(Susan Walsh/AP)

The use and misuse of paid administrative leave in federal agencies is getting increased attention because of cases such as these at the Department of Homeland Security:

— A federal law enforcement officer was on leave for more than three years while being investigated on allegations of criminal and administrative misconduct. He was paid $455,000 in salary and benefits for not working.

— Another staffer, also on leave for more than three years, received about $340,000 while being investigated. After the lengthy inquiry, the agency determined it did not have sufficient evidence against the employee, who returned to duty.

— One employee was placed on administrative leave after exhibiting hostile behavior at work. The leave extended for more than 20 months because of a series of medical and psychiatric exams, requests for information and miscommunications regarding medical records. In March 2014, the employee was determined to be a threat to others and fired.

The Government Accountability Office collected these examples in a report about DHS that documents how administrative leave doesn’t always work right.

It found that 116 DHS employees were on administrative leave for personnel reasons for at least one year between fiscal 2011 and fiscal 2015. Their total estimated salary was $19.8 million.

That’s a lot of money to pay people who aren’t on the job. But not working doesn’t mean vacation time for those not allowed to work.

The report reminded me of Robert Whitmore, a former Labor Department inspector who was placed on leave for about two years while his misconduct case was investigated. He said officials rejected his request to work from home. Instead they paid his $150,000 salary for him to do nothing.

“My main goal is to get back to work and do my job,” he said at the time.

The department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration eventually got its way — to a point. Whitmore didn’t get his job back. But OSHA didn’t win, either. After a federal court overturned his firing, OSHA agreed to a settlement paying Whitmore $820,000 on top of the two years’ salary when he was on leave — a total of more than $1 million.