The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

United States Postal Service (USPS)

Permanent Workforce: 707,485 Temporary Workforce: Unavailable

Workforce Composition

Employee Pool Total # Men Women Hispanics Whites Blacks Asian Americans / Pacific Islanders American Indians / Alaskan Natives
Permanent Workforce 707,485 61.66% 38.34% 7.71% 63.18% 21.05% 7.49% 0.56%
Major Occupations                
City Carrier 227,220 74.51% 25.49% 10.16% 63.81% 17.5% 8.03% 0.49%
Clerk 225,391 55.07% 44.93% 7.22% 56.79% 24.95% 10.47% 0.57%
Supervisor 33,655 64.96% 35.04% 7.72% 59.95% 27.36% 4.44% 0.53%
GS-14 and GS-15 Equivalents 8,705 71.75% 28.25% 6.02% 72.07% 16.58% 4.66% 0.67%
Senior Pay Level* 784 72.57% 27.43% 6.25% 74.23% 16.33% 2.68% 0.51%

*USPS does not use the General Schedule.

Targeted Disabilities

Employees with targeted disabilities represented 0.99% of the total government workforce in FY 2004, and of agencies with a permanent workforce of 500 or more, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, at 2.23%, had the highest percentage of employees with targeted disabilities. At USPS, employees with targeted disabilities represented 0.9% of the total workforce.

EEO Complaint Processing

  1. Counseling

    There were 19,101 instances of pre-complaint counseling (performed by EEO counselors and/or ADR intake officers). USPS timely processed 68.2% of the total number of counselings. Following counseling, 7,549 formal complaints of discrimination were filed.

  2. Alternative Dispute Resolution

    Of USPS' 19,101 instances of counseling, ADR was offered 100% of the time; the parties elected to participate in 72.3% of the completed counselings; and 45.6% of the ADR closures were resolved through settlements or withdrawals.

    At the formal complaint phase, USPS offered ADR 1.1% of the time; the parties elected to participate in 0.5% of the complaint workload; and 93.2% of the ADR closures were resolved through settlements or withdrawals.

  3. Processing Times

    USPS completed 30% of its investigations within the regulatory time frames, with an average processing time of 325 days for all investigations. In most instances, the regulations require completion of investigations within

    180 days. Of the agencies completing 25 or more investigations, the Tennessee Valley Authority was the only agency to complete 100% of their investigations within the regulatory time frames, with an average processing time of 117 days.

    USPS' average processing time for all complaint closures decreased from 590 days in FY 2003 to 445 days in FY 2004. The government-wide average was 469 days.

  4. Pending Inventory

    USPS had a total of 8,770 complaints pending at the end of FY 2004, with 573 pending acknowledgment for an average of 106 days; 38,762 pending investigation for an average of 262 days; and 636 pending the issuance of final decisions for an average of 915 days.

  5. Costs

    USPS agreed to pay $417,939 for 5,298 counseling settlements with benefits, an average $78.88 per counseling settled.

    USPS agreed to pay a total of $6,787,596 for 1,428 complaint closures through settlement agreement, final agency decision, and final agency orders fully implementing AJ decisions. For complaint closures with benefits, the average award (including back/front pay, compensatory damages, attorney's fees, and lump sum payments) was $4,753.

    USPS expended a total of $9,325,295 for 4,822 complaint investigations, for an average expenditure of $1,934.

Outcome of Counselings Completed in FY 2004

Counseling Outcomes Completed by EEO Counselor Completed Using ADR All Completed Counselings
# % # % # %
Total Instances of Counseling: 6,506   12,595   19,101  
Settlements 482 7.40% 4,816 38.23% 5,298 27.73%
Withdrawal/no Complaint Filed 5,001 76.8% 921 7.3% 5,922 31.00%
Complaints Filed*         7,549 39.52%
Decision to File Complaint Pending at End of Fiscal Year         332 1.73%

*Includes only complaints filed in FY 2004 where counseling was also completed during FY 2004.

Agency Use of ADR for EEO Dispute Resolution

Counselings / Complaints ADR Offers ADR Participation
# # % # %
FY 2003 Pre-Complaint Counselings 20,102 19,547 97.00% 15,193 76.00%
FY 2004 Pre-Complaint Counselings 19,101 19,248 100.00% 13,815 72.33%
Percentage Change FY 2003 to FY 2004 -4.97% -1.52%   -9.07%  
FY 2003 Complaints* 19,809 2,928 15.00% 2,502 13.00%
FY 2004 Complaints* 18,748 202 1.08% 102 0.54%
Percentage Change FY 2003 to FY 2004 -5.35% -93.10%   -95.92%  

*Includes all complaints filed in the fiscal year, including those where the counseling was completed in the prior fiscal year.

Timeliness

Total # # Timely % Timely FY 2003 APD* FY 2004 APD % Change
All Counselings (minus remands) 19,095 13,014 68.15%      
All Investigations 4,822 1,438 29.82% 256 325 26.95%
Merit Decisions (no AJ) 2,915 1,488 51.05% 557 544 -2.33%
Dismissal Decisions 2,784     585 76 -87.00%

*APD = Average Processing Days

Outcomes of Complaints Closed in FY 2004

Complaint Outcomes Complaint Closures Final Agency Decision (no AJ decision) Final Order (AJ Decision Fully Implemented) Final Order (AJ Decision Not Fully Implemented)
Total Closures (9,978) # % # % # % # %
Settlements 1,347 13.49%            
Withdrawals 1,071 10.73%            
Dismissals 2,784 27.90%            
Merit Decisions 4,776 47.86%            
Finding Discrimination 88 1.84% 73 82.95% 8 9.09% 7 7.95%
Finding No Discrimination 4,688 98.15% 2,842 60.62% 1,809 38.58% 37 0.78%


This page was last modified on May 3, 2005.

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