Return to Home PageEnforce Federal Civil Rights Employment Laws Through a Comprehensive Enforcement Program.
Improve the effectiveness of the private-sector enforcement program, including the use of charge prioritization, mediation and, where necessary, litigation, by utilizing a comprehensive enforcement strategy that focuses on National Enforcement Plan priorities.
Enhance the effectiveness of the federal-sector program by utilizing a comprehensive enforcement strategy.
Strengthen partnerships with State and Local Fair Employment Practices Agencies and Tribal Employment Rights Organizations to enhance effective implementation of laws addressing employment discrimination.
Promote Equal Opportunity in Employment Through Education and Technical Assistance.
Encourage and facilitate voluntary compliance with equal employment opportunity laws among employers and employer groups in the private- and federal-sectors.
Increase knowledge about individual rights under equal employment opportunity laws among the public and employee groups.
Enhance Agency Effectiveness to Achieve our Mission and Strategic Goals by Providing Executive Direction and Support and Building Institutional Knowledge.
Enhance staff capabilities and substantive knowledge to improve work processes and job functions through training, partnership, team-based approaches, and customer-based principles.
Provide policy direction and guidance to achieve all Strategic Goals.
Instill a knowledge base by attaining and maintaining a robust technological competency and through research, analysis and evaluation of organizational components, procedures and processes.
This is the U. S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's (EEOC, Commission, or agency) second Strategic Plan under the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 (GPRA). It comes at an auspicious time, as EEOC celebrates its 35th anniversary this year. As a five-member bipartisan commission, EEOC's policies are guided by individuals with a variety of personal, professional and political backgrounds ensuring a diversity of views that help the agency better understand the very complex needs faced by those who are affected by the nation's laws against job discrimination.
EEOC was created to enforce Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the employment provisions of the country's landmark civil rights legislation. Today, EEOC also enforces the Equal Pay Act of 1963, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and the Civil Rights Act of 1991.
The Commission's anniversary is a time to reflect on the past 35 years, to celebrate the progress the nation has made in the area of equal employment opportunity and to recognize the EEOC's role in achieving that progress. The agency's 35th anniversary is also a time to focus on the future and acknowledge that equal employment opportunity is not yet a reality in the American workplace. It is a time to renew our dedication to this endeavor to achieve the EEOC's mission.
As a first step for accomplishing EEOC's ambitious agenda, we re-evaluated our mission statement and strategic objectives to ensure that they clearly articulated the Commission's intention to do all that it can to remove the vestiges of employment discrimination at the workplace. Our new Mission Statement now 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 the laws we implement. Although the statement expresses a noble-and some would say unattainable-goal, the Commission believes, instead, that it 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.
For almost 35 years, the EEOC has worked to fulfill the ideals embodied in the civil rights employment laws it enforces. Every act of employment discrimination undermines our country's ideals of justice and equal opportunity for all, the economic prosperity of American families, and the country's ability to use all of its human talents and resources to compete in a world economy. America continues to try to find solutions to overcome past and present discriminatory policies, practices and attitudes; yet discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age and disability remains a major challenge. According to the White House report, One America for the 21st Century, "Americans - whites, minorities and people of color - hold differing views of race.... Although progress has been made, significant racial disparities and discrimination continue...."
The passage of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act in 1964 culminated a century-long struggle to end de jure segregation and discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations. On June 11, 1963, during the height of civil rights protests and demonstrations, President Kennedy addressed the nation on television with a simple yet eloquent address, in part saying:
We are confronted primarily with a moral issue. It is as old as the scriptures and it is as clear as the American Constitution. The heart of the question is whether all Americans are to be afforded equal rights and equal opportunities, whether we are going to treat our fellow Americans as we want to be treated. ...[T]his nation, for all its hopes and all its boasts, will not be fully free until all of its citizens are free. Now the time has come for this Nation to fulfill its promise.
Eight days later, on June 19, 1963, President Kennedy sent comprehensive civil rights legislation to Congress. Title VII of the Administration's bill addressed employment discrimination. However, by the time the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed, its coverage was substantially expanded to prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex and national origin.
It is not just Title VII, however, that affects each working person in America. Along with Title VII, the Equal Pay Act of 1963, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 form a solid foundation of civil rights employment laws to build America's future prosperity.
Continuing bi-partisan support for the country's equal employment opportunity laws since the 1960s, President Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act into law on July 26, 1990, at a White House ceremony with the following remarks:
Three weeks ago we celebrated our nation's Independence Day. Today we're here to rejoice in and celebrate another "independence day," one that is long overdue. With today's signing of the Landmark Americans for [sic] Disabilities Act, every man, woman, and child with a disability can now pass through once-closed doors into a bright new era of equality, independence, and freedom. As I look around at all these joyous faces, I remember clearly how many years of dedicated commitment have gone into making this historic new civil rights act a reality. It's been the work of a true coalition, a strong and inspiring coalition of people who have shared both a dream and a passionate determination to make that dream come true. It's been a coalition in the finest spirit-a joining of Democrats and Republicans, of the legislative and the executive branches, of Federal and State agencies, of public officials and private citizens, of people with disabilities and without.
Taken together, equal employment opportunity laws create a powerful arsenal to eradicate employment discrimination in our society, affecting Americans throughout their work lives by protecting individuals in jobs or those seeking jobs-whatever their race, national origin, sex, age, religion, or disability. Laws guaranteeing the free mobility of skills, talents, and abilities are essential for economic growth and prosperity in a changing economy.
Key milestones in the agency's evolution are highlighted below to set the stage for our Outlook and strategic plans to address the challenges of the future.
Employment discrimination was pervasive in America in the 1960s and the response to the passage of Title VII in 1964 was swift and dramatic. By the time the Commission opened its doors in 1965, it was deluged with charges of discrimination. Within one year of its opening, the EEOC received almost 9,000 charges, 400% more than expected. The charges came from throughout the nation; demonstrating the magnitude of the employment problems the EEOC was established to address.
The number of charges filed continued to climb-reaching nearly 41,000 in the next 3 years-many of which were race charges involving egregious discriminatory employment practices such as segregated facilities, including washrooms, locker and shower rooms, cafeterias and separate seniority systems and lines of progression. Women frequently complained of wage discrimination and the exclusion from employment opportunities because of stereotypical assumptions about the kind of jobs appropriate for women and the pay women should receive.
In addition to its own efforts, the EEOC worked with its state and local fair employment practices agency partners from the beginning. At the time Title VII was passed in 1964, more than half of the states already had similar laws prohibiting employment discrimination enforced by a state or local agency. Title VII provided a mechanism for EEOC and these state or local agencies to accept charges for each other and for EEOC to "defer" to the state or local agencies for processing. The arrangement avoided duplicative charge processing efforts, saving time and resources for charging parties, employers and both agencies. In its first year of operation, EEOC designated 32 so-called "deferral" agencies. This number has grown throughout EEOC's history until, today, the agency has designated 93 deferral agencies, which continue to play an important role in the fight against employment discrimination.
EEOC's role in framing the development and application of the laws was crucial. The Commission issued guidelines, opinions and Commission decisions resolving charges of discrimination. For example, in 1966, the Commission announced that segregated local unions, seniority lists and lines of progression constitute per se violations of Title VII. Dismantling these discriminatory systems created many employment opportunities for women and minorities. The EEOC also issued its Guidelines on Discrimination Because of Religion and Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures in 1966 (29 C.F.R., Part 1607, "Uniform Guidelines"). The Uniform Guidelines, in particular, were on the forefront of legal interpretation by establishing that Title VII also prohibited neutral employment policies and practices, such as diploma and degree requirements or height requirements, that impacted on the employment opportunities of protected groups, unless an employer can justify their use.
In its first few years of operation, EEOC also began its long history of engaging in outreach, education and technical assistance activities and collecting data on the workforce. These activities have multiple benefits by informing employers and employees about the law, promoting voluntary compliance and enhancing agency activity in a variety of areas.
The decade of the 1970s was crucial to the development of employment discrimination law, as the agency shifted its focus to interpreting and resolving complex legal issues. The most important event of the decade was the passage of the Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972, which amended Title VII, giving EEOC litigation authority and expanding Title VII coverage to include the federal government, state and local governments, and educational institutions. Among the agency's litigation successes were U.S. Supreme Court decisions in several landmark cases involving core principles of Title VII, often giving EEOC's interpretations of the law "great deference," including one of the most important employment discrimination cases it ever decided-Griggs v. Duke Power Co., 401 U.S. 424-addressing the EEOC's Uniform Guidelines.
By the end of the 1970s, EEOC's responsibilities had expanded substantially. Under President Carter's Reorganization Plan of 1978 to eliminate duplication and inconsistency, EEOC became responsible for coordinating all federal equal employment opportunity programs and for enforcing the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA) and the Equal Pay Act of 1963 (EPA). In addition, the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 abolished the Civil Service Commission and transferred to the EEOC the responsibility for enforcing discrimination laws applicable to the federal civilian workforce, including Section 501 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 protecting qualified individuals with disabilities from employment discrimination.
During the 1980s, private sector charge receipts increased substantially, consistent with EEOC's increased enforcement authority. Race and sex based charges continued to predominate, but charges alleging retaliation, national origin and religious discrimination grew. Age discrimination charges dramatically increased throughout the decade, comprising approximately 25% of the charge receipts by 1989.
New issues also began to emerge in charges filed, such as sexual harassment, prompting issuance of EEOC's first Guidelines on Sexual Harassment, which established the principle that sexual harassment violated Title VII. Courts have relied on these Sexual Harassment Guidelines in scores of cases. The Commission also substantially increased enforcement efforts to combat national origin discrimination, following passage of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA), particularly regarding immigration status.
Complaints based on race and sex also increased in the federal sector. In addition, the Commission's administrative decisions enforcing the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which protects federal government employees and applicants from discrimination on the basis of disability, were instrumental in developing disability law, culminating in passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.
Charge receipts in the private and federal sectors continued to climb. Private sector charges reached 111,000 in 1995, the highest amount in the agency's history. The agency has experienced a rapid increase in workload following each new responsibility added, and the 1990s was no exception. Following passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in 1990, the first comprehensive civil rights legislation covering people with disabilities; amendments in 1992 of the Rehabilitation Act to apply the standards in the ADA to federal sector complaints of discrimination; and passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1991 (CRA), which significantly changed the laws EEOC enforced, dramatic increases in charges occurred. The CRA authorizes compensatory and punitive damages in cases of intentional discrimination, provides for the possibility of attorneys' fees and jury trials, and directs the EEOC to expand its technical assistance and outreach activities. EEOC issued policy guidance on new statutory authorities, as well as Title VII and the ADEA.
By mid-decade, the Commission's pending inventory had risen to a level that hampered the agency's ability to perform its mission. A series of reforms were implemented, including the National Enforcement Plan (NEP), which articulates national enforcement strategy and priorities; Local Enforcement Plans(LEPs) tailored to local situations; procedures to categorize charges based on the likelihood that discrimination occurred (priority charge handling procedures, "PCHP") and dedicate resources based on the merits of the charge; a nationwide mediation program; and partnering with state and local fair employment practices agencies (FEPAs) to streamline operations.
The reforms produced dramatic successes. By the end of 1999, the agency's pending inventory fell to a 15-year low of 40,234; the expanded mediation program resolved over 4,800 charges, obtaining $58.6 million in benefits for charging parties; and 439 substantive lawsuits and 26 legal actions involving subpoena enforcements and applications for temporary relief were filed, while 294 lawsuits were resolved. Resolutions of all types in the private sector program resulted in benefits for victims of discrimination of $307.4 million, almost double the total in 1995.
Building on the success of NEP and PCHP initiatives, the agency launched a new Comprehensive Enforcement Program (CEP) in 1999. With the private sector inventory under control and most charges now presenting potentially meritorious issues, the CEP links enforcement and litigation staff to identify and develop substantive issues that will result in relief to victims of discrimination.
In the federal sector program, the CEP links data collection and analysis and hearings and appeals case experiences from various agencies with on-site reviews to identify root causes and address them in recommendations to agency officials. However, the Commission's federal-sector hearings and appellate inventories grew substantially during the 1990s even with dramatic increases in productivity by EEOC's staff. Hearing requests increased 133% and appeals increased 52% during the 1990s, resulting in inventories of 12,808 requests for hearings and 9,955 requests for appeals in 1999. The time federal employees must wait for relief, if they exhaust their agency's EEO process and proceed through hearings and appeals at the EEOC, stands at over 3 years, as compared to 265 days in the private sector program.
EEOC's 35th anniversary and the new century present the opportunity to build on past success as we focus on the agency's future. Thirty five years of laws, court decisions, EEOC guidance, prevention initiatives and enforcement efforts have built a solid foundation for the future. The Commission has played a key role in the development of the law, obtained relief for millions of victims of discrimination, educated the public about the laws it enforces, and promoted changes at the workplace to come closer to realizing equal employment opportunity.
While much progress has been made, current trends also reveal that much remains to be done before equal employment opportunity becomes a reality. After two years of small declines in charges filed, the private sector charge receipts are expected to increase to approximately 80,000 in fiscal year 2000.
Charges alleging particularly egregious forms of discrimination are on the increase, such as threatening African-Americans with nooses to intimidate them. Harassment charges increased from 3.9% of all charges filed in the 1980s to 14.0% in the 1990s. Sexual harassment charges increased from 4.0% of all charges filed in the 1980s to 9.3% of all charges filed in the 1990s, comprising over 10% in the one year of 1995. Other charges involve retaliation against employees for complaining about the original acts of discrimination; another form of intimidation to deprive workers of their rights.
Many charges involve low wage earners and immigrants hampered by language barriers; the most vulnerable workers in America-who are expected to endure deplorable working conditions for meager pay. EEOC's outreach and technical assistance activities reveal that discrimination related to immigration status, language spoken and accent may be widespread. Recently, EEOC reached major settlements with employers in the fishing, poultry and agricultural industries, in cases alleging instances of egregious national origin and sexual harassment discrimination. These cases involved low wage earners and immigrants with limited English proficiency - individuals who are members of the most vulnerable segments of our society and who are least able to assert their legal rights.
Also, even though equal pay has been the law of the land since Congress passed the Equal Pay Act in 1963, women continue to be paid less than their male counterparts for doing the same work. Wage discrimination is an enforcement priority for the future, for which initial steps have been taken in two Memoranda of Understanding between the EEOC and the Department of Labor to coordinate enforcement of the laws that prohibit compensation discrimination through cross-training, charge referrals and information sharing.
Furthermore, due to the success of priority charge handling procedures and other initiatives, almost 90% of our current workload consists of potentially meritorious charges. These charges are more difficult to investigate, and often require additional resources to resolve. For example, the Commission is currently addressing difficult and complex issues involving company pension plans. Many employers are converting traditional pensions plans to "cash balance" plans. The conversion could be discriminatory because cash balance plans may reduce the expected retirement benefits of older employees while increasing benefits allotted to younger workers. The Commission is coordinating efforts with other agencies with authority over pension plans, such as the Departments of Treasury and Labor, and has established a national team of experts to focus on the legality of these plans under the ADEA.
The Commission is also confronting new types of charges, many involving the intersection of two or more issues, such as race or national origin and harassment, or the intersection of discrimination issues and other factors, such as national origin discrimination and immigration status. Another challenge, as genetic information becomes more widely available, is concern that genetic test results and family medical history may be used as a basis for employment decisions which should be based on an individual's current ability to do the job.
The workplace is merely a microcosm of society. It reflects society's advances and shortcomings. The nation's changing demographics and dynamic economy will have a major impact in the future on America's workplaces. According to the White House report, One America in the 21st Century, long term census projections show that the population trend in the United States will significantly change in the next 50 years. This trend represents a significant shift, requiring the EEOC to expend substantially more resources now to begin to adjust its outreach and customer service delivery programs.
It is clear that the vision to eradicate employment discrimination, embodied in all of the laws enforced by the Commission, has not yet been realized. As we celebrate our nation's progress, we cannot be complacent about the need for strong, vigorous and strategic enforcement of these important civil rights laws. Egregious employment discrimination, of the type not commonly seen since the 1960s, appears to be on the rise.
In this Strategic Plan, and in other GPRA documents, EEOC lays out its course for vigorously pursuing all types of employment discrimination. The agency will address charges filed with it, and proactively seek evidence of discriminatory activities that may not come to its doors, through vigorous outreach and enforcement efforts, in coordination with our partners at the federal, state and local levels and in the private sector.
To address the challenges identified in the Outlook section, the EEOC strives to deliver fair, effective and efficient service to the public by:
Enforce Federal Civil Rights Employment Laws Through a Comprehensive Enforcement Program.
Improve the effectiveness of the private-sector enforcement program, including the use of charge prioritization, mediation and, where necessary, litigation, by utilizing a comprehensive enforcement strategy that focuses on National Enforcement Plan priorities.
EEOC's private-sector program includes private and state and local government employers and employees. The agency expects to achieve the following:
The primary strategy for achieving the results in this private-sector enforcement objective is the agency's Comprehensive Enforcement Program (CEP). The CEP addresses the complexities of discrimination inherent in today's changing economy and demograhics and the new reality of a complex workload with over 90% of the inventory now representing potentially meritorious claims requiring close collaboration between attorneys and enforcement staff. It links enforcement and legal resources at each stage of the enforcement process-outreach, intake of charges of discrimination, mediation, investigation, conciliation and other settlement attempts, and, where these attempts fail, litigation. The CEP coordinates policy and procedural activities articulated in the agency's National Enforcement Plan (NEP), ratified by the Commission in February 1996, with field offices' Local Enforcement Plans (LEP), tailored to local issues, to ensure a strategic enforcement and litigation program.
The CEP responds to profound changes in the nature of the private sector enforcement workload since the Priority Charge Handling Procedures (PCHP) were introduced in 1995. When the PCHP was first implemented, the initial categorization of the private sector charges in the pending inventory showed that nearly 20% were categorized as non-meritorious "C" charges, 65% were identified as "B" charges needing additional information, while only 11% were identified as potentially meritorious "A" charges. By fiscal year 1999, the profile of the pending inventory shifted dramatically: "C" charges shrank to less than 2%, "B" charges comprised approximately 61%, and "A" charges almost tripled to over 32%. Consequently, potentially meritorious charges (A and B charges) are now 93% of our pending inventory, requiring us to apply new management techniques to address a more complex workload in a more substantive fashion.
The key elements of the CEP are designed to reassess how private-sector enforcement resources are applied to assure that the agency is effectively addressing this new workload reality and achieving the our GPRA Strategic Goals. One of the key elements is to strengthen the investigator and attorney interaction. Strengthening this interaction improves the quality of the investigative and litigation processes, providing the level of service to the public demanded by a more complex workload. Another key element is to enhance the use of EEOC's Mediation Program to provide more effective and efficient charge processing to both charging parties and respondents. Preliminary information indicates that an overwhelming majority of the participants (91% of charging parties and 96% of respondents) would be willing to participate in the mediation program again if they were a party to an EEOC charge.
Other elements of the CEP are aimed at using effective and efficient management techniques and procedures and other innovative approaches to improve the synergy of staff efforts. For example, the agency will conduct leadership conferences, train managers and field office employees, especially investigators and attorneys in the private sector program, to update their knowledge of court decisions, share techniques for streamlining work processes, and enhance the use of information technologies to improve the ability to communicate with all agency staff to share best practices and other important information.
The agency will focus on several key management challenges to achieve the aims of this private-sector enforcement objective:
Private-sector enforcement is critical to meeting the Commission's strategic goals and mission. In its previous Annual Performance Plans, the agency has increasingly focused on more specific measures for results in all phases of the administrative and legal processing of charges. This approach will continue under the revised Strategic Plan. Annual Performance Plans will include measures to assess the results achieved in the implementation of the Comprehensive Enforcement Program (CEP) and other initiatives developed to improve private-sector enforcement. In addition, the Commission will continue to explore techniques to measure outcome results effectively.
The Commission coordinates its private-sector activities with other federal agencies having interrelated responsibilities in employment discrimination enforcement.
Enhance the effectiveness of the federal-sector program by utilizing a comprehensive enforcement strategy.
The following eight measures specifically address revised federal-sector regulations effective on November 9, 1999:
The following three measures address implementation of recommendations from the EEOC/NPR Interagency Federal EEO Task Force:
The following three measures address other areas in the federal program:
The Commission will implement innovative approaches to achieve this federal-sector objective. In particular, the first three bullets, below, identify key strategies for success:
Accordingly, another important strategy to implement three of the agency's measures is to follow through on recommendations of the task force's final report to implement various pilots, program innovations, data collection and analysis improvements, and other initiatives in partnership with other federal agencies. This strategy includes development of performance measures to help evaluate the initiatives.
In addition, the CEP framework will help focus the agency's strategies for implementing the revised federal sector regulations and coordination of the recommendations from the federal task force.
The Commission, as well as the General Accounting Office in its 1998 report (GAO/GGD-98-167BR), has recognized the challenges presented by an uncontrollable federal-sector workload and chronic funding shortages needed to reduce inventories and modernize and improve federal agency data collection systems. There are several key management challenges affecting achievement of this federal-sector enforcement objective:
Key program evaluation initiatives that should be conducted for the federal-sector enforcement program include:
Historically, the most serious external factor is competing priorities within the resources allocated by Congress needed for this program, as noted under "Management Challenges." Perhaps the best hope is cost-sharing with agencies generating workloads for EEOC. While EEOC is hopeful that the new regulations, the changes being initiated under the CEP, and implementation of recommendations by the federal interagency task force will have a beneficial effect on the factors influencing the numbers of complaints filed and workloads at each step through appeals, the outcome is by no means certain and EEOC's control over federal agencies is very limited.
Annual Performance Plan measures will be linked to the agency's key initiatives for the federal-sector program: performance under the revised regulations, implementation of task force recommendations, and improvements resulting from the introduction of the Comprehensive Enforcement Program (CEP) concepts integrating federal-sector activities in a coherent strategy.
Strengthen partnerships with State and Local Fair Employment Practices Agencies (FEPAs) and Native American Tribal Employment Rights Organizations (TEROs) to enhance effective implementation of laws addressing employment discrimination.
The agency will partner with FEPAs and TEROs to improve services to customers in several ways:
When a charging party comes to either the EEOC or a qualified state or local FEPA, work-sharing agreements protect the charging party's rights under state or local and federal laws by simultaneously filing ("dual-filing") the charge with both agencies. This arrangement has provided efficient customer service over the years by avoiding duplication of effort and streamlining charge resolution efforts for the charging party, the respondent, the EEOC and the FEPA.
EEOC receives approximately 80,000 charges each year. In addition, nearly 60,000 are dual-filed with state and local FEPAs. EEOC supplements the funds FEPAs receive from state and local governments by contracting with them to resolve dual-filed charges. For example, approximately 53,000 charges will be resolved under contract in fiscal year 2000.
In addition to continuing to contract with FEPAs to resolve dual-filed charges, work sharing agreements provide opportunities for EEOC's state and local program to improve customer service by including our FEPA partners in Comprehensive Enforcement Program activities. For example, EEOC will continue expanding its efforts with FEPAs to conduct joint outreach activities to educate and assist specific employer groups and under-served communities and groups, and joint investigations by focusing on major employers with multiple dual-filed charges or charges involving multiple aggrieved parties or discriminatory policies.
The Commission recognizes the valuable role its state and local and Native American partners-the FEPAs and the TEROs-play in our mutual mission to eradicate employment discrimination at the workplace. Critical to this endeavor is the support EEOC provides to maintain the technological capabilities of these organizations and the training we provide to share knowledge and skills on the investigation and litigation of charges.
Key management challenges involved with EEOC's efforts to enhance its partnership with the FEPAs and TEROs include:
EEOC monitors the state and local program by regularly reviewing a sample of dual-filed charges resolved by FEPAs.
EEOC's Annual Performance Plan measures will continue to link to its three main areas of emphasis with its FEPA and TERO partners: charge resolution, training and outreach. Additional measures will attempt to enhance joint activities, where possible. Also, as the Commission develops opportunities to design other types of measures in its private-sector program that help determine outcome-based results measures, similar measures for the state and local program can be explored.
Promote Equal Opportunity in Employment Through Education and Technical Assistance.
Encourage and facilitate voluntary compliance with equal employment opportunity laws among employers and employer groups in the private and federal sectors.
Developing outcome measures for EEOC's outreach, education and technical assistance activities poses unique challenges, as the Commission lacks the means to monitor how recipients of these activities apply them.
Strategic Objective 2.1 describes results expected in our prevention efforts with the employer community. Strategic Objective 2.2 describes our efforts for the employee community and other members of the public. Many of the outreach, education and technical assistance efforts the agency conducts often benefit both groups simultaneously. Consequently, these two Strategic Objectives should be considered together.
The agency expects to develop some measures and achieve results for the employer community in the following ways:
The Comprehensive Enforcement Program (CEP) renews the focus on the critical role that prevention plays in achieving the Commission's mission to eradicate employment discrimination. EEOC has a statutory mandate to educate the public and provide outreach and technical assistance to facilitate voluntary compliance with the laws the Commission enforces. The EEOC's approach to prevention is built on being proactive and responsive to requests for assistance from both employers and employees in the private- and federal-sectors, stakeholders and other interested members of the public.
Preventing employment discrimination is a priority under the CEP and a preferred approach, rather than enforcing the statutes by investigating and litigating charges of employment discrimination. Accordingly, EEOC's goal is to provide more aggressive and expansive outreach, education and technical assistance in both the private-sector and federal-sector to educate employers, employees and stakeholders' groups about their rights and responsibilities under EEOC anti-discrimination statutes. Some of the means and strategies EEOC will use are:
Accurate and reliable data for the agency's outreach, education and technical assistance efforts is as critical as it is for its enforcement efforts to plan and allocate resources. The Commission uses its Automated Outreach System (AOS) to collect information on most of its outreach, education and technical assistance efforts. The type of data collected, its accuracy and reliability at the stage it is entered in the system, and the type of analytical reports generated for analysis are all areas to evaluate to assure that the information is accurate and relevant to the needs of senior management. The Commission is already taking steps to improve this reporting system. It will implement in fiscal year 2001 new report formats to link outreach activities to significant initiatives under the agency's Comprehensive Employment Program, its National Enforcement Plan and field offices' Local Enforcement Plans. The new reports will incorporate both field and headquarters outreach efforts, improving the ability to analyze the agency's outreach performance.
EEOC assesses its outreach, education and technical assistance programs in the following ways:
Several external factors impact on the Commission's prevention programs with employers and employer stakeholders:
The Annual Performance Plan measures currently require agency staff to consult with and provide assistance to the employer community, including our growing technical assistance programs and seminars conducted through Revolving Fund initiatives. The agency will continue measures that foster this type of extensive involvement, but it will also attempt to develop measures that link the agency's outreach, education and technical assistance programs to the prevention of employment discrimination.
Increase knowledge about individual rights under equal employment opportunity laws among the public and employee groups.
This Strategic Objective describes our efforts for the employee community and other members of the public. [Note: many of the outreach, education and technical assistance efforts the agency conducts benefit both employer and employee groups and communities simultaneously. Therefore, the description of expected results from our prevention efforts with the employer community in Strategic Objective 2.1. is equally applicable here.]
The agency expects to develop measures and achieve results for the employee community in the following ways:
EEOC's responsibilities under the employment discrimination laws extend to private- and federal-sector employees, potential employees, and employee representatives and stakeholders. Many of the means and strategies for achieving this objective include the same types of activities described under Strategic Objective 2.1. (see page 33).
In addition, the Commission intends to address the following areas for the employee community:
See discussion under 2.1.C. on page ?.
Both the employer and employee communities are served by EEOC's outreach, education and technical assistance programs, including its Revolving Fund activities. The Program Evaluation activities itemized under Strategic Objective 2.1, Section D., apply in this Section.
In addition, some offices establish groups of community advocates, organizations, religious leaders, media representatives, educational leaders and other organizations to assist agency representatives work with under-served communities to receive feedback about programmatic matters as part of an informed agency and constituency interaction.
Several external factors impact on the Commission's prevention programs with employees and employee stakeholders:
The Annual Performance Plan measures currently require agency staff to extensively consult with and provide assistance to the employee community. The agency will continue measures that foster this type of extensive involvement. Similar to the needs for our outreach measures for the employer community, the agency will also attempt to develop measures that link to results better, which may include tools to survey customers to determine the effectiveness of the Commission's efforts.
In addition to the cross-cutting initiatives listed for Strategic Objective 2.1, Section G., the following issue is being addressed:
Enhance Agency Effectiveness to Achieve our Mission and Strategic Goals by Providing Executive Direction and Support and Building Institutional Knowledge.
Enhance staff capabilities and substantive knowledge to improve work processes and job functions through training, partnership, team-based approaches, and customer-based principles.
EEOC strives to provide training opportunities for employees to improve their skills and become more proficient at their jobs. Fiscal year 1999 was a banner funding year for EEOC, resulting in the most substantial training effort in a decade to provide most employees with 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. For many, this was their first formal training in supervision or management, including some who had been in their positions for many years. In addition, leadership training was provided to SES staff.
The Commission will continue to provide as much training as possible to each of its employees using a variety of training vehicles. Many training events were conducted by bringing employees together in one central location or several regional locations. This type of face-to-face training has many benefits, including the ability to learn from one another as much as from an instructor. Central training is resource intensive, however. The agency will turn to some less resource-intensive alternative training approaches to keep our employees current in their job knowledge and skills. Some of these approaches are:
The major challenge is to heighten the priority for enhancing skills and providing opportunities for gaining knowledge important for doing work differently at a time when demands on staff time are keen, due to large workloads. An additional challenge is the expected loss of a substantial portion of the agency's cadre of management employees over the next 5 years. Also, the agency will be competing with other agencies and the private sector, especially for critical technical and analytical skills. As a result, retaining trained staff becomes a higher priority.
The Commission has several current program evaluation mechanisms for programs in this Strategic Objective, but others will be considered as follows:
The performance plan measures identify approaches that the agency can use to enhance the learning environment. For the past three performance plans, measures have broadened for this Strategic Objective beyond exclusively employee training to include other initiatives that enhance learning and creativity. The performance measures for the Annual Performance Plans under this Strategic Plan will continue to explore ways to train, partner, and create an atmosphere designed to support innovation to improve our work. In addition, customer service measures will be introduced to the extent practicable.
Provide policy direction and guidance to achieve all Strategic Goals.
The outcomes for this Strategic Objective cover a wide range of the agency initiatives to promote executive direction and support. The agency will use the following means and strategies to address these outcome areas:
The agency will evaluate planning systems critical to its ability to provide executive direction to achieve its goals and mission. The development of a good planning approach and cascading goals and measures throughout the organization will be reviewed to determine results achieved.
Executive direction is a cornerstone for all other Strategic Goals and Objectives. It is even the foundation for the mission itself. All of the agency's annual performance goals rely upon consistent and effective direction for their selection and implementation. Performance goals will be selected with the appropriate direction and support provided to achieve them.
There are no cross-cutting issues for this Strategic Objective.
Instill a knowledge base by attaining and maintaining a robust technological competency and through research, analysis and evaluation of organizational components, procedures and processes.
Technology is a critical component of the agency's strategy for achieving its objectives in all areas of its work, including its mission programs and support operations. To meet the goals and objectives outlined in this Strategic Plan, the Commission will use information technology to increase staff efficiency, evaluate program effectiveness, and improve service to our customers. We have, and will continue, to provide employees with standardized, state-of-the-art desktop tools to facilitate productivity; implement a sound telecommunications infrastructure to increase team work between offices and allow the expeditious sharing of information and resources; develop integrated information systems to support the management of the Commission's corporate information; utilize the Internet to facilitate research and promote information exchange with our customers; and implement the Government Paperwork Elimination Act (GPEA) to allow the public to transact with the Commission electronically.
In FY 1992, EEOC initiated an Information Resources Management (IRM) Strategic Plan to improve the Commission's information technology by applying a strategic approach that meets business and program area priorities. The plan consists of four key initiatives: Development of Integrated Information Systems, Establishment of Data Connectivity and Communications, Enhancements to Current Systems, and Provisions for Support Services. All four initiatives are interdependent and require that program activities to move forward in a synchronized manner to achieve information technology program goals.
A major component of the IRM Plan is the consolidation and integration of the agency's information systems. EEOC currently has multiple database systems supporting the agency's mission activities. The lack of integrated systems results in redundant data entry and storage, duplicate processes and procedures, inadequate data integrity, and difficult information access. The Commission is developing the Integrated Mission System (IMS) to consolidate the major mission-related information systems into a single shared database, improve functionality, expand employee access, and allow for future integration with administrative systems, including a human resources system. For federal sector EEO monitoring, this initiative will develop a standardized Federal EEO Complaint Tracking and Reporting System to improve the collection of data from federal agencies and provide efficient federal EEO complaint reports. Also linked to this initiative is the development and implementation of systems to ensure compliance with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act and with the Government Paperwork Elimination Act (GPEA).
A second initiative will establish a robust telecommunications infrastructure capable of supporting future integrated information systems and provide Commission staff with the ability to effectively communicate within and among office locations. This initiative supports increased team work between offices through the expeditious and electronic sharing of information, resources, and expertise. For an agency whose front line work is spread out across the country, it is critical to the success of our mission that we are able to share information and resources as quickly and efficiently as possible.
As the agency continues to implement new technology and develop integrated information systems, we must continue to sustain and enhance the capabilities of the agency's existing information systems. This third initiative includes refreshing the Commission's IT inventory and upgrading applications on a fixed schedule in order to keep up with technology and continue to provide employees with a state-of-the-art environment for processing information and preparing documents. This includes upgrading laptop systems so employees can effectively function from remote locations.
The fourth initiative provides efficient, timely, and expert computer support services to agency employees, and enhances the computer knowledge/skills of EEOC end-users as well as the expertise of EEOC technical staff through quality training. This initiative ensures that proper training and support are in place prior to the deployment of new information systems so staff fully utilize new technologies in their work to enhance productivity and customer service. In addition, the Commission considers universal accessibility to information a priority for all employees, including individuals with disabilities, and is working to ensure that all Commission information systems meet the standards for accessibility as outlined in Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act.
A key focus tied to these initiatives is using methods and establishing systems that enhance staff knowledge and skills in the area of computer security and keep up with technological developments in the industry to assure the security of our computer systems and databases, including our web site, from unauthorized access.
In addition to technology areas, support programs are critical to the agency's effectiveness and several strategies will address these areas. For example:
The Commission uses proven project management techniques to establish and monitor time frames, milestones, deliverables, dependencies, and resource requirements. Short term project evaluations are conducted on an ongoing basis, in accordance with milestones established in project plans. Long-term projects are reviewed on an annual basis in conjunction with the preparation of the agency's budget, its annual performance plans and annual performance reports, and five-year IT plan.
The Commission will also identify areas to conduct key program evaluations, particularly in the financial and human resources programs, to ensure that front-line programs are able to meet Strategic Goals 1 and 2.
Initially, the performance measures for this Strategic Objective focused on agency directives for its staff. Subsequent Annual Performance Plan measures began to broaden initiatives for this Objective to include a wide variety of functions critical to providing support to the agency's internal and external executive direction and support functions to increase front-line effectiveness. Future measures will continue this trend, providing executive direction and support in areas that will further enhance our front-line programs.
The Commission has engaged in Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) with various government agencies to process data and share information. For example:
This page was last modified on October 23, 2000.