GPRA Annual Performance Plan Fiscal Year 2000

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

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Introduction

This is the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's second Annual Performance Plan under the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA). The preparation of two documents helped us clarify measures for this fiscal year 2000 Annual Performance Plan: our fiscal year 1999 Annual Performance Plan and our fiscal year 2001 Budget Request to Congress, where we fully integrated our GPRA measures for 1999-2001 with our budget information and request.

Since being sworn-in as Chairwoman of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) on October 23, 1998, Ida L. Castro has implemented an innovative agenda to increase the fairness, effectiveness, and efficiency of all aspects of agency operations by developing a Comprehensive Strategic Enforcement Model. The Model is designed to efficiently and effectively carry out Commission policy, as articulated in the National Enforcement Plan (NEP) ratified by the Commission in February 1996. The Model focuses on expanding outreach, education, and technical assistance to a broad range of stakeholders, seeking to prevent discrimination in the first instance, and on pursuing fair and vigorous enforcement against "bad actors" to ensure that EEOC is the nation's premier civil rights enforcement agency.

The first application of the Model was the agency's development and initial piloting of a Comprehensive Enforcement Program (CEP) in the private-sector administrative and litigation processes in fiscal year 1999. Under the CEP, all resources are strategically linked to deliver fair, effective and efficient service to the public.

With this ambitious agenda, the agency began to re-evaluate its mission and goals in the Commission's current 6-year Strategic Plan prepared under the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 (GPRA. The Plan's mission statement did not clearly articulate our intention to do all that we could to remove the vestiges of employment discrimination at the workplace. In preparing our fiscal year 2001 Budget Request and GPRA Annual Performance Plan, we determined that the Plan's mission statement needed to be rephrased. Since the Commission will implement its new 6-year Strategic Plan by fiscal year 2001, the fiscal year 2001 budget and planning cycle and this final version of our fiscal year 2000 Annual Performance Plan presented timely opportunities to restate the mission statement.

EEOC's new Mission Statement clearly and concisely conveys to employers and employees alike that the Commission can not, and will not, tolerate any form or level of employment discrimination covered by laws implemented by the agency. Although the statement expresses a noble and some would say unattainable goal, the Commission believes, instead, that the goal embodies the hopes and dreams of our society expressed in our founding documents the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States of America, as well as the statutes EEOC has been entrusted to enforce.

In addition to the restated Mission Statement, we significantly enhanced the collaborative development of our budget and planning documents during the fiscal year 2000 cycle. We continued this process further for our fiscal year 2001 Budget Request. These steps strengthen our commitment to the principles of the Government Performance and Results Act by aligning our budget/planning processes.

Also, this Annual Performance Plan, like our first Plan, was developed by agency employees as an inherently governmental function, and no non-federal assistance was involved in its preparation. Finally, we do not request any waivers to administrative requirements to provide managerial flexibility.

GENERAL GOAL I:

Promote Equal Opportunity in Employment by Enforcing the Federal Civil Rights Employment Laws Through Administrative and Judicial Actions

GOAL I.A.

Improve the effectiveness of the administrative process and litigation program, including the use of mediation,in private-sector enforcement activities utilizing charge prioritization and National Enforcement Plan priorities.

Discussion

The Commission achieved many noteworthy accomplishments in fiscal year 1999 supporting EEOC's story of success. The story, however, is incomplete. Historically, the agency's greatest challenge has been to effectively address a large number of private-sector charges with limited resources. Our history has shown that any hesitation in providing EEOC with the necessary means to sustain its current level of effort (i.e., covering all mandatory cost increases), not to mention additional resources needed for improving service to the public, adversely impact on the agency's noble mission for years to come. Because EEOC's enacted fiscal year 2000 budget did not fully cover basic expenses, the significant gains made in agency programs and operations with fiscal year 1999 funding will suffer,endangering the Commission's progress, particularly with the Comprehensive Enforcement Program (CEP). The measures for the private sector enforcement programs, as well as in all other areas of this Annual Performance Plan, reflect the funding reality for fiscal year 2000. We intend, however, to continue making as much progress as we can in the implementation of the CEP.

The Commission's successful implementation of our Priority Charge Handling Procedures (PCHP) has resulted in the dramatic reduction of our charge inventory and a significant improvement in the management of our case load. In fiscal year 2000 the Commission will continue its efforts to bring an integrated and strategic approach to all of the Commission's work, and instill a culture of customer service excellence throughout the entire organization. The modest funding increase for fiscal year 2000, however, affects our ability to continue the implementation of these initiatives to the fullest extent anticipated when we launched them in fiscal year 1999.

We will continue to implement this strategic enforcement approach in both the private and federal sector programs in two ways. First, the agency will continue implementing its Comprehensive Enforcement Program (CEP) a program designed to implement the agency's Comprehensive Strategic Enforcement Model for integrated enforcement of the laws it enforces. Second, we will build stronger relationships with partners in the public and private sectors, including the business community, private bar, State and local agencies, civil rights groups, unions, and other employee groups through outreach programs to educate, train, and provide technical assistance to increase voluntary compliance with anti-discrimination laws.

Under the CEP, all resources are strategically linked to deliver fair, effective, and efficient service to the public, in order to maximize implementation of the agency's National Enforcement Plan (NEP), adopted by the Commission in fiscal year 1996. As a result of these initiatives, the agency made significant accomplishments in fiscal year 1999 and is close to achieving many core performance measures, demonstrated by the following:

• Reductions continued in private sector charge inventories and average charge processing times. In fiscal year 1999, the inventory was reduced 30% to approximately 40,200 charges, and the average time to resolve charges declined from 310 days to 265 days;
• Increases in the number of charges successfully resolved through mediation continued as EEOC's voluntary mediation program steadily gained in acceptance and approval by employers and employees. In fiscal year 1999, the agency more than tripled the number of successful mediations to 4,833 and has already achieved ahead of schedule a major goal to mediate charges within 90 days on average charges are being mediated within just 87 days on average;
• Refinements to EEOC's private-sector enforcement processes began to take hold under the Comprehensive Enforcement Program (CEP) with its operational emphasis on increased collaboration among outreach, investigatory, and legal staff in all phases of the agency's work. CEP has resulted in a greater value-added program for victims of discrimination and employers alike by improving customer service, increasing technical assistance, and investing resources strategically to optimize use of all tools available to the EEOC to accomplish its mission. Consequently, more persons have benefitted and more dollars have been obtained from EEOC's activities. For example, resolutions showing a favorable outcome for the charging party increased from 12.4% in fiscal year 1998 to nearly 17% in fiscal year 1999 and dollar benefits from mediation, settlements of all kinds, and litigation reached an all-time high of $307 million;
• Emphasis on providing technical assistance to stakeholders most in need of EEOC's services achieved better voluntary compliance with employment discrimination laws. In fiscal year 1999, EEOC provided 46,500 private-sector employer representatives with technical assistance. The agency's Small Business Initiative focused on small to mid-sized businesses which employ most workers and often lack the professional human resources capabilities to implement fair and effective employment policies and practices. EEOC's efforts are forging a stronger working relationship with this important and growing sector of the employment community bringing in stakeholders and expanding the dialogue critical to EEOC's goal of equal employment opportunity for all at the workplace;
• With the additional resources in fiscal year 1999, the average waiting time for federal employee hearings declinedfrom 20.8 months to 12.7 months. Early in fiscal year 2000, EEOC began implementation of the revised 29 C.F.R. 1614 regulations, which will result in further improvements to federal sector program equal employment opportunity case processing activities; and,
• Enhancements to EEOC's technological capabilities in fiscal year 1999 meant that all 50 field offices will be connected to headquarters and each other electronically so that staff will finally be able to communicate and share information more effectively by the end of fiscal year 2000.

Our Goal I.A. measures will help us concentrate our efforts on critical areas of the enforcement process. The Commission believes that achieving these measures will result in more effective enforcement of employment discrimination laws.

We will devote resources to improve our processes so that charging parties and employers receive better and more timely resolution of charges. Measures #4 and #5 are designed to help achieve this important purpose.

Several measures (measures #1 and #3) are aimed at eliminating discrimination that involves multiple aggrieved parties or discriminatory policies in the work place. These types of charges and cases can have a broad impact in the private- sector and a successful outcome can improve the climate for equal employment opportunity. These measures enable the Commission to carefully weigh all of its priorities and ensure in its work load a proper mix of complex or issue-oriented private- sector charges and litigation that require more resources.

The Commission will continue its mediation program in fiscal year 2000, clearly demonstrating our continuing commitment to this approach (Measure #2). We believe that mediation can assist in the resolution of appropriate charges to the benefit of both charging parties and employers, while fulfilling the agency's mission to promote equal opportunity in employment.

MEASURES - GOAL I.A.

1. At least 12% of Category "A" charge resolutions will involve multiple aggrieved parties or discriminatory policies.
2. Extend offers to mediate, using the Alternative Dispute Resolution( ADR) Program, to at least 50% of all appropriate charges received in the fiscal year.
3. Thirty two percent (32%) of the cases filed in court during the fiscal year involve multiple aggrieved parties or discriminatory policies.
4. Increase the timeliness of service to the public by reducing the average processing time for private-sector charges in the administrative process to approximately 220 days.
5. Increase to 20% the proportion of resolved private-sector charges that benefit victims of discrimination.

GOAL I.B.

Improve the processing of Federal-sector EEO complaints, appeal actions, and affirmative employment procedures.

Discussion

On August 10, 1999, Chairwoman Castro announced initiatives to transform EEOC's federal sector by extending Comprehensive Enforcement Program (CEP) concepts to this program. The CEP provides a focus for implementing the revised federal sector regulation, which was effective on November 9, 1999. In contrast to the private sector, where EEOC conducts all activities from prevention through enforcement, in the federal sector an individual files a charge with his/her own agency and can request a hearing at EEOC after 180 days. They can also file an appeal with EEOC.

The federal sector CEP maximizes resources to eliminate discrimination in the federal government by linking all of EEOC's responsibilities outreach, complaint adjudication, on- site reviews, training, technical assistance and data collection. In addition to CEP implementation in EEOC, improvements in the comprehensiveness and quality of data submitted by federal agencies, the implementation of regulatory changes requiring agencies to offer Alternative Dispute Resolution ( ADR), and other changes will further enhance the quality of the federal sector program.

A General Accounting Office report (GAO/GGD-98- 167BR) recognized EEOC's expanding federal sector workload and the fact that it will continue to grow in the future if nothing is done to stem it. In our fiscal year 2000 Budget Request, the Commission presented the critical issue of rapid increases in complaints in the Commission's federal sector hearings and appeals workloads, despite extraordinary productivity by its attorneys since 1994. While EEOC has focused extensively on addressing the workload problems in the federal sector program, including revising regulation 29 C.F.R. 1614, we will be unable to effectuate improvements to meet the 180-day requirement in the regulation without the necessary funding. The funding was an important factor for bring case-processing results in the federal sector program to a level comparable to the results we expect to achieve in the private sector program by the end of fiscal year 2001.

To foster federal agency involvement in designing improvements to their processes, EEOC is co-sponsoring a task force with Vice President Gore's National Partnership for Reinventing Government (NPR), which was initiated in fiscal year 1999 and will complete its work in fiscal year 2000. The task force has been identifying best practices, promoting pilots to utilize information technology to track progress through the system, and other innovative methods to improve the federal sector processes.

The CEP provides the framework for utilizing the EEOC/NPR interagency task force to accelerate changes under the new regulations. EEOC will work with agencies choosing to initiate pilot projects to improve their EEO programs, and task force teams will address the following:

• The Dispute Prevention Strategies Team will recommend approaches to reduce or eliminate factors leading to disputes that result in EEO complaints. Dispute Prevention will also assist employees and agency officials in creating a better work environment for focusing energies on accomplishing agency objectives.
• The Data Collection Team will improve the accuracy, usefulness, timeliness, and efficiency of data collected from agencies on the EEO process. This data provides critical information for the EEOC, agencies, and the public to assess results achieved in the federal EEO process. The team was formed as part of the task force to address the issue of the validity and verification of data sent to the EEOC by federal agencies, which was raised by GAO in a published report (GAO/GGD-99-75).
• The Best Practices Team will identify methods, techniques, procedures, and policies contributing to an improved EEO climate and complaint process. This information can help jump-start agencies to quickly improve parts of their EEO process with the confidence that similar approaches worked elsewhere.
• The Early Dispute Resolution Team will identify and recommend early intervention techniques, in addition to mediation, that can resolve disputes. These efforts can yield significant benefits for the agency as a whole and for managers and employees involved in disputes with the potential to increase productivity, save resources, and improve morale.

CEP implementation will transform the federal sector EEO program, through implementation of the new regulations, the joint federal task force, and a revitalized EEOC federal sector program that strategically utilizes headquarters and field resources.

Several measures for this Goal commit the agency to reduce the time it takes to process hearings and appeals (measures #2, #3, and #4). Other measures will help to develop better future measures for evaluating agency results in this program under the revised federal sector regulations (measure #1), and to review federal agency compliance with equal employment opportunity principles by conducting more on-site reviews (measure #6).

In particular, measure #1 is important to assess the implementation and impact of the revised regulations. The revised regulations cover the processing of federal sector EEO complaints and present unique challenges for the Commission and other federal agencies during their implementation in fiscal year 2000. In anticipation of this challenge, the Commission developed eight measures in fiscal year 1999 to lay the groundwork for designing future, results-based measures under GPRA.

The Commission will use the 8 measures to assess critical areas of the federal EEO process by guiding the collection and analyses of information in fiscal year 2000 to determine the effectiveness of the revised regulations after their implementation. These measures are:

• Overall Effectiveness Measure: compare the federal agency's acceptance rate of EEOC's Administrative Judges decisions under the former version and the revised 29 C.F.R. 1614 regulations.
• Hearings Measure: the average processing time of case closures involving decisions issued without a formal hearing compared to the overall average processing time of all hearings case closures.
• Appeals Measure: the percentage of final federal agency orders not fully implementing an EEOC decision after implementation of the revised 29 C.F.R. 1614 regulations compared to rejections/modifications of decisions under the former version of the regulations.
• ADR Measures:
  • the rate of pre-complaint ADR resolutions compared to ADR resolutions after a formal complaint is filed; and
  • the degree to which those federal agencies, not having an ADR program before the effective date of the revised 1614 regulations, subsequently implement one.
• Remedies and Relief Measure: the percentage of final federal agency orders which do not fully implement a decision of an EEOC Administrative Judge awarding remedies, including attorney's fees.
• Consolidation of Complaints Measure: the percentage of cases consolidated in the hearings inventory.
• Elimination of Appeal of Partial Dismissal Measure: the reduction of appeals dismissed due to procedural defects.

We believe that the implementation of Alternative Dispute Resolution ( ADR)procedures will help resolve federal employee concerns earlier and reduce the number of complaints proceeding further in the process, as in the private-sector. This result will help both individual federal agencies and the Commission free resources for other endeavors. Many federal agencies already have implemented or have plans to implement ADR programs in the EEO process. Therefore, our final measure for this Goal will assist some of the smaller agencies, that do not currently have an ADR program, implement one so that they can benefit from this approach (measure #5)..

MEASURES - GOAL I.B.

1. Implement measures and indicators identified or developed in fiscal year 1999 to assess the effectiveness of revisions made to the Federal-Sector EEO Process during fiscal year 1999.
2. By the end of fiscal year 2000, reduce by 5% the number of Hearings cases over 180 days old as of the beginning of the fiscal year.
3. Twenty percent (20%) of total closures are from the oldest group of appeals cases in EEOC's inventory.
4. Ten percent (10%) of appeals received during the fiscal year will be resolved within 180 days.
5. Provide technical assistance to at least 5 federal agencies to develop an ADR program.
6. Conduct 14 on-site evaluations of federal agency EEO programs.

GOAL I.C.

Work with State and local Fair Employment Practices Agencies and Tribal Employment Rights Organizations.

Discussion

The Commission has diligently worked over the years with our Fair Employment Practices Agency (FEPA) and Tribal Employment Rights Organization (TERO) partners to address employment discrimination. We are committed to continuing this relationship. Key measures for fiscal year 2000 are to provide training on emerging issues in charge processing for FEPA officials at a National Training Conference; to distribute training materials covering at least 2 employment discrimination subjects to each FEPA with an EEOC charge resolution contract; and to continue technical assistance for FEPAs and TEROs (measure #1). Also, the agency will continue its important contractual arrangements with our FEPA partners to resolve over 53,000 dual-filed charges (measure #2)..

MEASURES - GOAL I.C.

1. Provide training for FEPAs and Tribal Employment Rights Organizations (TEROs), and distribute training materials covering at least 2 employment discrimination subjects to each FEPA with which EEOC has a charge resolution contract.
2. Contract with FEPA partners to resolve approximately 53,000 dual-filed charges.

GENERAL GOAL II:

Promote Equal Opportunity in Employment by Enforcing the Federal Civil Rights Employment Laws Through Education and Technical Assistance

GOAL II.A.

Encourage and facilitate voluntary compliance with equal employment opportunity laws in the private and federal sectors.

Discussion

Throughout its history, the Commission has strongly promoted voluntary compliance by employers with federal equal employment opportunity laws to foster the prevention of discrimination before it occurs. We provide education and technical assistance to employers and the many other constituencies interested in or affected by our interpretations of law and how we do our work to encourage voluntary compliance.

We have also benefitted, however, from the ongoing dialogue we have had with these constituencies about our policies and procedures. This dialogue helps us develop better approaches to prompt voluntary compliance. In fiscal year 1999, we conducted a substantial number of these consultations with employers and groups, far exceeding our goal in this area. We will continue to seek input from these groups at the level achieved in fiscal year 1999 (measure #1).

As part of our comprehensive outreach plan, our measures also commit us to assist these groups, fostering voluntary compliance with the equal employment opportunity laws. Again, we achieved extremely high levels of education and technical assistance in fiscal year 1999, including our Revolving Fund efforts. For fiscal year 2000, our measures reflect our commitment to maintain those high levels supporting voluntary compliance (measures #2 and #3). In addition, we will implement the outreach plan developed in fiscal year 1999, proactively distributing our education and technical assistance materials to private-sector employers, particularly small employers, and to federal-sector employers (measure #4).

MEASURES - GOAL II.A.

1. Conduct at least 1,200 consultations with employer stakeholders on operational and legal issues; maintaining the high level of consultations held in fiscal year 1999.
2. Conduct 175 Revolving Fund activities for private-sector and federal-sector employers.
3. Conduct at least 46,500 technical assistance efforts, other than Revolving Fund activities, for private-sector and federal-sector employers; maintaining the high level of technical assistance provided in fiscal year 1999.
4. Implement, as part of the agency's comprehensive outreach efforts, the plan developed in fiscal year 1999 to provide education and technical assistance and to proactively distribute EEOC's education and information materials to the public, including small private-sector employers, and to federal-sector employers.

GOAL II.B.

Increase knowledge about individual rights under equal employment opportunity laws.

Discussion

In addition to our dialogue with the employer community, the Commission has also benefitted from a dialogue with employee constituencies about our policies and procedures. We will continue to seek a wide range of viewpoints and input from the employee community at the same high level of consultations achieved in fiscal year 1999 (measure #1). In addition, the Commission provides education and technical assistance to potential charging parties in the private sector and complainants in the federal sector to help them understand our processes and know their rights and responsibilities under the employment laws we enforce. As part of the comprehensive outreach plan developed in fiscal year 1999, under this Goal we will proactively distribute our education and information materials to employee stakeholders to reach more individuals about their rights under employment discrimination law (measure #2)..

MEASURES - GOAL II.B.

1. Conduct at least 1,200 consultations with employee stakeholders on operational and legal issues; maintaining the high level of consultations held in fiscal year 1999.
2. Implement, as part of the agency's comprehensive outreach efforts, the plan developed in fiscal year 1999 to inform under served constituencies of their rights and to proactively distribute EEOC's education and information materials to employee stakeholders.

General Supporting Objective
Enhance the Effectiveness of our Employees to Achieve our Mission and General Goals

OBJECTIVE III.A.

Enhance staff capabilities and substantive knowledge to improve work processes and job functions through training, partnership, team-based approaches,and customer-based principles.

Discussion

Our commitment to eradicate discrimination at the workplace can only be fulfilled if we invest in our employees. Funding restrictions in fiscal year 2000 require us to scale back our training initiatives to include only those skills essential for continuing the implementation of the CEP. Measure #1 commits us to provide training to EEOC employees, within our limited resources in fiscal year 2000, with critical skills relevant to implementing the Comprehensive Enforcement Program, so that they can improve their capabilities and give better service to the public.

MEASURE - OBJECTIVE III.A.

Provide training to EEOC employees with critical skill needs relevant to implementing the Comprehensive Enforcement Program.

OBJECTIVE III.B.

Evaluate organizational components, procedures, and processes aimed at allocating more resources towards General Goal activities.

Discussion

We must improve the ability of our employees to provide excellent customer service to the public by reducing unnecessary internal processes and procedures. Although we did not meet our target for this measure in fiscal year 1999, we made significant preparations. This fiscal year, we intend to achieve not only the target number established for fiscal year 1999, but also the additional target number for the fiscal year 2000 measure (measure #1). Also, the Commission knows it must set an example for the larger federal community with a commitment to the efficient resolution of our internal EEO complaints, including the increased use of ADR by voluntary mediation. Measure #2 provides the impetus to begin to set that example by reducing the average number of days to process our internal EEO complaints. Both measures here will help us gauge our success in these areas.

MEASURES - OBJECTIVE III.B.

1. Continue to review internal directives and streamline, update, or eliminate 10% of those in effect as of September 30, 1998, in order to improve internal processes and free resources for front-line enforcement activities.
2. Reduce by 15% from fiscal year 1999 the average number of days to process internal EEO complaints, and use innovative approaches, such as Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) for voluntary mediation.

OBJECTIVE III.C.

Attain and maintain technological competency.

Discussion

The information age requires all federal agencies to have a sound technological infrastructure and for staff to be technologically competent. This will allow the agency to sustain its programs and business operations; support its mission, goals and objectives; and have employees use the most modern and efficient tools to do their jobs and serve the public. The Commission is committed to providing the best technology it can within its resources, especially with the funding limitations imposed in fiscal year 2000. Measures #1 through #3 are aimed at fulfilling that promise.

MEASURES - OBJECTIVE III.C.

1. Provide wide area network connectivity and Internet access throughout the agency.
2. Continue to develop the Integrated Mission System (IMS), which allows consolidation of EEOC's major mission-related information systems into a single, shared database that will improve functionality, expand employee access, and allow for future integration with administrative systems.
3. Initiate the development of a standardized federal EEO Complaint Collection and Reporting System to improve the collection of data from federal agencies and provide more efficient reporting of federal EEO complaints.

Verification and Validation

Accurate and reliable data is critical to planning and resource allocation at the Commission. The three major front- line program areas administrative enforcement, litigation, and federal sector programs require charge, case and complaint processing data, respectively, to be able to ascertain how well management decisions and resources applied to these programs are having their intended impact.

The agency, throughout fiscal year 1999, began to assess its data collection approaches and systems and their capability to demonstrate performance results for the measures contained in, or proposed for, its Performance Plans. In addition, we began to integrate our budget and planning processes and documents. During this endeavor, the agency considered future data collection approaches and systems to more effectively meld these processes.

As we developed this fiscal year 2000 Annual Performance Plan, the agency greatly benefitted from the dialogue among Commission offices. Future GPRA Plans, and the measures developed, will use better data collection approaches and systems. We will continue to rely heavily on the Commission's core data systems already in place throughout the agency; however, we plan to upgrade many of them, consolidate separate systems, and use advanced technology to obtain data more effectively. All of these approaches will help us make more informed management decisions.

In recent years the Commission has initiated projects to improve the data available to managers to evaluate program areas and to more easily verify their accuracy and reliability:

• Technological enhancements have already added an important capacity to analyze program data and evaluate the effects of changes made to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the programs. With the speed and ability to cross tabulate data, inaccurate or inconsistent data has been easier to detect and correct.
• Under its 5-year technology plan, the Commission will be developing and implementing new systems to collect and analyze data in administrative enforcement, litigation and federal sector programs and also in key support operations:
  • The Integrated Mission System (IMS) will combine data sources for the administrative enforcement and litigation programs to enhance program data collection and the ability to verify and validate information used to make critical management decisions. This system will reinforce and support the Comprehensive Enforcement Program concepts in the private sector programs. Several core modules of the IMS are currently under development and, in fiscal year 2001, EEOC will pilot these modules in field offices. In conjunction with the agency's Local Area Networks (LANs) and Wide Area Network (WAN) nationwide communications integration, the agency will be able to share data among offices to enhance enforcement and provide better customer service.
  • A new federal sector data collection and reporting system will be developed to improve service to federal employees and agencies. The computerized system will be a key component to support the implementation of the federal sector CEP and the important changes to the federal sector EEO process under the new regulations, the interagency Task Force, and the EEOC's internal improvements to the program.
  • A new Comprehensive Human Resources Information System (CHRIS) will also provide critical personnel information on a timely basis to provide vital information to make management decisions on resource allocation for program performance and to enhance services to our own employees. In addition, the Commission will be able to obtain important information to review program and organizational costs at the same time that it reviews program performance information. All of this data will provide invaluable analytical information to review key cost inputs in conjunction with program results.
• GPRA performance measures will benefit from the information collected on the various programs and the internal support programs. It will be easier to obtain relevant data and verify its accuracy to assess the results achieved for GPRA performance measures. In addition, better performance measures can be developed to analyze program performance and achievement levels to determine how well resources are being utilized towards attainment of the Commission's mission.

The fiscal year 1999 Annual Performance Plan has helped us develop approaches to verify and validate information, and our discussions about critical data collection and verification procedures have already helped focus our dialogue about measures. The agency will continue to refine these approaches during fiscal year 2000. and we anticipate that our collection and verification processes in future years will improve significantly.

The Commission is exploring different data needs in order to develop more outcome-type measures and assess levels of accomplishment. The most difficult problem is to establish causal relationships for particular outcomes. We need to consider which data are appropriate, how much value they will add towards our ability to evaluate our achievements, what level of resources are needed to establish a causal relationship, and how the data will be verified. Some of the efforts we took in fiscal year 1999 with some of our measures will help us build a foundation for developing future outcome-oriented measures.

Program Activity and the Budget

The fiscal year 2000 appropriation was $281,000,000, after a $1 million recission. This represented only a $2 million increase over the $289 million fiscal year 1999 appropriation and does not cover all of the adjustments to base required for fiscal year 2000. Consequently, the performance measures originally proposed were revised to reflect the available funding.

The EEOC has two Program & Finance (P&F) schedules. The schedules cover salaries and expenses, and a small "enterprise fund," known as the "Revolving Fund," which enhances the agency's education and outreach efforts.

The yearly appropriation for the major P&F schedule covers salaries and expenses in three program activity areas: (1) Executive Direction and Program Support,(2) Enforcement, and (3) State and Local. The salaries and expenses are linked to agency activities within each identified program activity area.

The agency's fiscal year 2000 appropriation for both the Executive Direction and Program Support and Enforcement program areas is $252,000,000. With this restricted level of resources available to the EEOC for fiscal year 2000 and the effect of this financial constraint on the Commission's ability to sustain its substantial programmatic achievements from fiscal year 1999, we will focus our efforts on continuing to incrementally implement our initiatives, particularly the Comprehensive Enforcement Program beyond the pilot stage, and maintaining gains achieved in fiscal year 1999.

The fiscal year 2000 budget for the third program activity area, State and Local, is $29,000,000. This represents level funding and will allow EEOC to support achievement of the measures for this program activity area.

The second P&F schedule addresses an enterprise fund, which was established under the EEOC Educational, Technical Assistance, and Training Revolving Fund Act of 1992. This Revolving Fund provides money to enhance the Commission's education and outreach efforts. Achievement of the Goals in this Annual Performance Plan for education and outreach is predicated upon this dual funding approach.

An important part of our program and budget activities is the continued integration of our budget and planning processes, which will help us enhance managerial decision-making. We began these efforts in fiscal year 1999, and have continued them with fiscal year 2000. This effort includes the identification of data needed to more accurately assess the resources necessary to perform the Commission's different activities. Currently, our systems may not be capable of collecting specific data or it may take a disproportionate amount of resources to collect the data. We will use other approaches to allocate expenditures among our activities to improve planning and budget decisions, while we continue to develop better data and data collection systems.

Program Evaluation

Our Strategic Plan describes many strategic planning activities the agency conducted in the past. It has continued these efforts since Chairwoman Ida L. Castro arrived at the Commission in the fall of 1998. The Chairwoman and her fellow Commissioners Commissioner Paul M. Igasaki, Commissioner Paul Steven Miller and Commissioner Reginald E. Jones have voted on policy and process changes covering the administrative, litigation, and federal sector responsibilities of the agency. We continue to build on a substantial record of achievements to make the Commission more effective and efficient. Some examples of our accomplishments during fiscal year 1999:

• Many private-sector administrative charge processing indicators showed substantial gains from the previous year: average time to process charges decreased to 265 days, a 15% reduction; pending inventory of charges in field offices dropped to 40,225, a 30% reduction; percentage of cause findings increased from 4.6% to 6.6% of the total charges resolved; resolutions showing a favorable outcome for the charging party increased to 16.5% of all charge resolutions, a 33% increase; monetary benefits for victims of discrimination from all sources including administrative charge resolutions, mediation and litigation increased dramatically to $307.4 million, an 18% increase.
• The agency's mediation program had substantial success: the number of charges mediated more than doubled 7,430 mediations were conducted resulting in 4,833 successful resolutions; cases were mediated in an average of 90 days; and benefits increased almost 3-1/2 times to $58.6 million.
• EEOC filed 439 substantive lawsuits covering all of the Commission's statutes 125, or 28.5%, involved multiple aggrieved parties or discriminatory policies. It resolved 294 substantive lawsuits, resulting in almost $96.9 million for victims of discrimination; filed 26 legal actions involving subpoena enforcement and applications for temporary relief, and resolved 23 such legal actions; and filed a total of 154 appellate briefs, including 67 where the Commission was a party and 87 where the Commission participated as an amicus curiae;
• In the federal sector hearings program, the hearings inven tory dropped to 12.7 months, a 37% reduction; hearings resolutions increased by almost 16% to12,056; Admin istrative Judges issued over 22% more hearings decisions addressing the merits of a claim; and hearings settlements increased almost 14.5% to 3,966.
• In the federal-sector appeals program, inventory was reduced to 11,548 cases; a one month reduction to 17 months; benefits to complainants reported as a result of compliance monitoring of appellate decisions stood at $9.8 million, a 72% increase; and appeals attorneys resolved over 8,000 appeals, over an 8% increase, and issued over 200 findings of discrimination with almost $10 million in benefits to over 250 individuals.
• A Comprehensive Enforcement Program (CEP) was designed for the federal sector program, similar to the CEP first initiated in the private sector enforcement program. It will link hearings, appeals, technical assistance, education, oversight and data collection and analysis into a coherent strategy to ensure the efficient and effective utilization of EEOC's resources in eradicating discrimination at the federal workplace.
• The agency held 123 individualized on-site training sessions in the federal sector. Developed, piloted, and delivered in 98 sessions a three-hour program covering a general overview of EEO to over 4,300 employees of the Healt h Care Financing Administration(HCFA). In addition to HCFA, training was provided to other federal agencies.
• EEOC began to design and develop two major training programs for implementation in the federal sector in fiscal year 2000 through the Revolving Fund. One course addresses the federal sector complaint process and procedures under the new federal sector regulations, and the second provides in-depth training on effective EEO counseling and resolution techniques. Additionally, two training programs are being developed for delivery in fiscal year 2000 to assist managers and employees in identifying and preventing harassment in the workplace, including sexual, racial and ethnic harassment by supervisors and co- workers.
• The Commission, as a co-sponsor with the Vice President Gore's National Partnership for Reinventing Government, initiated a federal interagency task force, which will operate throughout fiscal year 2000 to foster innovations designed to help agencies improve the EEO proce ss, supporting effective implementation and administration of the revised federal sector regulations.
• The agency put on its web site its highly regarded monthly periodical containing important federal appellate decis ions, The Digest of EEO Law, to enhance distribution to interested parties, and mailed the Digest to appro ximately 3,200 individuals and organizations.
• The agency held 2,550 educational, training and outre ach events reaching 207,000 persons, including 1,334 oral presentations, 381 training sessions, 166 meetings to obtain stakeholder input, and 55 expanded presence activities that provided individual counseling and assistance to under served constituents. These four major types of educational events reached more than 110,500 persons.
• EEOC provided services to small employers under the agency's Small Business Initiative, such as: customer speci fic on-site training on complex aspects of the Ameri cans with Disabilities Act, as well as on race discrimination, sexual harassment, and other topics of interest; identified special Small Business Liaisons in 41 field offices, and placed their names and telephone numbers on EEOC's Internet web site for easy access; contacted thousands of Chambers of Commerce and other small business organizations to inform them of the Commission's new Small Business Liaisons and information, education and other available services; included information for small businesses on the agency's Internet web site; provided information at Technical Assistance Program Seminars (TAPS) held by the EEOC's Revolving Fund; offered speakers for many business association events; requested input from small employers on specific training needs; expanded educational programs for small businesses; and, held 237 events with small business audiences that more than 11,000 persons attended.
• The agency conducted the most substantial training effort in a decade to provide EEOC employees with unprecedented opportunities to build their job skills. Training was conducted for new investigators, in-house and contract mediators, attorneys and other specialized staff. In addition, management and supervisory training was offered, as part of a two-year effort to train all supervisors and managers, and leadership training was provided to SES staff.
• EEOC developed and began piloting desk-top analytic tools designed to significantly enhance the agency's capability to analyze charge files and EEO-1 survey data to determine whether more in-depth investigation or litigation is warranted and to focus outreach and technical assistance efforts where they are most needed.
• The Commission initiated a national quality enhancement program to further improve the training and presentation skills and techniques of EEOC staff engaged in Re volving Fund training and technical assistance programs. The training program will be completed in fiscal year 2000. Also, it implemented a national computerized registration system for the Revolving Fund to substantially improve customer service, reduce overhead and promote operational efficiency.
• The EEOC established a solid technology infrastructure with major improvements to integrate technology into agency operations: replaced over 3,300 pieces of computer equipment and upgraded software to create a standardized environment, increase staff efficiency, and support future integration requirements; ensured Y2K compliance in all mission-critical systems; completed installation of Local Area Networks (LANs) in all but 2 of the agency's 50 offices nationwide; completed Wide Area Network (WAN) communications among Headquarters and the 25 district offices nationwide, including Internet access from employee desktop computers, to facilitate research and promote information exchange with stakeholders and customers; continued to update antiquated information systems and integrate them to enable the agency to conduct cross-functional analyses; improved customer access to the agency's Internet web site (http://www.eeoc.gov), which received approximately 100,000 visitors per month, on average, a 50% increase in web site use. EEOC has been recognized in business and technology news media as a leading federal agency in innovative web site design.
• The agency prepared the groundwork for reducing time spent on administrative tasks by reviewing internal directives for opportunities to update, streamline, or eliminate them and save staff time and resources; ultimately, improving front-line operations and service to the American people.
• EEOC issued timely and accurate interpretive regulatory and policy guidance in key areas as an important part of the Commission's efforts to encourage and facilitate voluntary compliance with federal employment discrimination laws, including:
  • Federal Sector Regulations. EEOC issued new regulations, which went into effect on November 9, 1999 (29 C.F.R. 1614). These regulations streamline procedures governing the discrimination complaint process for federal employees and applicants, as well as the agencies that employ and hire them.
  • Harassment Guidance. EEOC issued a comprehensive policy guidance explaining the circumstances under which employers can be held liable for unlawful harassment by supervisors.
  • ADEA Proposed Rule. EEOC requested public comment on a proposed rule which would support the vigorous enforcement of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act's (ADEA) provisions on the use of waivers in layoffs and reductions in force (RIFs).
  • ADA Guidance. EEOC released a comprehensive policy guidance entitled Reasonable Accommodation and Undue Hardship Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which provides clear answers to the most frequently-asked questions concerning what reasonable accommodations are, when they must be provided, and when employers may refuse to provide them.

Our Program Evaluation efforts support these substantial achievements. We will continue to integrate the results of Program Evaluations into the development of better, more effective performance measures, as we gain more strategic planning experience. Program Evaluations will help us determine what programs worked and how well they worked. We will be able to quantify results and adjust programmatic approaches with more specific, accurate information on hand.

We intend to focus on several critical program areas in fiscal year 2000:

• Private Sector Mediation Program Evaluation Design To Be Funded

  We expect to survey participants in the Commission's mediation program. Collection of this data is critical to ascertain how well the program is being implemented and if it is having its intended result. We expect to make modifications to the program to improve the service the program delivers, because of the input received from our customers. Also, we expect that the information collected will help the agency discern whether the types of charges entering the mediation program are appropriate.

• New Design for Federal Managers' Financial Integrity Act (FMFIA) Program To Be Completed

  In fiscal year 2000, we expect to complete the design of a new FMFIA process. The approach of the new program will be to focus on critical areas of the Commission's work more frequently than on other less critical areas. A schedule of reviews and the types of reviews to conduct will be determined in fiscal year 2000. Materials will be developed for the areas selected for review and methodologies, such as sampling, on-site team reviews or self-assessments, will be developed and utilized, as appropriate, in the first reviews of program areas.

• Quality Peer Review Program Design Completed and Pilot Program Implemented

  A development team was selected and convened meetings in headquarters with an outside contractor to design the Quality Peer Review Program in the first half of fiscal year 2000. The development team developed general guide lines and parameters, along with standards and measures, that will be used to assess the quality of various aspects of the Commission's work. The proposed program design was shared with District Directors and Regional Attorneys for feedback and input. The feedback received from these key agency senior officials were used to make adjustments to the program. Final changes will be made and pilots will be initiated in the second half of fiscal year 2000.

CONCLUSION

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission believes that this second Annual Performance plan continues our efforts to implement the Government Performance and Results Act. This Plan defines those goals and measures for fiscal year 2000 that will enhance our programs and their effectiveness.

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This page was last modified on March 20, 2001.