Overview

• A state inspector general found that from March 2020 through February 2025, 10 vault operations employees logged at least two unpaid workdays per week despite duties requiring on-site handling of CTA farebox currency.
• Payments for these idle remote days totaled just under $1.13 million, including $303,932 issued after the authority’s full-time return-to-office date in May 2022.
• The report determined that managers were aware of the practice yet took no action to stop it, calling the overpayments a considerable and unnecessary waste of CTA funds.
• Following the findings, the CTA accepted all inspector general recommendations, launched a telework policy review, and saw involved managers resign or retire.
• The agency has also generated about $2.1 million in savings since 2021 by leaving vault operations vacancies unfilled as it warns of possible service cuts without new state funding.