The objective of the Comprehensive Enforcement Program (CEP) is to deliver fair, efficient, and effective service to the public. The diagram below illustrates the critical elements required to accomplish these objectives: (1) close collaboration between administrative enforcement and legal staff and (2) a focus on customer service supported by quality peer review.
The diagram shows the interrelationships among staff, stakeholders and quality review involved in EEOC's private sector CEP. The CEP integrates enforcement and legal staff at each stage of the agency's work to address employment discrimination issues-including outreach, education and technical assistance; intake (charge prioritization); mediation (alternative dispute resolution); decisions on the merits, conciliations and settlements; investigation; and, where settlement attempts fail, litigation to address egregious discrimination and other Commission priorities. The CEP connotes teamwork and joint accountability in all private sector activities.
A focus on customer service, supported by a peer review process to assess and improve the quality of our work (Quality Peer Review (QPR)) is integral to achieving the objectives of the CEP. Enforcement and legal staff must work closely together to quickly and accurately determine whether the allegations fall within the purview of statutes EEOC enforces, and how best to respond to employees and employers involved to address issues identified to deliver fair and effective service to the public. While the agency has historically fostered high quality through manuals and guidance documents, training and supervision, the CEP adds another dimension to assessing how we can improve customer service through QPR. QPR is designed to identify both areas for improvement as well as best practices which can be shared agency-wide. [Section II describes the Commission's CEP and the performance measures for fiscal year 2002. In particular, subsection B discusses the private sector CEP, including the appropriate fiscal year 2002 measures. Also, Section IV describes the QPR program, including the performance measure for fiscal year 2002.]
These components of the CEP, working together, have led to significant achievements in our private sector program.
The diagram below illustrates the federal sector Comprehensive Enforcement Program (CEP). CEP integrates a variety of functions to enhance performance in all aspects of the federal sector program and provides a framework for linking critical information and staff insights nationwide to provide more effective and efficient service to federal agencies and employees.
The top of the pyramid shows hearings and appeals actions filed with the EEOC by federal employees. These actions are initiated only after employees first file complaints alleging discrimination with their agency's EEO office and do not receive a satisfactory response or at least 180 days elapses. The bottom portion of the pyramid depicts filed complaints remaining within a federal agency and discrimination which occurs but does not become part of the federal EEO complaint process-"hidden" discrimination.
Complaints and "hidden" discrimination emanate from root causes of discrimination that federal agencies need to address to remove barriers to equal employment opportunity. The diagram illustrates the value of federal agency data analysis, particularly analysis that helps identify root causes of discrimination. Root cause analysis assists EEOC and federal agencies to focus on preventing discrimination and on more effective and efficient ways to address discrimination.
The two circles at the base of the pyramid represent on-site reviews and outreach, education and technical assistance-key elements of the CEP and the EEOC's prevention activities in the federal sector. The arrows illustrate that results from on-site reviews provide information about the types of outreach, education and technical assistance activities (including Technical Assistance Training Programs (TAPS) events) that could benefit federal agencies and employees, as well as provide Administrative Judges in hearings and writing attorneys in appeals with insights into a federal agency's policies and practices. Also, information and expertise gleaned by hearings and appeals staff after years of experience with federal agencies' and employees' discriminatory issues help EEOC design more effective outreach, education and technical assistance activities tailored to agency and employee needs. They also provide valuable insights to determine which agencies could benefit and which employment issues to address during EEOC on-site reviews. [Section II describes the Commission's CEP and the performance measures for fiscal year 2002. In particular, subsection D discusses the federal sector CEP, including the appropriate fiscal year 2002 measures.]
The diagram suggests that all of these components must work together to identify and remove employment discrimination from the federal workplace.
This page was last modified on May 3, 2001.
