Lawmaker proposes panel to study employee appeals backlog
Managers’ groups support idea but unions say commission would be stacked with political appointees.
Rep. Jon Porter, R-Nev., circulated draft legislation this week that would create a commission to recommend ways to speed up the federal employee appeals process.
Porter invited the heads of six agencies that handle employee appeals -- such as claims of racial discrimination, union disputes and violations of whistleblower protections -- to testify on the proposal Tuesday before his House Government Reform Subcommittee on the Federal Workforce and Agency Organization.
"Employees have labored under a complicated and mostly broken appeals mechanism that allows employees…a multitude of different paths to pursue and the ability to tie up management for years," said William Bransford, general counsel for the Senior Executives Association.
The commission proposal backs away from the idea of establishing a "super court" to handle all claims processed by the Merit Systems Protection Board, the Federal Labor Relations Authority, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Office of Special Counsel and the Office of Personnel Management. Porter's committee held a hearing last fall on the super court proposal, which met with significant opposition from employee groups and some lawmakers.
The commission suggested by Porter would have 10 members, including representatives from each of the agencies involved as well as a representative from the National Treasury Employees Union, the American Federation of Government Employees, the Federal Managers Association and the SEA. It would study and recommend within a year how to streamline the appeals process.
Both managers' groups offered support for Porter's commission, but the two unions came out strongly against it, arguing that its makeup would be tilted in favor of political appointees from the agencies.
The real solution, both unions argued, is increased funding for the EEOC, which is responsible for much of the appeals backlog. EEOC Chairwoman Cari Dominguez said it took an average of 411 days to process an EEO complaint in fiscal 2005. The agency currently is operating under a hiring freeze.
A number of panelists suggested that employees file EEO complaints even when discrimination is not a valid factor because they do not want to rule out a course of action, do not want to miss deadlines or do not know what alternative route to take. This, they said, clogs the EEO pipeline.
Some panelists and Democratic members of the subcommittee suggested using an independent body, such as the National Academy of Public Administration, to form the commission instead of government insiders.
"I believe this would enable all stakeholders to participate fully while also enhancing the objectiveness of the final work product," said Dale Cabaniss, chairman of the FLRA.
A staffer for Porter said his staff had not calculated a price tag for the commission, although the draft bill would allow for up to eight support staff and travel expenses for commission members, who would not be paid.
Porter said he held off on introducing a final version of the bill because he wanted input from the panelists first.