DHR Director to face further questioning

lynn
Now that the director of the government’s hiring and firing agency has been confirmed, the House Government Operations Committee is bringing her back to the House for questioning about a range of topics.
The committee will ask Director of the Dept. of Human Resources Pulou Alaimalo about a variety of issues including the rollbacks on promotions and pay increases, the true number of government employees, whether contract workers are taking part in the Retirement Fund and the status of youth employed under the CARES Act.
Committee Chairman Rep. Faimealelei Anthony Allen said last week that House members have a lot of questions about changes made by the DHR Director and its best that they ask her directly.
The chairman gave a list of information that he wants the director to provide when she appears before the Government Operations committee on Thursday morning:
  • A copy of a letter informing employees of the rollback in promotions and pay increases
  • A copy of a letter informing employees whose evaluations were carried out last year, that the evaluations would be put on hold for 30 days when they would be given new evaluations
  • The status of new ASG employees hired under CARES Act funding. (According to Rep. Faimealelei the employees were to work for six months. However, he understands that many of the youth employees have been released despite the program funding being extended to the end of the year.)
  • The exact number of ASG employees. (Faimealelei noted that during the DHR Director’s confirmation hearing she said there were 6,000+ ASG employees. Treasurer Malemo Tausaga put the number at 4,000.)
  • The number of contract employees on the government payroll and whether they have been granted membership to the American Samoa Government Employees Retirement Fund. (American Samoa law prohibits contract employees from becoming members of the fund.)
Director Pulou Alaimalo is to be questioned by the House Government Operations Committee at 8:30 am this Thursday