are sent to employees with unsubmitted DTRs;

c. Ensure that letters are sent to personnel who are AWOL to inform/remind them of

pertinent regulations;

d. Ensure that notices concerning employees on LWOP are immediately sent to the Accounting Office/Regional Accountant to avoid salary overpayment; and

e. See that the Offices leave credit records are reconciled with those maintained by

Human Resource Welfare Services, HRMO.

7. To provide all COA personnel with a reliable basis for the determination of their attendance records and leave credits earned, and assist supervisors in monitoring attendance of their respective staff, the Director, HRMO shall:

a. Cause the recording and updating of monthly leave credit records of all COA

personnel based on the MRAUs received; and

b. Provide the Heads of Office with a quarterly summary of leave credit balances of their respective personnel for guidance in approving leave applications and for

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reconciliation with leave credit records maintained by said Offices, within ten working days from the end of the quarter.

8. Action on the requests for manual entries shall be in accordance with the following:

a. When the chronolog machine or the Bundy clock is out of order, the employee

concerned shall fill out the Request for Manual Entry form on the same day that the machine malfunctioned or is undergoing repair or maintenance, or on the next working day, if the malfunction/repair happened when he was about to log out at the end of a working day.

b. An employee may be allowed to have manual entry in his/her DTR, when, in the

interest of the service, he/she is directed to perform work continuously so that no time is left for him to pause and register in the chronolog machine or punch his DTR in the Bundy clock.

c. Request for manual entries shall be supported by the employees signature in the

attendance logbook corresponding to the period covered by his request, and the request for manual entries shall be verified and approved by the Head of Services (Division) or Head of Office concerned.

d. The immediate supervisor approving the request for manual entries shall carefully

assess the veracity of the logbook entries. Logbook entries that are clearly later insertions, or are unreasonably or suspiciously delayed in being entered in the logbook shall be discouraged and, upon repetition, be disapproved outright.

9. The Audit Group Supervising Auditors, Heads of Services/Divisions, other personnel

occupying Salary Grade 26 positions and holders of Attorney positions shall be exempt from using the Bundy clock for recording their office attendance. However, they shall register their attendance in a logbook for the purpose and prepare their DTRs to be attached to the MRAU under Item III. The exact time in coming in and going out of the office shall be reflected in both the logbook and the DTR, and the practice of simply indicating FULL TIME SERVICE in the DTR shall be discontinued and disallowed.

III. Monthly Report of Absences and Undertimes (MRAU)

1. All COA personnel shall accomplish/sign their respective DTRs for a given month within the first three days of the following month, and submit the same, together with supporting documents, if applicable, to their respective supervisors for approval/signature. COA personnel without DTR for a given month without a valid justification shall be considered AWOL for that month, and this declaration of being AWOL shall be so stated in the MRAU. For such personnel, the MRAU shall indicate NO SUBMITTED/APPROVED DTR, HENCE CONSIDERED AWOL opposite their names. This notation or indication in the MRAU may be used as basis for reporting of the personnel concerned to the Accounting Office, Planning, Finance and Management Sector (PFMS), for deletion from the payroll in accordance with Item IV of this Memorandum.

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2. The MRAU shall be certified correct by the designated staff under Item II.4 and

approved by the Head of Office. 3. The MRAU submitted to the approving official shall be supported with DTRs, and, if

applicable, approved leave applications, locator slips, office orders, reassignment orders, travel orders, medical certificates, clearances, and/or other documents.

4. The MRAU as signed by the approving officer, and without any attachment/supporting

document, shall be submitted to the Director HRMO in accordance with the following timelines:

a. Head of Office/Chief of Staff shall submit the MRAUs of the offices in the

Central Office (except those covered under Item III.4.b below) within seven working days after the end of each month.

b. For audit clusters with component audit groups/audit teams in the National

Capital Region, the Cluster Director shall submit the MRAUs within ten working days from the end of each month.

c. For Regional Offices, the Regional Directors/Directors-in-Charge shall submit

their MRAUs within 20 working days from the end of each month.

5. To ensure completeness and timeliness of the submitted MRAUs, the Head of Office who approves MRAU shall see to it that:

a. It covers all personnel in all services/divisions, audit groups, audit teams and

other component units under his/her supervision who are not yet separated from the service;

b. It is submitted with complete documentation requirements to serve as basis for his/her action - DTRs, approved leave applications, locator slips, office orders, reassignment orders, travel orders, medical certificate, clearances and other applicable documents. In case of personnel without the required documents, the unsubmitted documents shall be specified in the MRAU opposite the name of the personnel concerned, and the covering transmittal memorandum shall state the reasons for their non-submission and the action taken by the Office. These supporting documents, however, shall no longer be attached to the MRAU to be submitted to the HRMO.

c. It is submitted within the prescribed period. In case of Regional Offices, the

fastest but economical means to submit the MRAU must be employed.

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6. The MRAU shall be the basis for recording leave credits in the leave cards to be

maintained by the Offices and the Human Resource Welfare Services, HRMO. 7. Within 30 working days after the end of each month, the Director, HRMO, shall submit

to the Sector Heads and Chiefs of Staff, in case of offices in the COA Central Office, and to the Head of the Regional Coordination Office for regional offices, a report on the status of submission of the MRAUs, for their information/monitoring.

IV. Notification of Absences Without Approved Leave, Habitual Absenteeism Without Sufficient Leave Credits and Non-Submission of DTRs

1. To avoid the incurrence of overpayment of salaries, it shall be the responsibility of those

who have immediate supervision over the personnel concerned to notify immediately the HRMO, Administration Sector, and the Accounting Office, Planning, Finance and Management Sector, of the personnel concerned in the following circumstances:

a. Habitual absences exceeding the allowable 2.5 days monthly leave credits under

the Leave Law for at least three (3) months in a semester or at last three (3) consecutive months during the year (per CSC Memorandum Circular No. 23, s. 1998; or

b. Continuous absences covering a period of 30 or more calendar days without

approved leave application (per CSC Memorandum Circular No. 12, s. 1994 and COA Memorandum No. 83-340) and with insufficient leave credits; or

c. Approved leave of absence and/or personal travel abroad of personnel whose

leave credit balance is insufficient to cover the period of leave of absence and/or travel; or

d. One month or 30 calendar days or longer of continued absence after expiration of

an approved leave of absence; or e. Non-submission of DTR for a period or one month or more.

V. Leave of Absence Without Pay and Automatic Separation from the Service 1. Leave of absence without pay not exceeding one year may be granted, in addition to the

vacation and sick leave earned, in accordance with Sec. 57 of the Revised Omnibus Rules on Leave. Pursuant to the same Section of the Revised Omnibus Rules on Leave, leave of absence without pay in excess of one month shall be supported with a COA Central Office Clearance, in addition to the Regional Clearance, in case of those assigned outside of the National Capital Region.

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2. If an official or employee who is on an approved leave of absence without pay fails to report for work at the expiration of one year from the date of such leave, he shall be considered automatically separated from the service, i.e., without the need of a prior notice, pursuant to Sec. 62 of the Revised Omnibus Rules on Leave.

3. Three months before the expiration of the approved one-year leave of absence with pay,

the Director, HRMO shall inform in writing the employee concerned about the impending expiration of his leave and call his attention to the above-cited provision on automatic separation. If the employee concerned fails to report for work at the expiration of his one-year leave of absence without pay, the Director, HRMO shall prepare a memorandum recommending to the COA Chairman the employees automatic separation from the service. This formal letter, however, shall not be considered as a prerequisite for the automatic separation in accordance with Sec. 62 of the Revised Omnibus Rules on Leave.

VI. Administrative Sanctions

1. Based on the report of the Head of Office concerned on an employee who has committed

the offenses cited in Item IV.1 without valid justification, the Director, HRMO, shall advise, within the month before the final preparation of the payroll, the Accounting Office, PFMS, or the Regional Director, to effect the deletion of the name of the employee concerned from the payroll, furnishing a copy to the employee concerned and to the Head of the Office concerned.

2. Non-compliance with the provisions under Items II, III.1 and IV hereof may be a

ground for the institution of administrative action against the official or employee concerned pursuant to Section 67 of the Omnibus Rules on Leave (Rule XVI of the Omnibus Rules Implementing Book V of EO 29).

VII. Repealing Clause

1. Provisions of COA Memorandum No. 2009-019 dated May 14, 2009, COA

Memorandum No. 2002-046 dated August 13, 2002, and other previous COA issuances that are inconsistent herewith are deemed amended or superseded.

ADM/HRMO LMC/RSL/NBC/MQL