Management's Discussion and Analysis

INTRODUCTION

This year the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission proudly celebrated a milestone in the nation's history: our 40th anniversary of serving the public by ensuring equality of opportunity in America's workplaces. When the Commission first opened its doors on July 2, 1965, it was charged with enforcing the employment provisions of the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964. The EEOC has jurisdiction over employment discrimination issues for the Federal Government's role as an employer and also for private employers, State and local agencies, employment services, and labor organizations. The EEOC receives, reviews, and processes charges of employment discrimination, and files discrimination suits. We also provide guidance and information to both employers and employees concerning their rights and responsibilities under the laws we enforce. A more detailed explanation of our structure and the laws we enforce can be found in Appendix A.

The past 40 years have brought much progress, yet much work remains to fulfill the promise of equal employment opportunity for all. The EEOC is proud of the pivotal role it has played over the years and will remain ever vigilant in the pursuit of our mission for years to come. However, we find ourselves at a crossroads between a powerful past and an emerging future. The past four decades have seen incredible changes: shifting demographics, globalization, and the explosion of technological innovations. The world and the workplace have changed dramatically during that time, and we are working to better position ourselves to address the needs of the 21st century workplace.

This FY 2005 Performance and Accountability Report (PAR), prepared in accordance with the Reports Consolidation Act of 2000 and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-136, Financial Reporting Requirements, presents the results of the agency's programs and financial performance, along with its management challenges. This section of the PAR summarizes our efforts in each of these areas. More detailed discussion can be found in the following sections of the Report:

Achieving Results highlights the progress made in meeting the Commission's performance measures, which are articulated in our Strategic Plan for fiscal years 2004 through 2009.

The Inspector General's Statements present key management challenges identified by the Inspector General and the agency's progress and plans to address them, as well as a statement of FMFIA compliance.

The Consolidated Financial Statements demonstrate our efforts to be good stewards over the funds the agency receives to carry out its mission. Included in this section is an independent auditor's opinion on the agency's financial statements.

A copy of this report is available on our website at http://www.eeoc.gov/abouteeoc/plan/par/2005/index.html

THE YEAR IN HIGHLIGHTS

The EEOC is working to make a difference in the lives of those we serve and employ. From briefcases to lunch boxes, from hardhats to handhelds, we are a nation of workers facing opportunities and circumstances unlike any other. This year the EEOC continued to strive toward our mission of promoting equality of opportunity in the workplace and enforcing Federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination.

The Commission made significant progress in its efforts to reposition itself to better serve the public. In September 2004, the Commission approved a 2-year contract to establish EEOC's National Contact Center (NCC), the most pressing of the three major recommendations of the National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA) in its 2002 in-depth examination of the Commission. This Commission vote marked the culmination of an exhaustive process of study, evaluation and planning. On March 21, 2005, following a 6-month planning and training period, the NCC began operating on an 18-month pilot basis.

When the NCC began to accept calls nationwide, the Commission became dramatically more accessible to the public. Constituents can now communicate with the agency in more than 150 languages by telephone, fax, written correspondence, e-mail, and web inquiries to obtain quick, accurate information. The NCC is open from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. eastern time, Monday through Friday. More than 24,000 callers a month speak with knowledgeable, EEOC-trained Customer Service Representatives (CSRs), usually within 30 seconds after opting to speak directly to a CSR. Additionally, through Frequently Asked Questions posted on the EEOC's web page and an Interactive Voice Response telephone system available 24 hours a day, another 15,000 customers a month are getting their questions answered through the use of the NCC's technology.

In May 2005, Chair Dominguez addressed NAPA's second major recommendation when she presented her fellow Commissioners with a plan to realign the Commission's field organization. In June 2005, after making the plan available to the public and gathering comments, Chair Dominguez led a panel of senior EEOC managers in a public forum on the plan. The Commission subsequently voted on July 8, 2005, to approve the plan, which retains all existing Field Offices and adds two new offices in Mobile, Alabama, and Las Vegas, Nevada. The plan allows for expanded presence, reduced costs, flattening of overall management structure, and more logical alignment of our offices. This will permit the agency to redeploy staff to front-line positions, fill additional positions, and ensure that each office has the staff necessary to manage its workload. The Commission hopes to implement the field repositioning sometime in FY 2006.

In sum, these repositioning efforts will allow the agency to use its human capital where it is most needed, so the Commission can continue its role as the preeminent civil rights agency well into the 21st century.

While we are making steady progress, FY 2005 was not without unique challenges. The devastation on the Gulf Coast caused by Hurricane Katrina had a profound impact on the EEOC and our New Orleans District Office. Our first concern has been, and remains to be, the safety and well being of our employees. Of the 50 employees in the New Orleans District Office, nearly half had their homes destroyed in the storm and the floods that followed. Approximately one-third of our displaced employees remain in the New Orleans/Baton Rouge area, and the others are currently concentrated in Texas, Georgia, and Florida. The office, in downtown New Orleans, has been closed since August 29, 2005. We are in the process of retrieving what can be saved from the New Orleans District Office and are on track to open a relocated office in November. In the meantime, many of our displaced employees have returned to work at alternative locations.

Our Strategic Plan set forth the framework by which we measure our performance under the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA). The strategic framework includes three Strategic Objectives and the agency's Five-Point Plan.

Each strategic objective and its corresponding Five-Point Plan elements have a series of performance measures used to drive results and accountability throughout the agency. Our progress in meeting these measures is summarized below and discussed in detail in the "Achieving Results" section of this report.

EEOC FY 2005 Performance
Measures	Targets Met	Targets Partially Met1	Targets Not Met
24	18	1	5
1 Targets Partially Met: A rating assigned to target results where (1) at least half of the activities targeted for completion were completed, or (2) the target is a 2-year target and at least half of activities have been completed.

This page was last modified on December 2, 2005

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