The Social Security Administration paid nearly $1.5 million in wages to 16 employees who were not working while facing misconduct or criminal charges, according to the agency's inspector general.

In a report released July 29, the IG said that paid administrative leave is meant to be used on a limited basis, so agencies can give potentially dangerous or criminal employees a month's advance notice that they will be indefinitely suspended. But the IG's report said 16 SSA employees were paid for months of work they didn't do between October 2005 and January 2009.

One employee was on paid leave and earned $66,664 for two years before SSA fired him. Another earned $206,123 for 65 weeks of paid leave before he was fired.

Two other employees, who worked at an unidentified call center, were arrested at their office for trying to blackmail other employees and placed on leave in February 2007. One employee was paid $14,634 over six months he didn't work; the other made $56,159 during his 16 months of leave. Both employees were fired.

In 11 of the 16 cases the IG studied, agency officials said there was no documentation to explain or justify the extended administrative leave.

The IG criticized SSA for not having firm policies in place governing extended administrative leave use. SSA didn't require documentation supporting the decision to grant extended administrative leave, and it was often granted based on a manager's verbal approval.

SSA agreed with the IG's findings and said it would set specific policies on the use of extended administrative leave, and review any employee granted 40 or more continuous hours of administrative leave.