EEOC POSTS FEDERAL SECTOR ADR WEB PAGE

New Online Resource to Assist Agencies in Implementing and Improving Mediation Programs

  WASHINGTON - Cari M. Dominguez, Chair of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), today announced the posting of a new federal sector Web page containing the most comprehensive information available on Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) programs for federal government agencies.  The Federal Sector ADR Web Page, which can be accessed at www.eeoc.gov, provides information about ADR for federal agencies and stakeholders and serves as a clearinghouse for related ADR information.

    "This new Federal Sector ADR Web Page will serve as a valuable online resource for federal managers, employees and applicants alike," said Chair Dominguez.  "It will assist federal agencies in implementing and improving their internal ADR programs.  We've had overwhelming success with mediation in the private sector.  We hope to build upon this success in the federal sector."

    The development and issuance of the Federal Sector ADR Web Page is part of Chair Dominguez's Five-Point Plan  a strategic framework to improve EEOC's overall operations. The centerpiece of the Plan is promoting and expanding the use of mediation and other types of ADR to enable positive solutions to complaints of employment discrimination in the private and federal sectors.

    EEOC is expanding the use of ADR in the federal sector through piloting the use of a number of types of ADR in the hearings units of its field offices to determine which types are most efficient and cost effective at the hearings stage of the federal sector complaint process. EEOC is also offering mediation at the appellate stage of the federal sector complaint process through the Federal Sector Appellate Settlement Team (FAST) Pilot Program.

    On March 28, 2002, Chair Dominguez announced the implementation of an ADR program with the U.S. Postal Service to improve the processing of discrimination complaints by Postal workers nationwide.  Under the initiative, virtually all requests for hearings before EEOC administrative judges involving bias cases against the Postal Service will first go through mediation.

    The Federal Sector ADR Web Page contains specific information for individuals and federal agencies, including details on pilot programs and contacts.  Among the information links available are:

         
• ADR Fact Sheet
         
• ADR Questions and Answers
         
• ADR Program Development and Review (includes types of ADR techniques, sample          
• ADR forms, guidance on program development, and ADA/Rehabilitation Act           accessibility issues)
         
• ADR Clearinghouse (includes statutory and regulatory documents, sources and training           for neutrals, training for managers, ethical standards and confidentiality,         ADA/Rehabilitation Act mediation standards, and ADR video tapes)
   

For further information about ADR in the federal sector contact EEOC:

         
• By e-mail: fed.adr@eeoc.gov
         
• By phone: (202) 663-4599, Office of Federal Operations
         
• TTY: (202) 663-4593

Under Executive Order 12067, EEOC provides lead coordination to the efforts of federal agencies to enforce EEO laws.  The Commission enforces Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin; the Age Discrimination in Employment Act; the Equal Pay Act; the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which prohibits discrimination affecting individuals with disabilities in the federal government; Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which prohibits employment discrimination against people with disabilities in the private sector and state and local governments; and sections of the Civil Rights Act of 1991. Further information about the Commission is available on its Web site at www.eeoc.gov.