When government employees are suspected of workplace misconduct, they are routinely placed on paid administrative leave while internal investigations are conducted, and the result can be costly to taxpayers. For example, a recent Government Accountability Office study — first reported by The Washington Post in October — found that between 2010 and 2013, some 57,000 federal workers had been placed on paid leave for a month or more at a cost surpassing $775 million. In some cases, employees are “exonerated,” but the financial toll remains.