The Office of Civil Rights services over 30,000 employees, applicants for employment and former employees across 19 regions, all 50 states, and Puerto Rico. We are committed to developing and maintaining a work environment that is inclusive of all employees. The Office of Civil Rights earns and maintains solid public and employee trust through the delivery of prompt, accurate, and effective civil rights services. Our efforts of service are the bedrock to better connections for present and future generations.
The Office of Civil Rights ensures:
- Equality, inclusion, diversity, cooperation, collaboration, respect and fairness in the execution of its compliance with all statutes, regulations and directives that govern the Office of Civil Rights;
- Resolution of all disputes at the earliest possible stage;
- Accountability of discriminatory actions or inactions that inhibits progression and promotion of civil rights;
- Outreach that is targeted to most diverse and qualified talent sources available; and
- Civil Rights training.
Civil Rights Program Areas:
- Title VII - Equal Employment Opportunity Complaint Program
The Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) complaint program aims to ensure federal employees, former employees, contracted employees (situational), and applicants for employment are protected from discrimination under various EEO federal laws. The Office of Civil Rights resolves EEO disputes at the earliest stage possible through mediation. If mediation is not successful, the dispute is counseled through our pre-complaint process. - EEO discrimination is prohibited under the following laws:
- Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 - (race, color, national origin, religion, and sex (including sexual harassment, pregnancy, and LGBTQI+ issues)
- Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 - (mental and physical disabilities)
- Age Discrimination in Employment Act - (40 years of age or older)
- Equal Pay Act (gender-based pay inequity)
- Genetic Information Non-Discrimination Act (genetic information/history)
- Reprisal (retaliation for engagement and/or opposition to EEO activity)
- Marital status, political affiliation, parental status, and financial status are basis covered by federal regulation
The regulations promote fairness in the workplace, including but not limited to the practices of recruitment, hiring, firing, training, promoting, compensating, and retaining employees. For more information or to speak with an EEO counselor please call: (404) 347-1908.
- Accountability and Compliance
The Accountability and Compliance’s mission is to resolve disputes at the earliest possible stage under Title VI and Title VII and its subsequent authorities. In addition, this unit ensures all reporting requirements under Title VI and Title VII are analyzed as a proactive prevention measure that identifies barriers facing the agency and explores data in a meaningful ways in order to define, set clear measurable priorities and interpret results that move towards an organization that is reflective of a model organization. Through national reporting, Civil Rights Impact Analysis (CRIA), and compliance reviews, the unit utilizes these tools to as proactive prevention measures. The unit highlights the agency’s civil rights accomplishments, operational successes, and facilitates submission of regulatory reporting to agency leadership and to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
This unit ensures that the agency has conducted in-depth analysis of any potential impact of its policies, practices and procedures based on race, color, national origin, age, sex, disability, and marital or familial status. For more information please call: (202) 205-1233
- Conducted and Assisted Programs
The Conducted and Assisted Programs unit oversees three main proactive prevention tools, resolution of Title VI complaints, civil rights impact analysis and compliance reviews. The use of these three tools ensures compliance discrimination statutes, regulations and directives that governed its conducted and assisted programs. The unit promotes awareness and broad dissemination of non-discrimination policies and other pertinent information to the general public, including how to file a program discrimination complaint.
--Assisted programs are Forest Service recipients that receive any form of federal assistance to a beneficiary including financial assistance.
--Conducted programs are those Forest Service programs that are delivered directly to anyone wishing to participate in Forest Service’s programs.
Additionally, the Limited English Proficiency Program under this unit aims to deliver comprehensive translation language assistance services that provides access for participants and potential participants through Forest Service assisted and conducted programs and activities. The unit develop policies and procedures that ensure the Forest Service provides meaningful access to persons with limited English proficiency. For more information please call: (414) 308-8224 - Reasonable Accommodations
The law requires an employer to provide reasonable accommodation to an employee or job applicant with a disability, unless doing so causes an undue hardship or direct threat to the employer.
A reasonable accommodation is any change in the work environment (or in the way job duties are normally performed) to help a person with a disability apply for a job, perform the duties of a job, or enjoy the benefits and privileges of employment. For more information please call: (801) 625-5416 - Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
The Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion unit collaborates with external diversity organizations and agency employee development staff on the design and delivery of diversity, equity, and inclusion awareness education/training. The team partners with Forest Service stakeholders to ensure diversity, equity, and inclusion are considered and embedded in employee recruitment, hiring, performance management, retention, development, and other aspects of workforce management.
Additionally, this unit engages recognized employee organizations and diversity-related councils and committees at the Regional and Forest levels, including Civil Rights Action Teams and Multicultural Advisory Committees. It serves as consultants to these groups and provides guidance, information, and resources for Special Emphasis Programs focused on improving employment and advancement opportunities for minorities, women, veterans, people with disabilities, and members of the LGBTQ+ community in the Federal service.
For individuals who are deaf, hard of hearing, or have speech disabilities, contact may be made through the Federal Relay Service at: (800) 877-8339.
- MD-715
Management Directive (MD) 715 is the standard federal agency civil rights “report card” prepared by agencies with 500 or more (but fewer than 1,000) employees in permanent full or part-time appointments annually for submission to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
The Forest Service’s MD 715 report highlights our past year’s civil rights accomplishments towards establishing, maintaining, and sustaining effective diverse equal employment opportunity programs, plus future plans to correct and sustain existing programs, and build new opportunities in the successive year.
This federal agency reporting requirement was established pursuant to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and 501 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, serving as both the “master plan” and “evaluation guide” for federal employee EEO programs. (See Section 717 of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, 42 U.S.C., Section 2000e, et seq., and 501 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, 29 U.S.C., Section 791 et seq.)