Management's Discussion and Analysis

 

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Introduction

 

This FY 2010 Performance and Accountability Report (PAR) was prepared in accordance with the Reports Consolidation Act of 2000 and the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) Circular A-136, Financial Reporting Requirements. It presents the results of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's programs and financial performance, along with its management challenges. This section of the PAR summarizes agency efforts in each of these areas. A more detailed discussion can be found in the following sections of the report:

• Performance Results: highlight the progress made in meeting the Commission's performance measures, which are articulated in its modified Strategic Plan for FY 2007 through FY 2012.
• The Inspector General's Statements: present key management challenges identified by the Inspector General, the agency's progress and plans to address them, and a statement of compliance with the Federal Managers' Financial Integrity Act (FMFIA).
• The Consolidated Financial Statements: demonstrate the EEOC's efforts to be a good steward over the funds the agency receives to carry out its mission. Included in this section is an independent auditor's opinion on the agency's financial statements.

This report also satisfies the Commission's obligation to provide Congress with annual reports of the agency's significant accomplishments achieved during the fiscal year.

Agency Overview

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is the leading federal law enforcement agency dedicated to eradicating employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, religion, pregnancy, age, disability, and family medical history or genetic information. The agency began its work 45 years ago and while there have been significant changes in society and the workplace, the public continues to rely on the Commission to carry out its responsibility to bring justice and equal opportunity to the workplace.

The Commission receives, investigates, and resolves charges of employment discrimination filed against private sector employers, employment agencies, labor unions, and state and local governments.  Where the Commission does not resolve these charges through conciliation or other informal methods, it may also file suit in court against private sector employers, employment agencies and labor unions (and against state and local governments in cases alleging age discrimination or equal pay violations). The EEOC also leads and coordinates equal employment opportunity efforts across the federal government, and conducts administrative hearings and issues appellate decisions on complaints of discrimination filed by federal employees and applicants for federal employment.  Finally, the Commission engages in extensive communication and outreach, provides technical assistance, and promulgates regulations and written enforcement guidance to help employers and employees better understand their rights and responsibilities under the laws the EEOC enforces.

A more detailed explanation of the EEOC's structure and the laws it enforces can be found in Appendix A.

Agency Results Under Strategic Plan Performance Measures

This PAR is based on the EEOC's current modified Strategic Plan for FY 2007 through FY 2012. The modified Strategic Plan can be found at: https://www.eeoc.gov/strategic-plan-fiscal-years-2007-2012. Because of the change of Administration and the recess appointment of a new Chair of the Commission in April 2010, the EEOC intends to issue a new Strategic Plan before the end of FY 2012. However, the results reported in this PAR are linked to the performance measures contained in the agency's current modified Strategic Plan which were in effect during FY 2010.

The agency's current strategic plan provides one strategic objective: Justice, Opportunity and Inclusive Workplaces. The plan contains nine performance measures under this Strategic Objective. These measures were used to drive results and accountability throughout the agency. The EEOC achieved or exceeded its targets for six measures and did not meet its targets for two measures. The multi-year measure is pending the completion of the Commission's strategic planning assessment.  The Commission intends to assess all of the agency's current measures during its overall strategic planning assessment.

The agency's nine performance measures are directly related to its three front-line enforcement operations—processing private sector charges, litigating private sector cases, and conducting hearings and appeals of federal sector cases—in order to achieve its strategic objective of ensuring that employment opportunities are not based on impermissible factors and encouraging inclusive workplaces nationwide.

The EEOC's current Strategic Plan incorporated three measures which were new to the Commission in FY 2007:

• an indicator of the yearly percentage increase in the number of individuals benefiting from agency enforcement activities, beyond the actual people who filed a charge of discrimination;
• an indicator to measure the efficiency the agency attained based upon the number of individuals benefiting from workplace changes, compared to the size of the agency's total workforce; and
• a measure of the public's confidence in the agency's enforcement of federal employment discrimination laws.

The first two of these measures seek to identify the degree to which the agency's enforcement programs enhance the workplace for other employees when it obtains relief for the people who originally claimed employment discrimination, as well as how efficient the Commission was in obtaining that broad relief. As noted in the table below and further described in the Performance Section of this report, the agency was extremely successful in achieving results for these two measures, when compared to the established targets. The Commission will reevaluate the utility of maintaining this performance measure and the associated targets established for FY 2011 in conjunction with its Strategic Plan review process.

The four remaining measures that the EEOC met or exceeded also reflect key aspects of the agency's enforcement and litigation programs. They involve the agency's success in:

• Completing a high percentage of its federal sector appellate cases within 180 days or less;
• Ensuring that the agency achieves a high level of quality in its investigations of private sector discrimination charges;
• Continuing to ensure that charging parties and respondents who choose to participate in the Commission's alternative dispute resolution (ADR) program are satisfied with the ADR process; and
• Maintaining a high level of success in the Commission's litigation program.

The results for these measures are summarized below and are more fully described in the Performance Section of this report.

The EEOC's final two measures involve the resolution of private sector charges and federal sector hearings within 180 days or less.  As the EEOC's staffing levels declined between FY 2000 and FY 20008 and charge receipts have increased significantly, it has become increasingly more difficult for the agency to meet the established targets for these two measures.  In FY 2010 the Commission did not meet its targets for these measures.  However, with the increased resources received by the agency over the past two fiscal years it is anticipated that the agency will make progress toward meeting these goals.  The Commission will carefully consider these measures as it explores the focus and approach for a new Strategic Plan.

The results for these measures are summarized below and are more fully described in the Performance Section of this report:

Related Program Results and Activities

Continuing to Rebuild Capacity

In FY 2010, the EEOC continued to rebuild capacity.  From 2000 to 2008, the Commission's staff declined by nearly 25 percent. This severely hindered the agency's ability to carry out critical enforcement functions. However, over the past two years, as a result of increased appropriations, the EEOC was able to replenish our depleted ranks. During FY 2010, the agency set out to hire an additional 383 employees, including investigators, trial attorneys, and support staff. This is in addition to the 155 new employees hired in FY 2009.  By the end of FY 2010, the Commission had brought on-board 198 net new hires. 

In addition, during FY 2010, the agency dedicated $2.8 million to train its investigators, attorneys, program analysts, investigator support assistants and other employees. This training initiative built upon the $2.5 million dedicated to training in FY 2009.  This commitment to training – the largest sustained training effort the agency has conducted in at least a decade - provided our employees with the critical skills and knowledge necessary to carry out new enforcement responsibilities and maintain a high level of customer service. The effort also maximized the use of technology to carry out localized, low-cost training where appropriate.

The results of these efforts to rebuild resources, and better manage existing resources, are apparent in the discussion below. 

Successfully Managing Our Private Sector Charge Inventory

In FY 2010, the EEOC dramatically slowed the growth of the private sector charge inventory.  A near-record number of receipts in FY 2009 left the agency with a pending inventory of 85,768 charges.  Despite receiving the highest number of charges in our 45 year history in FY 2010, a total of 99,922 charges, the agency achieved 104,999resolutions and was left with a pending inventory of 86,338 – a one-year increase of 570 charges, or less than one percent. This is in stark contrast to the 15.9 percent increase in our pending inventory between FYs 2008 and 2009. 

This remarkable progress can be credited to the measures begun in FY 2009, including the aggressive hiring of front-line staff, a significant agency-wide training initiative, renewing emphasis on pre-charge counseling, and identifying, sharing and impl ementing best practices in charge handling.

Securing Unprecedented Relief through Administrative Enforcement

The EEOC secured, through its private sector administrative enforcement activities, more than $319.3 million in monetary benefits—the highest level of monetary relief obtained through administrative enforcement in the Commission's history. Overall, the EEOC secured both monetary and non-monetary benefits for more than 18,898 people through charge processing.

Expanding Mediation Program Leads to Wins for Employees and Employers

In FY 2010, the EEOC's private sector national mediation program demonstrated the results of a renewed emphasis on early resolution of discrimination complaints and secured the highest number of resolutions in the history of the program, as well as record benefits.  The mediation program ended the year with a total of 9,370 resolutions, 10 percent more than FY 2009 levels, and more than $142.0 million in monetary benefits.   

Challenging Discrimination in the Federal Courts

In FY 2010, EEOC field legal units filed 250 merits lawsuits in federal courts across the nation challenging a wide variety of discriminatory practices, and also 21 subpoena enforcement and other actions. Of the new merit filings, 154 were individual suits, 96 were multiple victim suits and 20 were systemic cases expected to directly impact large numbers of individuals.  Legal staff resolved 285 merits lawsuits for a total monetary recovery of over $85 million, achieving a favorable outcome in 92% of all lawsuit resolutions.

Maximizing Impact through Systemic Enforcement

In FY 2010, the agency continued its concerted effort to build a strong national systemic enforcement program. At the end of the fiscal year, 465 systemic investigations, involving more than 2,000 charges, were being undertaken.  Included among the systemic investigations were 39 Commissioner-initiated charges, compared with only 15 Commissioners' charges in investigation as of March 2006, when the initiative began.  EEOC field offices completed work on 165 systemic investigations resulting in 29 settlements or conciliation agreements, recovering $6.7 million.  In addition, 50 systemic investigations were resolved with reasonable cause determinations and have been referred to field legal divisions for consideration of litigation.

Over the past few years the EEOC has transformed its litigation docket to focus heavily on systemic litigation with expected direct beneficiaries ranging from 20 to thousands.  Systemic lawsuits have been filed across the country involving a broad set of bases and issues and a wide variety of industries.  In FY 2010, the Commission filed 20 cases with at least 20 known class members.  This comprises eight percent of all merits filings, and is the largest volume of systemic filings since we started tracking in FY 2006.  Expressed differently, 60 cases on our active docket at the end of FY 2010 were systemic cases, accounting for 13 percent of all active merits suits.  This past year, the agency resolved 16 systemic cases, twelve with between 20 and 99 class members and four with at least 100 class members.

Promoting and Enforcing EEO in the Federal Sector

In FY 2010, the EEOC received 7,707 requests for hearings in the federal sector and resolved a total of 7,213 requests, securing more than $63 million in relief for parties who requested hearings.  The EEOC also received 4,545 appeals of final agency actions in the federal sector and resolved 4,607 appeals, 66.23 percent of them within 180 days of their receipt. This compares with 4,207 appeals resolved in FY 2009 (65 percent of which were resolved within 180 days of receipt). 

Reaching, Training, and Educating Potential Employees, Employees and Employers

The agency's outreach programs reached approximately 250,000 persons in FY 2010. EEOC offices participated in 3,766 educational, training, and outreach events (a decrease in the number of events over the same period in FY 2009, when there were 4,420 events). In addition, in FY 2010 the EEOC Training Institute (formerly the Revolving Fund) trained over 20,000 individuals from the private sector, local, state, and federal governments at more than 450 events.

Providing Clarity through Regulations, Enforcement Guidance and Technical Assistance

In FY 2010, the Commission approved a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) and later submitted a final regulation to the Office of Management and Budget under Title II of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008, which the EEOC began enforcing on November 21, 2009. The EEOC also approved a NPRM to implement the employment provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act of 2008 and issued a NPRM to clarify Reasonable Factors Other Than Age (RFOA) under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), which was published in the Federal Register on February 18, 2010. 

Finally, the Commission approved a December 2009 NPRM titled Federal Sector Equal Employment Opportunity Complaint Processing.  This NPRM would, among other things, remind agencies of their obligation under Title VII to comply with specific management directives and other EEOC instructions, to provide a method for agencies to petition EEOC for a variance from the complaint processing procedures in order to perform innovative pilot programs for complaint processing, to amend certain grounds for dismissing complaints where the claim alleges retaliation, to require agencies to provide certain notifications to complainants when it fails to timely complete its investigation, to clarify the relief available for breach of a settlement agreement, and to amend several aspects of class complaint processing to improve efficiency. 

Federal Managers' Financial Integrity Act

The EEOC's management controls and financial management systems were sound during FY 2010, with the exception of 16 findings of financial non-conformances. Two financial non-conformances were carried over from FY 2009.  The financial non-conformances were identified in several audit reports prepared by the Office of Inspector General: OIG Report No. 2007-09-FIN, January 16, 2008 and OIG Report No. 2007-08-FIN, November 14, 2007.

In FY 2010, the agency corrected nine of the 16 identified financial non-conformances – two non-conformances carried over from FY 2009 and the agency identified five non-conformances in FY 2010.  The agency has implemented corrective action plans to resolve all uncorrected non-conformances in FY 2011.

Based on the actions taken, and considering the agency's controls environment as a whole, the agency concludes that during FY 2010 its financial and management controls systems were in compliance with the Federal Managers' Financial Integrity Act (FMFIA). Forty-five percent of the identified non-conformances were resolved during the fiscal year, and it has plans in place to resolve the remaining financial non-conformances in FY 2011. The controls systems were effective; agency resources were used consistent with the agency's mission; the resources were used in compliance with laws and regulations; and, there was minimal potential for waste, fraud, and mismanagement of the resources.

Financial Highlights

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular Number A-136 Revised dated September 29, 2010 was used as guidance for the preparation of the accompanying financial statements. EEOC prepares four financial statements: the Consolidated Balance Sheets, Consolidated Statements of Net Cost, Consolidated Statement of Changes in Net Position, and the Combined Statements of Budgetary Resources.

Consolidated Balance Sheets

The Consolidated Balance Sheets present amounts that are owned or managed by EEOC (assets); amounts owed (liabilities); and the net position of the agency divided between the cumulative results of operations and unexpended appropriations.

 

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EEOC's balance sheets show total assets of $86 million at the end of FY 2010.  This is an increase of $8 million, or approximately 10 percent, over EEOC's total assets of $78 million for FY 2009.  This increase is due primarily to an increase in EEOC's Fund Balance with Treasury of $9 million offset by an increase in Total Liabilities of $6 million and an increase in Net Position of $2 million.

The Net Position is the sum of Unexpended Appropriations and the Cumulative Results of Operations.  At the end of FY 2010, EEOC's Net Position on its Balance Sheets and the Statement of Changes in Net Position is $19 million, an increase of $2 million, or 12 percent, over the FY 2009 ending Net Position of $17 million.  This increase is due primarily to a decrease in EEOC's Cumulative Results of Operations for FY 2010 and an offsetting increase in its Appropriations used the same year.

Consolidated Statements of Net Cost

The Consolidated Statements of Net Cost presents the gross cost incurred by major programs less any revenue earned. Overall, in FY 2010, EEOC's Consolidated Statements of Net Cost increased by $29 million or 8 percent. The allocation of costs for FY 2010 shows that Private Sector resources used for Enforcement and Litigation increased $26 million, or 8 percent, while the Federal Sector Programs increased by $3 million or 6 percent.

 

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Consolidated Statement of Changes in Net Position

The Consolidated Statement of Changes in Net Position represent the change in the net position for FY 2010 and FY 2009 from the cost of operations, appropriations received and used, net of rescissions, and the financing of some costs by other government agencies. The Consolidated Statement of Changes in Net Position increased over last year by $2 million, or 12 percent. EEOC's total assets exceeded total liabilities (funded and unfunded) by $19 million, or 28 percent.

Combined Statements of Budgetary Resources

The Combined Statements of Budgetary Resources shows how budgetary resources were made available and the status of those resources at the end of the fiscal year. In FY 2010, EEOC received a $367.3 million appropriation, with no rescission.

EEOC ended FY 2010 with an increase in total budgetary resources of $24 million, or 7 percent, over last year. Resources not available for new obligations at the end of the year totaled $10 million and $10 million in FY 2010 and FY 2009, respectively. The unobligated balance not available represents expired budget authority from prior years that are no longer available for new obligations.

Use of Resources

The pie chart displays EEOC's FY 2010 use of resources by major object class. The chart shows that Pay and Benefits, State & Local, Rent to GSA and Other Contractual Services consumed 96% of EEOC's resources, and other expenses (e.g., travel & transportation, equipment, supplies & materials, etc.) consumed less than 4% of EEOC's resources for FY 2010.

 

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The dual axis chart below depicts EEOC's compensation and benefits versus full-time equivalents (FTE) over the past six years.  EEOC ended FY 2010 with 2,385 FTEs, a net increase of 193, or 9 percent, above FY 2009. 

 

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