Summary
In April 2005 GAO reported on the EEO policy framework in the federal workplace and the roles of EEOC and OPM. This report, in response to a congressional request, provides information on (1) federal agency EEO and human capital managers' views of the EEO framework requirements; (2) their views on the usefulness of guidance and feedback from EEOC and OPM concerning these requirements; and (3) how and to what extent EEOC and OPM coordinate in developing policy, providing guidance, and exercising oversight.
EEO and human capital officials in federal agencies we surveyed said that some requirements of the EEO framework contribute more than others to achieving EEO, affirmative employment, and workforce diversity, and in influencing human capital policies, practices, and strategic planning. They also said that some requirements are very similar or redundant, such as EEOC's affirmative employment program and OPM's program for recruiting minorities and women. This creates duplication of effort as agencies sometimes have to submit the same information in different reports to EEOC and OPM. Further, the officials said they experienced added administrative burden because of inconsistent requirements. The officials also said that guidance from EEOC on EEO, affirmative employment, and workforce diversity issues was more frequent and more useful than that from OPM. Some officials questioned the usefulness of feedback from EEOC and OPM on their agencies' performance or submitted reports. Less than half reported that the feedback was useful or very useful and a substantial number of respondents reported that they received no feedback from OPM. In addition, EEO and human capital officials expressed the strong view that both OPM and EEOC could be doing more to help their agencies. We found little evidence of coordination at the operating level between EEOC and OPM in developing policy, providing guidance, and exercising oversight, despite overlapping responsibilities in federal workplace EEO. For example, EEOC and OPM officials do not routinely review reports that the other agency receives from federal agencies, even though those reports deal with similar matters. In addition, EEOC and OPM officials do not coordinate with each other when conducting on-site reviews of EEO-related matters at agencies. Good management practice as well as federal statute and executive order call for coordination, and not doing so results in lost opportunity to realize consistency, efficiency, and public value in EEO policy making and oversight. The Office of Management and Budget made a recommendation to OPM in 2005 that it develop a regular/formal working relationship with EEOC with respect to those programs where it shares oversight responsibility with EEOC in order to improve overall government efficiency. Although EEOC officials acknowledged a need to coordinate at the operating level and to develop an institutional coordination process, OPM officials suggested that coordination need not be institutionalized.
Recommendations
Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change
from "In process" to "Implemented" or "Not implemented" based on our follow up work.
Director:
Team:
Phone:
George H. Stalcup
Government Accountability Office: Applied Research and Methods
(202) 512-9095
Matters for Congressional Consideration
Recommendation: The Congress may wish to require EEOC, in its Annual Report on the Federal Workforce, and OPM, in its annual FEORP report, to include a joint report of actions they have taken or plan to take to (1) increase coordination and communication with each other, (2) consolidate and streamline like requirements of the EEO framework and resolve inconsistencies, and (3) improve guidance and feedback to agencies.
Status: In process
Comments: No action was taken on this recommendation in the 109th Congress. No action has been taken by the 110th Congress as of September 2008.
Recommendations for Executive Action
Recommendation: To resolve the issues noted in our report, the Chair of EEOC and the Director of OPM should develop means to communicate and coordinate on a continuing basis, establish collaboration protocols, and work to resolve their disagreements to the maximum extent possible concerning their respective responsibilities in developing policy, providing guidance, and exercising oversight under the EEO framework for the federal workplace.
Agency Affected: Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Status: In process
Comments: In a May 2007 email, the Director of EEOC's Office of Federal Operations said that EEOC is engaged in developing a comprehensive, ongoing dialog with OPM. He said that EEOC and OPM have been discussing ways in which OPM's Enterprise Human Resources Integration (EHRI) data system could be utilized to provide assistance to agencies in their efforts under EEOC's Management Directive 715. He also noted that OPM had provided EEOC the opportunity to review and comment on the OPM Federal Equal Employment Opportunity Recruiting Program (FEORP) and that EEOC extended to OPM the opportunity to review and comment on EEOC's Annual Report on the Federal Work Force. He also noted that he and members of his staff visited OPM on April 24, 2007, to brief them on various initiatives at EEOC, and that EEOC's Chair extended an invitation to the OPM Director to be the keynote speaker at the EEOC's 2007 EXCEL Conference in Denver, Colorado. In the summer of 2008, EEOC added to its Leadership for the Employment of Americans with Disabilities (LEAD) page a link to OPM's Disability Resource page, as well as a reference to OPM's USAJobs page for those seeking employment.
Agency Affected: Office of Personnel Management
Status: In process
Comments: OPM staff provided EEOC an opportunity to formally comment on OPM's Federal Equal Opportunity Recruitment Plan before finalizing it. Additionally, OPM's Director spoke at the EEOC's 2007 EXCEL conference. In the summer of 2008, EEOC added to its Leadership for the Employment of Americans with Disabilities (LEAD) page a link to OPM's Disability Resource page, as well as a reference to OPM's USAJobs page for those seeking employment.
Recommendation: To resolve the issues noted in our report, the Chair of EEOC and the Director of OPM should explore opportunities to consolidate and streamline similar and redundant requirements and resolve inconsistencies within the EEO framework, including reporting requirements, in a manner that could lead to a single report to fulfill the needs of both EEOC and OPM, particularly related to requirements under MD-715 and FEORP. Where both EEOC and OPM believe that a statute or an executive order is an impediment to streamlining or resolving inconsistencies, the agencies could jointly recommend appropriate action to Congress or the President.
Agency Affected: Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Status: In process
Comments: In a May 2007 email from EEOC in response to our inquiry, the Director of EEOC's Office of Federal Operations said that EEOC continues to engage in developing a comprehensive, ongoing dialog with OPM. At EEOC's 2007 EXCEL Conference in Denver, Colorado, at which OPM's Director was the keynote speaker, EEOC's Chair announced the EEOC and OPM are currently exploring options to streamline reporting requirements. No further progress was noted as of September 2008.
Agency Affected: Office of Personnel Management
Status: In process
Comments: EEOC and OPM are exploring options to streamline reporting improvements as discussed at EEOC's 2007 EXCEL conference, at which OPM's Director provided the keynote speech. No further progress was noted as of September 2008.
Recommendation: To resolve the issues noted in our report, the Chair of EEOC and the Director of OPM should work together to improve their collective guidance, feedback, and assistance to other agencies on EEO.
Agency Affected: Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Status: In process
Comments: EEOC and OPM are exploring options to streamline reporting requirements as discussed at EEOC's 2007 EXCEL conference. No further progress was noted as of September 2008.
Agency Affected: Office of Personnel Management
Status: In process
Comments: OPM managers attended EEOC's annual EXCEL conference in August 2007. No further progress was noted as of September 2008.
Recommendation: To resolve the issues noted in our report, the Chair of EEOC and the Director of OPM should determine from agency-level EEO and human capital managers what additional guidance they need in carrying out their responsibilities, how to make their feedback more useful, and what more EEOC and OPM can do to help agencies to ensure EEO in the workplace and achieve workforce diversity objectives.
Agency Affected: Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Status: In process
Comments: EEOC is working with human capital managers to determine what additional guidance is needed. No further progress was noted as of September 2008.
Agency Affected: Office of Personnel Management
Status: In process
Comments: OPM is working with agency managers to determine what additional guidance is needed. No further progress was noted as of September 2008.
Recommendation: To resolve the issues noted in our report, the Chair of EEOC and the Director of OPM should work together to convene regular meetings of senior federal workplace EEO/civil rights officials and chief human capital officers in order to further integrate EEO and human capital.
Agency Affected: Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Status: In process
Comments: OPM managers and HR professionals attended the EEOC's annual EXCEL conference in August 2007. No further progress was noted as of September 2008.
Agency Affected: Office of Personnel Management
Status: In process
Comments: OPM managers attended EEOC's annual EXCEL conference in August 2007. No further progress was noted as of September 2008.
