Beginning in 1998, members of Congress asked Inspectors General to provide an assessment of the most serious management challenges facing their respective agencies. For the next several years, the OIG compiled a list of the top management and performance challenges and forwarded them to the Congress.
In 2001, this requirement was codified in the Reports Consolidation Act of 2000. This Act requires the Office of Inspector General to prepare a statement that summarizes what the Inspector General considers to be the most serious management challenges facing the Department of Labor. The Act also requires that this statement be included, unmodified, in the Department's Annual Report on Performance and Accountability.
Listed below are the challenges that the OIG sent to the Congress since 1998. Since 2001, the Top Management and Performance Challenges report has been included in the Department's Annual Report on Performance and Accountability, along with the Department's response. Beginning in FY 2005, the Departmental response is throughout its Annual Report and is not a separate document.