U.S. Office of Personnel Management - Ensuring the Federal Government has an effective civilian workforce

FY 2007 Annual Report

2007 Analysis - Section 203(a)(7)

1. Trend Analysis

   During Fiscal Year (FY) 2007, the EEO complaints activity at the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) remained consistent with its complaints totals in previous fiscal years – excluding FY 2004 and FY 2005 when OPM experienced a spike due solely to the filing of multiple individual complaints on an identical matter (not involving OPM), which would have been more properly raised through a single class complaint.

   OPM´s FY 2007 EEO complaint activity does not reflect any systemic EEO issues or any particular trend by bases or issues.

2. Causal Analysis

   See paragraph A above.

3. Practical Knowledge Gained through Experience

   During FY 2007, OPM Director Linda M. Springer continued her strong leadership in support of merit system principles and sound government operations. OPM ensured accountability by building upon the excellent results achieved in OPM´s EEO complaints process during FY 2006 – when OPM led the Federal Government in many important EEO complaints processing metrics – and either sustaining or improving performance during FY 2007. OPM also implemented critical OPM policies and initiatives promoting EEO, protection from prohibited personnel practices, workforce inclusiveness, and the strategic management of human capital.

   See paragraph D below for specific actions taken by OPM to advance merit system principles, relevant for reporting under the No FEAR Act.

4. Actions Planned/Taken to Improve Agency Complaint or Civil Rights Program

   During FY 2007, OPM accomplished significant results in promoting merit system principles at OPM, including EEO and the strategic management of human capital. Some of these noteworthy achievements are set forth as follows:

   • OPM conducted outreach and training on the Schedule A regulation, providing Federal agencies with information to exercise flexibilities for hiring persons with severe physical disabilities.
   • Reissuance of OPM´s EEO Policy Statement and Prohibited Personnel Practices
   Policy Statement.
   • Implementation of regulations on the No FEAR Act annual report, best practices study, and advisory guidelines.
   • Development on an annual No FEAR Act training for all OPM employees.
   • Prompt quarterly public website posting of No FEAR Act EEO complaints data.
   • Workforce events and outreach activities to commemorate Special Observance programs for: National Hispanic Heritage Month; National Disability Awareness Month; National American Indian Heritage Month; National African-American History Month; National Women´s History Month; and National Asian and Pacific American Month.
   • Standard use of interpretype machines at agency events to enhance communication and accessibility for individuals with hearing impairments.
   • Use of Relay Conference Captioning, a service which streamed real-time text to the personal computers of users during major OPM gatherings (e.g., "All-Hands" meetings, Special Observances, etc.), to make events accessible to employees with hearing difficulties.
   • Delivery of EEO trainings to OPM offices, including those in field locations.
   • EEO presentations provided during new employees´ orientation.
   • Annual training provided to all OPM EEO Counselors and Investigators.

   • Efficient EEO complaints process with measurable results and sustained/improved performance from FY 2006, including the following:

     • Informal EEO Counselings

       OPM was a Federal leader in percentage of timely FY 2006 EEO counselings, with a success rate of 100%, and again accomplished the same 100% timeliness result in FY 2007.

     • EEO Investigations

       During FY 2006, OPM completed the highest percentage of timely FY 2006 EEO investigations in the Federal Government (among agencies qualifying for ranking by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) by timely completing 100% of EEO investigations (compared to the Federal government-wide average of 69.4%), and OPM completed its FY 2006 EEO investigations with the fastest average processing time in the Federal Government at an average of 104.8 days (well within the regulatory requirement of 180 days and under the Federal Governmentwide average of 186 days).

       During FY 2007, OPM again timely completed 100% of EEO investigations and further improved by lowering the average processing time of investigations to 100.3 days.

     • Final Agency Orders (following EEOC hearing)

       During FY 2006 and FY 2007, OPM processed all Final Agency Orders within 40 days of receipt of the hearing file and the EEOC administrative judge´s decision.

     • Final Agency Decisions (without EEOC hearing)

       During FY 2006, OPM´s averaged 209.2 days to issue Final Agency Decisions (includes time required to investigate complaints (generally 180 days by regulation)).

       During FY 2007, OPM achieved an average processing time of 191.6 days for issuance of Final Agency Decisions.

     • Complaint Dismissals

       During FY 2006, OPM dismissed complaints with an average processing time of 55.94 days (compared to 147.9 in FY 2005, 278.7 in FY 2004, and EEOC-suggested 90-day timeframe).

       During FY 2007, OPM further improved upon its processing time for dismissals by achieving an average of 43.67 days.