EEOC issues plan to streamline federal complaint process

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced Tuesday a plan to implement sweeping changes to the federal EEO system.

The plan will implement new regulations EEOC issued in July that are designed to streamline the EEO complaint process to make it more efficient and fair. It will involve increased training, outreach and technical assistance, EEOC officials said.

The effort comes on the heels of a GAO report blasting agencies' EEOC data collection techniques as unreliable. The report suggested that a rising trend in EEO complaints at federal agencies may be due to inflated data rather than widespread bias.

On July 12, the EEOC announced new regulations requiring agencies to put in place alternative dispute resolution programs and revoked a policy that gave agencies the option to ignore decisions handed down by EEOC administrative judges.

EEOC's program to implement the new regulations will include more on-site reviews of agencies' EEO practices, internal EEOC staff training and external training for agency managers. The EEOC will encourage agencies to use pilot programs to test solutions to recurring EEO procedural shortcomings.

EEOC's new approach to the federal sector is more proactive than previous efforts, said Carlton Hadden, acting director of the agency's Office of Federal Operations.

"Before, the commission's approach was more piecemeal. We didn't use every tool that we have," Hadden said.

EEOC has also set up a joint task force on the federal sector EEO process with the National Partnership for Reinventing Government. The group, which will serve as an independent review board, will include representatives from agencies, labor unions and other stakeholders.

The task force will be divided into teams focusing on four areas:

• Data collection
• Early dispute resolution
• Dispute prevention strategies
• Best practices

The data collection team will tackle the issue of inaccurate reporting by agencies of EEO complaints. The group's goal will be to standardize the reporting process for all agencies, said Rogelio Gomez, a member of the new task force. The early prevention team will look at ways to shape agency cultures to prevent disputes, such as improving communication between management and labor. The dispute prevention team will review various alternative dispute resolution programs and the best practices team will look at effective EEO complaint systems in the public and private sectors.

The first meeting of the task force is scheduled for next month, Gomez said.