Baltimore’s inspector general says 15 city employees collected a combined $312,555.86 while on “permission leave” or in extended separation status, according to a public synopsis released Tuesday. The review, which tallied payouts to Mayor’s Office staff and agency employees, flagged inconsistent use of administrative leave and the city's lack of a formal policy on how separation agreements should work.
According to the Office of the Inspector General, the investigation started in 2025 after a complaint, then widened to examine permission-leave practices across city agencies dating back to Jan. 1, 2024. In synopsis Case #26-0025-I, investigators found that five Mayor’s Office employees were paid about $147,264.90 for 276 workdays while on permission leave. The OIG also reported instances where employees appeared to stay on the payroll beyond their last day of actually reporting for work.
As WMAR‑2 News reported, the synopsis breaks out more numbers: two agency directors received $35,668.35 for 42 workdays, and two additional employees, one in the City Administrator’s Office and one in the Mayor’s Office, were paid a combined $53,007.54 after their reported separation dates. Across other agencies, eight employees received about $76,615.07 for 229 workdays, bringing the total permission-leave payout to $312,555.86.
Mayor’s Office responds
The Mayor’s Office told local outlets that administrative leave requests go through what it described as a “regular and well‑established” process and that tools such as leave and severance are used to manage employment matters. As FOX45/WBFF noted, the city said administrative leave is “granted equitably across the entire City workforce” and added that it will work with the appropriate authorities to ensure the process is fair.
What the watchdog recommends
The OIG is urging the city to adopt an equitable, written policy that governs permission, or administrative leave, along with a separate written policy for separation agreements, in order to avoid perceptions of unequal treatment. The synopsis warns that without clear guardrails, “discretionary” uses of permission leave could be viewed as unfair. It asks the Office of the Labor Commissioner and the Department of Human Resources to collaborate on formal guidance. The watchdog also notes that some separation agreements appear to rely on permission leave as a tool to reduce litigation risk for the city.
Context: oversight and access
The release points out that the investigation wrapped up before the city curtailed the OIG’s direct access to certain records earlier this year, a move that has already sparked legal challenges and debate on the City Council. For background on that broader fight, see coverage of the council vote to block a fast‑track charter change related to the inspector general’s access.
City leaders now have to decide whether to preserve a flexible toolkit for handling employee separations or to put firm rules in writing that make those decisions more transparent and consistent. The OIG’s synopsis leaves the next steps to city management and the Department of Human Resources, which are tasked with formalizing policies on both administrative leave and separation agreements.
