By admin 
The California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery is tightening oversight of employee rental car use following a State Auditor Office report that revealed a staffer used a state-rented vehicle on a suspended license, costing taxpayers thousands of dollars.
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An employee at CalRecycle had their driver’s license suspended in March 2025 and did not inform their employer of the change, as required, according to the Auditor’s Office. The employee, who wasn’t identified in the report, also rented vehicles on 116 days she wasn’t supposed to work. The state paid nearly $22,000 on the staffer’s vehicle rentals from April 1, 2025, to April 27, 2026.
In a statement Monday morning, CalRecycle spokesperson Chris McSwain said it’s taking steps to recover costs.
“CalRecycle takes the appropriate use of state resources seriously,” McSwain said in a statement. “The department has taken prompt action to strengthen its state-vehicle approval, tracking, and monitoring protocols. These improvements are designed to prevent similar issues from recurring and to ensure system-wide safeguards that protect state resources.”
The Auditor’s Office reports the scenario could have been avoided if the employee was enrolled in the Department of Motor Vehicles’ notice program, which would have alerted CalRecycle of the staffer’s suspended license. Investigators determined four branches within CalRecycle had some responsibility to enroll the employee, who has resigned, in the notice program.
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Many CalRecycle employees rent vehicles to drive to inspection sites. These staffers conduct on-site inspections to ensure beverage salespersons and recyclers comply with the California Beverage Container Recycling and Litter Reduction Act.
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In light of the probe, the Auditor’s Office asked CalRecycle to pursue collecting recoverable costs from the employee, identify employees who can be tracked by the DMV notice program and develop policies to ensure participation in that program.
Lackluster communication between the employee’s supervisor and human resources played a role in the staffer not signing up for the DMV notice program, according to the auditor’s report.
“The supervisor told us that the job postings for these employees include the requirement to participate in the DMV notice program and that she assumed that the Human Resources Branch completed the process to enroll newly hired employees,” the report said.
None of the supervisor’s staffers were enrolled in the program, according to the audit. Concerns about the employee’s conduct were reported to human resources by the supervisor after they overheard the employee discuss related details with another staffer.
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