Unqualified hires, second jobs on sick leave: Inside Ottawa’s misconduct problem
The City of Ottawa’s fraud and waste hotline is uncovering a growing body of serious employee misconduct, including time theft, misuse of overtime and staff working second jobs while on sick leave, according to a new report from the Office of the Auditor General (OAG).
While the hotline logged slightly fewer new complaints in 2025 than the year before, investigators substantiated 57 cases of fraud, waste or serious wrongdoing — many of them tied directly to basic HR controls around attendance, overtime and supervision.
Business Integrity or Compliance issues accounted for the largest share of substantiated investigations, with 42 cases confirmed. In some of these, supervisors failed to intervene despite warning signs, resulting in “excessive amounts of overtime.”
Misuse or Misappropriation of Assets produced another 15 substantiated investigations, highlighting systemic problems with attendance management and conflict‑of‑interest controls. In one case, “a City employee was working a second job with an outside employer while on paid sick leave with the City.” In others, employees “were found to be working a second job during their working hours with the City,” misrepresenting hours worked to inflate overtime, using City vehicles for personal purposes, or being “found to be sleeping while on shift.”
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