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

2004 Presidential Award for Management Excellence

Department of Labor

Budget and Performance Integration
Agencywide Performance

The Department of Labor (DOL) was established in 1913 to serve American workers and employers. In fiscal year (FY) 2003, the Department updated its strategic plan and goals to include a prepared workforce, a secure workforce, quality workplaces, and a competitive workforce for the twenty-first century.

The primary services of the DOL are tied to its strategic goals and to major agencies, including the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Employee Benefits Security Administration, the Employment and Training Administration, the Employment Standards Administration, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), and the Veterans Employment Service.

In accordance with the requirements of the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 (GPRA), the DOL’s agencies and programs began to compare efforts with results and justified budget requests accordingly. This GPRA was reinforced by the President’s Management Agenda, which called for integration of performance and budget. In cooperation with task groups throughout the Department, the DOL produced what would become the standard, fully integrated budget and performance document. As a result, the Department no longer has to publish a separate Annual Performance Plan and, instead, includes a Performance Budget Overview in the Office of Management and Budget Submission and Congressional Justification.

The DOL established the Program Planning and Results Center (PPRC) to provide leadership in achieving performance goals so that each performance plan now includes four core management skills. The performance rating cycle also was adjusted to coincide with the fiscal year, aligning its human and fiscal resources to fully support the Department’s missions.

Since completing its first Annual Performance and Accountability Reports in FY 1999, the DOL “achieved” and “substantially achieved” 90 percent of 53 goals in FY 2000, 66 percent of 48 goals in FY 2001, 74 percent of 42 goals in FY 2002, and 65 percent of 35 goals in FY 2003. The decrease in these percentages reflects the Department’s efforts to refine goals while setting ambitious targets.

The results of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the Mine Safety and Health Administration particularly demonstrate the success of the Department’s performance. In 2002, workplace fatalities decreased by 6.6 percent to a historic low, and the injury and illness rate was down to 5.3 per 100 workers. In 2003, mining fatalities were at their lowest levels since such statistics were first recorded in 1910.