Return to Home PageAdministrative Occupational Cateorgy - Occupations that the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) defines as involving the exercise of analytical ability, judgment, discretion, and personal responsibility, and application of a substantial body of knowledge of principles, concepts, and practices applicable to one or more fields of administration or management. These positions do not require specialized educational majors and typically follow a two-grade interval pattern in the General Schedule and related grades through GS-11, and one-grade intervals to GS-15.
Agency - Executive agencies as defined in Section 102 of Title 5 of the U.S. Code (including those with employees and applicants for employment who are paid from non-appropriated funds), the U.S. Postal Service, the Postal Rate Commission, and those units of the legislative and judicial branches of the Federal government having positions in the competitive service.
Annual Accomplishment Reports - Reports required to be submitted to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) on agencies' affirmative employment program accomplishments, pursuant to EEOC Management Directives 713 (persons with disabilities) and 714 (minorities and women) (MD-713 and MD-714).
Blue Collar Occupational Category - Occupations that the OPM defines as comprising the trades, crafts, and manual labor (unskilled, semi-skilled, or skilled), including foremen and supervisory positions entailing trade, craft, or laboring experience and knowledge as the paramount requirement.
Census Availability Data (CAD ) - Data derived from the decennial census. The EEOC modifies the Civilian Labor Force data, first to adjust for citizenship, then eliminating job classifications which do not exist in federal agencies (e.g., salespersons, beauticians, funeral parlor directors, etc.), and then matches each of the approximately 420 federal occupations with its appropriate counterpart from the decennial census occupational listing. Then the EEOC classifies the job according to Professional, Administrative, Technical, Clerical, Other or Blue Collar (PATCOB), and derives a weighted PATCOB percentage of those jobs. These weighted percentages are then used as the available federal work force for purposes of evaluating agency five-year plans and annual accomplishment reports required by MD-714.
Civilian Labor Force (CLF) - Data derived from the decennial census reflecting persons, 16 years of age or older, who were employed or seeking employment, excluding those in the Armed Services. CLF data used in this report is based on the 1990 Census.
Central Personnel Data File (CPDF) - This is a computer file created and maintained by the OPM. The file is based on personnel action information submitted directly to the OPM by federal agency appointing offices, and is updated monthly. The following agencies do not submit data to the CPDF: the Tennessee Valley Authority, U.S. Postal Service, Army and Air Force Exchange Service, Central Intelligence Agency, Defense Intelligence Agency, National Imagery and Mapping Agency, and the National Security Agency.
Clerical Occupational Category - Occupations that the OPM defines as involving structured work in support of office, business, or fiscal operations performed in accordance with established policies, procedures, or techniques and requiring training, experience, or working knowledge related to the tasks to be performed. These jobs typically follow a one-grade interval pattern.
Disability - A physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activity.
EEO Management Directive 110 (MD-110) - A document providing policies, procedures, and guidance relating to the processing of employment discrimination complaints governed by the EEOC's regulations found at 29 C.F.R. Part 1614.
EEO Management Directive 712 (MD-712) - A document providing instructions for agency programs for hiring, placement, and advancement of individuals with disabilities.
EEO Management Directive 713 (MD-713) - A document describing the reporting requirements related to agency programs for hiring, placement, and advancement of individuals with disabilities.
EEO Management Directive 714 (MD-714) - A document describing the program responsibilities and reporting requirements related to agency programs for hiring, placement, and advancement of minorities and women.
Lump Sum Payment - A single payment made in a settlement which does not identify the portion of the amount paid for backpay, compensatory damages, attorney fees, etc.
Major Occupational Areas - The most populous occupations in the Professional and the Administrative categories in an agency.
Merit Decision - A decision determining whether or not discrimination occurred.
Other White Collar Occupational Category - Occupations that cannot be related to the Professional, Administrative, Technical, Clerical, or Blue Collar occupational categories. Predominant occupations in this category are fire prevention, police, guard, and correctional jobs.
PATCOB - The acronym that refers to Professional, Administrative, Technical, Clerical, Other White-Collar, and Blue Collar occupational categories.
Participation Rate - The extent to which members of a specific demographic group participate in an agency's work force.
Permanent Work Force - Full-time, part-time, and intermittent employees serving either a Career or Career Conditional appointment in an agency. (For purposes of this Report, those persons employed as of September 30, 2002.)
Professional Occupational Category - Occupations that the OPM defines as requiring knowledge in a field of science or learning characteristically acquired through education or training equivalent to a bachelor's or higher degree with major study in or pertinent to the specialized field, as distinguished from general education. These occupations follow a two-grade interval pattern in the General Schedule and related grades through GS-11, and one-grade intervals to GS-15.
Race/National Origin/Ethnicity -
White (Not of Hispanic Origin) - All persons having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, North Africa, or the Middle East.
Black (Not of Hispanic Origin) - All persons having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa.
Hispanic - All persons of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central or South American, or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race.
Asian/Pacific Islander - All persons having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, the Indian subcontinent, or the Pacific Islands. This area includes, for example, China, Japan, Korea, the Philippine Islands and Samoa.
American Indian/Alaskan Native - All persons having origins in any of the original peoples of North America, and who maintain cultural identification through tribal affiliation or community recognition.
Reportable Disability - Any self-identified disability reported by an employee to the employing agency.
Senior Pay Level - Civil Service positions above GS-15.
Targeted Disabilities - The EEOC identified nine categories of severe disabilities as targeted disabilities for tracking purposes in an agency's federal affirmative employment program for individuals with disabilities. These disabilities include: deafness, blindness, missing limbs, partial paralysis, complete paralysis, convulsive disorders, mental illness, mental retardation, and distortion of limbs or spine.
Technical Occupational Category - Occupations that the OPM defines as typically involving work associated with and supportive of a professional or administrative field, which is non-routine in nature and which involves extensive practical knowledge, gained through on-the-job experience or specific training less than that represented by college graduation. These jobs typically follow a one-grade interval pattern in all grades.
Total Work Force - All employees of an agency subject to the 29 C.F.R. Part 1614 regulations, including temporary, seasonal, and permanent employees.
White Collar Employees - Those workers in grade levels GS-1 through GS-15 and the Senior Pay Level. This category does not include Blue Collar (Wage Grade) workers.
This page was last modified on June 26, 2003.