FISCAL YEAR 2002
BUDGET REQUEST
AND
ANNUAL PERFORMANCE PLAN

Submitted to the Congress of the United States April 2001

Table of Contents

SECTION I - INTRODUCTION

1. MISSION STATEMENT

   "Eradicating Employment Discrimination at the Workplace"

2. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

   "Sustaining Economic Growth and Family Income by Ensuring Discrimination-Free Workplaces"

3. SALARIES AND EXPENSES

   Appropriation Language
   Analysis of Change
   Object Class Schedules
     Agency Summary
     Enforcement Summary
     Private Sector Comprehensive Enforcement Program
     State and Local Program
     Federal Sector Enforcement Program
     Improving Service to the Public Through Executive Direction and Support, Including Technology

SECTION II - COMPREHENSIVE ENFORCEMENT OF EEO LAWS

EEOC STRATEGIC GOAL 1

Enforce Federal Civil Rights Employment Laws Through a Comprehensive Enforcement Program.

1. HIGHLIGHTS OF FY2002 BUDGET REQUEST FOR COMPREHENSIVE ENFORCEMENT OF EEO LAWS
2. PRIVATE SECTOR COMPREHENSIVE ENFORCEMENT PROGRAM

   EEOC STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE 1.1.

   Improve the effectiveness of the private sector enforcement program, including the use of charge prioritization, mediation and, where necessary, litigation, by utilizing a comprehensive enforcement strategy that focuses on National Enforcement Plan priorities.

   Introduction
   GPRA Measures
   Program Highlights
     Figure 1: Average Time to Process Charges
     Table 1: Private Sector Enforcement Inventory Projections
     Figure 2: Types of Lawsuits Filed - FY2000-2002
     Figure 3: Active Litigation Caseload - FY2000-2002

3. STATE AND LOCAL PROGRAM

   STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE 1.3.

   Strengthen partnerships with State and Local Fair Employment Practices Agencies (FEPAs) and Native American Tribal Employment Rights Organizations (TEROs) to enhance effective implementation of laws addressing employment discrimination.

   Introduction
   GPRA Measures
   Program Highlights
     Table 2: Workload Projections and Funding

4. FEDERAL SECTOR COMPREHENSIVE ENFORCEMENT PROGRAM

   STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE 1.2.

   Enhance the effectiveness of the federal sector program by utilizing a comprehensive enforcement strategy.

   Introduction
   GPRA Measures
   Program Highlights
     Table 3: Hearings Workload Projections for FY2002
     Table 4: Appeals Workload Projections for FY2002

SECTION III - PREVENTION OF EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMINATION

STRATEGIC GOAL 2

Promote Equal Opportunity in Employment Through Education and Technical Assistance.

1. HIGHLIGHTS OF FY2002 BUDGET REQUEST FOR PREVENTION OF EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMINATION
2. OUTREACH, EDUCATION AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TO EMPLOYERS

   STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE 2.1.

   Encourage and facilitate voluntary compliance with equal employment opportunity laws among employers and employer groups in the private and federal sectors.

   Introduction
   GPRA Measures
   Program Highlights

3. OUTREACH, EDUCATION AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TO EMPLOYEES

   STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE 2.2.

   Increase knowledge about individual rights under equal employment opportunity laws among the public and employee groups.

   Introduction
   GPRA Measures
   Program Highlights
   

SECTION IV - IMPROVING SERVICE TO THE PUBLIC THROUGH EXECUTIVE DIRECTION AND SUPPORT, INCLUDING TECHNOLOGY

STRATEGIC GOAL 3

Enhance Agency Effectiveness to Achieve our Mission and Strategic Goals by Providing Executive Direction and Support and Building Institutional Knowledge.

1. HIGHLIGHTS OF FY2002 BUDGET REQUEST FOR IMPROVING SERVICE TO THE PUBLIC THROUGH EXECUTIVE DIRECTION AND SUPPORT, INCLUDING TECHNOLOGY
2. ENHANCE STAFF EFFECTIVENESS

   STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE 3.1.

   Enhance staff capabilities and substantive knowledge to improve work processes and job functions through training, partnership, team-based approaches, and customer-based principles.

   Introduction
   GPRA Measures
   Program Highlights
   

3. POLICY DIRECTION AND GUIDANCE

   STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE 3.2.

   Provide policy direction and guidance to achieve all Strategic Goals.

   Introduction
   GPRA Measures
   Program Highlights

4. INSTILL A KNOWLEDGE BASE AND MAINTAIN TECHNOLOGICAL COMPETENCY

   STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE 3.3.

   Instill a knowledge base by attaining and maintaining a robust technological competency and through research, analysis and evaluation of organizational components, procedures and processes.

   Introduction
   GPRA Measures
   Program Highlights
     Performance Measures for Management Reforms
     Figure 4: Five-Year Information Resources Management Strategic Plan

SECTION V - EDUCATION, TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND TRAINING REVOLVING FUND

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE 2.1.

Encourage and facilitate voluntary compliance with equal employment opportunity laws among employers and employer groups in the private and federal sectors.

Introduction
GPRA Measures
Program Highlights

Program Financing Schedules

Object Class Schedule
  Education, Technical Assistance and Training Revolving Fund

SECTION VI - APPENDICES

1. General Budget Documents

   A-1 General Statement of Laws
   A-2 Vision Statement for Financial Management

2. Charts

   B-1 Private Sector Process Flow Chart
   B-2 Federal Sector Process Flow Chart
   B-3 Enforcement Program Diagrams
   B-4 Organization Chart
   

3. GPRA Documents

   C-1 Validation and Verification of Data
   C-2 Program Evaluations
   C-3 Compilation of GPRA Measures in FY2002 Budget Submission/Annual Performance Plan
   C-4 GPRA Annual Performance Report-Fiscal Year 2000
   

Section 1
Introduction

A. MISSION STATEMENT

In fiscal year 2000, as part of a requirement in the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 (GPRA) that agency strategic plans be updated every three years, the EEOC incorporated its Comprehensive Enforcement Program (CEP) into our Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years 2000-2005. The CEP focuses on an integrated strategic approach linking all program elements to deliver fair and efficient service to the public. These elements include outreach, education and technical assistance to a broad range of stakeholders seeking to prevent discrimination in the first instance, and on pursuing fair and vigorous enforcement when discrimination is found to occur.

Under the CEP, special emphasis is placed on reaching out to small businesses and under-served communities to promote understanding, voluntary compliance with the federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination, and use of expeditious means to resolve charges through our Mediation Program. The CEP, and the new initiatives instituted under it, aim to marshal EEOC resources in a coordinated fashion to increase agency efforts to prevent discrimination at the workplace and enforce the EEO laws where discrimination is found.

Our Mission Statement clearly and concisely conveys to employers and employees alike that the Commission will pursue fair and vigorous enforcement where there is any form or level of employment discrimination covered by the laws we implement. Although the statement expresses a noble - and some would say unattainable - goal, the Commission believes, instead, that it embodies the hopes and dreams of our society expressed in our founding documents - the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States of America - as well as the statutes EEOC has been entrusted to enforce.

Our mission is to:

B. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Sustaining Economic Growth and Family Income by Ensuring Discrimination-Free Workplaces

Equality of opportunity is a deeply felt principle rooted in the hopes and dreams expressed by the Founders, as well as in the statutes enacted by Administrations and Congresses led by both political parties over the last four decades. Discrimination in the workplace on account of race, color, national origin, sex, age, religion or disability deprives the Nation of the skills and talents needed to sustain economic growth and deprives families of the quality of life they deserve.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has demonstrated that it is up to the task of delivering fair and efficient service to the public by setting and meeting challenging performance goals for fiscal years 1999 and 2000, as it has implemented the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA). Consistent with the Administration's reform agenda, EEOC is linking its request for resources with expected results, allocating resources where the payoff will be the greatest, and planning to convert antiquated financial, human resources and program information systems to new, streamlined systems in fiscal year 2002, which will have many beneficial effects, including the expansion of e-procurement and speedier payments to our many vendors.

The EEOC's budget request for fiscal year 2002 is $310 million, a $7 million (2.3%) increase over the fiscal year 2001 budget. The level of resources requested represents fiscal year 2002 adjustments to compensation needed to meet our commitment to continue reducing inventories of private sector charges and federal sector hearings and appeals. The increase will cover government-wide adjustments to pay and benefits, including a 3.6% pay raise, enabling the agency to maintain timeliness and quality of service to the public. Over 80% of the resources for Commission programs is used for maintaining staffing levels. With the funding level requested for fiscal year 2002, the agency will be able to maintain staff levels reached in fiscal year 2001, within Administration assumptions for increases to pay and benefits.

With the $310 million requested for fiscal year 2002, EEOC will sustain the many significant program enhancements achieved over the past five years in both the timeliness and quality of service to the public. For example, by the end of fiscal year 2000, the average time required to resolve a large percentage of charges declined to 180 days or less. Furthermore, using mediation - a non-adversarial method to resolve employment disputes - and strengthening the investigator-attorney collaboration, over 20 percent of the charges resolved resulted in a beneficial outcome. Beneficial outcomes include conciliations, successful mediations, settlements with benefits and withdrawals with benefits.

We have achieved significant improvements in customer service through implementation of the Comprehensive Enforcement Program, a strategic approach to linking and integrating functions performed by staff agency-wide to focus on accomplishing results, as articulated in the performance measures for every organizational unit. These improvements are all the more significant when considering the increase in annual workloads over the past decade, primarily as a result of increases in responsibility stemming from two major pieces of civil rights legislation: the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990 and the Civil Rights Act of 1991.

Fiscal Year 2000 Highlights

Improvements have been achieved in fiscal year 2000 in every program area, producing impressive results agency-wide, including:

• Meeting or exceeding all GPRA measures. GPRA measures spanned the agency's strategic goals:
  • Enforcing the law in the private sector through mediation, investigation, settlement attempts and, when these fail, litigation;
  • Enforcing the law in the federal sector by conducting hearings and addressing appeals requested, as well as oversight of federal agency implementation of EEO laws;
  • Preventing discrimination through nationwide outreach, education and technical assistance efforts with the employer and employee communities; and
  • Providing executive direction and support to achieve agency objectives by issuing user-friendly guidance to the public on implementation of EEO laws, building staff skills through training, increasing the use of advanced technology to improve the efficiency of agency operations, and streamlining internal processes to achieve management reforms.
• Cutting the pending inventory of private sector charges (backlog) to 34,297 - a 15% decrease from the fiscal year 1999 level. This dramatic improvement in one year is a continuation of our phenomenal trend in reducing our inventory 69% from its high of over 111,000 charges in June 1995.
• Reducing the average charge processing time for private sector charges to 216 days - a reduction of almost 50 days from fiscal year 1999 and almost 100 days from 1998. During fiscal year 2000, over 60% of the private sector charges were resolved within 180 days from when they were received. A major contributor to this achievement is the increase in mediation activity, where charges were resolved in an average of only 96 days.
• Obtaining a Commission high of $292.6 million in monetary benefits for victims of employment discrimination in the private sector enforcement program.
• Increasing collaboration between legal and administrative enforcement staff to improve charge resolutions and the development of substantive litigation. Also, the agency exceeded its goal and increased to 36% the number of cases filed during the fiscal year involving multiple aggrieved parties or discriminatory policies; the most cost-efficient approach for employers and the agency alike.
• Expanding outreach, education, and technical assistance to small and mid-sized employers and under-served minority communities, including a record number of 2,961 events attended by 218,000 people nationwide.
• Reducing the federal sector hearings inventory by 13% and the appeals inventory by 14% from their fiscal year 1999 levels.
• Completing a multi-year program to build the agency's telecommunications infrastructure to connect all employees electronically and provide them with the means to conduct business, access on-line information, and communicate with each other and with external customers and stakeholders. This new capability includes local and wide-area networks, Internet access, and an Intranet site containing comprehensive program and administrative information. These capabilities have facilitated research, communication and collaboration; provided access to, and sharing of, information in all program areas; increased work efficiency; and improved customer service.

Fiscal Year 2002 Highlights

With $310 million for fiscal year 2002, EEOC will meet the following performance measures to support the Administration's goals of more cost-effective government:

• With the volume of incoming private sector charges projected at 80,000 for EEOC plus 58,000 for Fair Employment Practices Agencies-nearly 8,000 deferred to EEOC for action and over 55,000 resolved under contract and entered into the agency's data system- the EEOC will reduce its fiscal year 2002 year-end charge inventory by 6% from its level at the end of fiscal year 2000. It will also resolve 60% of its charges within 180 days.
• Through its nationwide mediation program and investigator-attorney collaboration focusing on substantive issues, the agency will increase the share of charges closed with beneficial results to 22%.
• Sustain the level of new litigation involving multiple aggrieved parties or discriminatory policies at 36% to consolidate unsettled allegations against the same employer within a given geographic area, which provides an expedited and coherent approach to resolving multiple allegations against employers.
• In the federal sector program, despite regulatory reform and steady increases in productivity by attorneys addressing requests for hearings and appeals, resources dedicated to the program have not been sufficient to reduce inventories enough to provide timeliness of service that is comparable to the private sector program. However, EEOC has established goals to manage its workload by focusing on two aspects of the hearings and appeals inventories: resolve a significant portion of the oldest cases, while ensuring that 20% of the resolutions include a group of cases received in the fiscal year and completed within 180 days. In addition to focusing on these two broader aspects of the federal sector inventory, EEOC will give priority attention to resolving within 180 days 50% of the appeals in two categories that are critical to compliance with anti-discrimination laws covering the federal workforce: appeals involving a breach of a settlement and appeals alleging non-compliance with an agency's final action or final decision.
• EEOC plans new outreach efforts to reach small employers. These employers-with 15 to 99 employees-are least likely to maintain personnel departments to guide employment practices or to retain attorneys to represent them. EEOC will provide 5000 small employers with information on how to prevent discrimination, as part of a special outreach effort. EEOC also plans to reach small employers through 250 events encouraging them to participate in mediation. Mediated charges are resolved on average in 96 days and the need for costly attorneys to represent the employer is avoided.
• EEOC plans to conduct 1,200 consultations with employers on operational and legal issues and reach 50,000 representatives of private sector and federal sector employers through technical assistance activities. It also plans outreach efforts to serve the employee community by conducting 3,900 consultations with employee stakeholders on operational and legal issues and reaching 30,000 employees or employee representatives with educational materials.
• In recognition of the increasing diversity of the nation's population, EEOC strives to make government more accessible to the public by establishing a goal to make 15 frequently requested publications available in an alternate format accessible to the sight impaired and translate them into 7 languages-Spanish, Haitian/Creole, Vietnamese, Russian, Korean, Arabic, and Chinese.
• To improve the quality of our work and stimulate continuous-learning networks, EEOC will conduct Quality Peer Reviews on outreach and initial contact phases of our private sector program in 10 percent (5) of our field offices. The agency receives hundreds of thousands of inquiries from the public each year. Assessing how well we respond and identifying ways to improve customer service are critical to creating a government that is responsive to the public supporting it through their tax dollars.
• Consistent with the President's goals for management reform, EEOC will complete a cost comparison study of at least one activity representing 5% or more of the Full Time Equivalent (FTE) positions included on the agency's FAIR Act Inventory; and will post and provide the opportunity for bids through the government-wide website for procurement activity for 100% of the agency's full and open procurement actions of $25,000 or more. EEOC already uses performance-based contracts for nearly all of its contracts and has already contracted out four major activities that were formerly provided by government employees.
• EEOC will build upon our technology infrastructure and implement new information systems to enhance the operations and management of finance, budget, procurement, human resources, payroll, and program activities. The agency will also continue its electronic-government efforts by implementing the Government Paperwork Elimination Act, streamlining internal processes, reducing paperwork burdens, and providing electronic services to the public.

EEOC remains committed to the noblest goals of this Nation, embodied in the proud legacy of civil rights legislation over the last four decades dedicated to the simple justice of discrimination-free workplaces. At the same time, we are cognizant of the necessity for cost-efficient operations delivering results to the American public for every dollar invested.

As stated by Chairwoman Castro at the September 26, 2000, Commission meeting in celebration of the agency's 35^th anniversary, "[t]he American workplace has changed and the EEOC has played a significant and, at times, crucial role in ensuring that the barriers to opportunity are torn down." Over the past two years, the Commission has improved its services to both the employee and employer communities in its effort to Eradicate Employment Discrimination at the Workplace. Our goal for the future is to sustain and build on our accomplishments in order to ensure timely and high quality service for our customers; continue our quest towards the elimination of employment discrimination, in partnership with the country's employers and employees alike; and support both the Nation's economic competitiveness in a world economy and the economic well-being of American families through the fullest utilization of all of the nation's skills and talents.

Fiscal Year 2002 Budget Request Format

The agency's fiscal year 2002 Budget Request continues last year's successful effort to integrate our budget and GPRA Annual Performance Plan, creating a Program Budget based on results as envisioned by GPRA. This Request uses the format in the Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years 2000-2005, updated in September 2000. Our Strategic Goals, Strategic Objectives and performance measures for fiscal year 2002 are tied to the following program budget structure: 1)  Comprehensive Enforcement of EEO Laws; 2)  Prevention of Employment Discrimination; 3)  Improving Service to the Public Through Executive Direction and Support, Including Technology; and 4)  the Education, Technical Assistance and Training Fund (the Revolving Fund).

For Sections II to IV-covering our enforcement programs, prevention programs, and executive direction and support-we discuss results expected for the resources requested. In addition, this year we have streamlined our discussion of past-year accomplishments in the budget request by including a copy of our GPRA Fiscal Year 2000 Annual Performance Report in Appendix C-4. Other Appendices contain fiscal year 2002 GPRA Annual Performance Plan requirements, including: Verification and Validation of Agency Information and any Program Evaluation activities and initiatives.

C. SALARIES AND EXPENSES

General and Special Funds:

Salaries and Expenses

For necessary expenses of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission as authorized by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended (29 U.S.C. 206(d) and 621-634), the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Civil Rights Act of 1991, including services as authorized by 5 U.S.C. 3109; hire of passenger motor vehicles as authorized by 31 U.S.C. 1343(b); non-monetary awards to private citizens; not to exceed $30,000,000 for payments to State and Local enforcement agencies for services to the Commission pursuant to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, as amended, sections 6 and 14 of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Civil Rights Act of 1991, [$303,864,000] $310,405,624. Provided further, the Commission is authorized to make available for official reception and representation expenses not to exceed $2,500 from available funds. (The Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2001.)

ANALYSIS OF CHANGE

OBJECT CLASS SCHEDULES

• Agency Summary
• Enforcement Summary
• Private Sector Comprehensive Enforcement Program
• State and Local Program
• Federal Sector Enforcement Program
• Improving Service to the Public Through Executive Direction and Support, Including Technology

Object Class Schedule
DECISION UNIT
Agency Summary

Object Class Schedule
DECISION UNIT
Enforcement Summary

OFFICES:

Field - Enforcement
Office of Field Programs

Field -Legal Units
Office of General Counsel

Field Office-Hearings Unit
Federal Sector Programs (OFO)

Object Class Schedule
DECISION UNIT
Private Sector Comprehensive Enforcement Program

OFFICES:

Office of Field Programs
Field - Enforcement Units

Office of General Counsel
Field - Legal Units

Object Class Schedule
DECISION UNIT
State and Local Program

Object Class Schedule
DECISION UNIT
Federal Sector Enforcement Program

OFFICES:

Field Office-Hearings Unit
Federal Sector Programs (OFO)

Object Class Schedule
DECISION UNIT
Executive Direction and Support

OFFICES:

Chairwoman and Executive Secretariat
Commissioners
Communications/Legislative Affairs
Office of Legal Counsel
Office of Equal Employment Opportunity
Office of Inspector General
Office of Chief Financial Officer and Administrative Services
Office of Human Resources
Office of Research Information Planning
Office of Information Resources Management

Section II
Comprehensive Enforcement of EEO Laws

A. HIGHLIGHTS OF FY2002 BUDGET REQUEST FOR COMPREHENSIVE ENFORCEMENT OF EEO LAWS

The agency is requesting a total of $310.4 million for fiscal year 2002, of which $233.4 million is for Comprehensive Enforcement of EEO Laws. This amount will fund a wide range of program activities required to meet our GPRA measures. This funding request is $7.2 million above the fiscal year 2001 appropriation. Of the $7.2 million, 84% or $6.067 will support base adjustments to maintain fiscal year 2001 staffing levels for three major programs: EEOC's private sector program, the state and local program and the federal sector program. Total resources to be deployed for each program and GPRA results expected are summarized below.

Private Sector Comprehensive Enforcement Program

This part of the agency's program covers our investigative and litigation activities nationwide. In fiscal year 2002, $205.8 million will be dedicated to our private sector comprehensive enforcement program, as well as outreach, education and technical assistance efforts to prevent employment discrimination in the private sector. Under the Comprehensive Enforcement Program (CEP), we have more effectively integrated prevention and enforcement efforts over the past few years, and they are carried out by the same staff. The prevention program is discussed in Section III, Prevention of Employment Discrimination.

Resources for fiscal year 2002 for the private sector enforcement program will support reduction of the year-end inventory by 6% and the accomplishment of the following GPRA results:

• Beneficial resolutions for 22% of the charges closed, as a result of effective attorney-investigator collaboration and the use of mediation.
• Resolution of 60% of newly-filed charges within 180 days.
• Categorization of charges with necessary attorney involvement in 90% of sampled charge files.
• On-site investigations in at least 70% of our "A-1" charges; the charges most likely to have merit.
• Availability of attorneys to advise investigators for all "A" charges-about 40% of the workload.
• 36% of lawsuits filed address consolidated allegations and issues to provide a consistent, coherent approach and cost-effective resolution.
• Investigators assigned to at least 5% of the lawsuits filed during the fiscal year, to deepen their understanding of evidentiary requirements, resulting in better focused, more efficient investigations.

State and Local Program

A total of $30.0 million will be dedicated to the State and local program in fiscal year 2002 to fund the resolution of dual-filed charges by Fair Employment Practices Agencies (FEPAs) and other prevention efforts with FEPAs and Native-American Tribal Employment Rights Organizations (TEROs), including the accomplishment of the following GPRA results:

• Continue providing training to FEPAs and Tribal Employment Rights Organizations.
• Resolution by FEPAs of approximately 55,000 dual-filed charges under contract with EEOC.
• Conduct 20 joint outreach programs with FEPAs to educate and assist small businesses covered by EEOC enforced statutes and under-served communities and groups.

Federal Sector Enforcement Program

The federal sector enforcement program includes the results achieved in fair, efficient and effective hearings and appeals programs; agency reviews of federal agency compliance with regulations covering the federal program; and prevention programs to serve our employer and employee constituencies in the federal government. A total of $27.6 million will be dedicated to the federal sector enforcement and prevention programs in fiscal year 2002. The prevention program is described in Section III, Prevention of Employment Discrimination.

Resources requested for fiscal year 2002 will fund the accomplishment of the following GPRA results in the federal sector enforcement program:

• 20% of hearings closed from the oldest group of cases.
• Resolve 20% of hearings cases received in fiscal year 2002, within 180 days.
• 30% of appeals closures are from the oldest group of cases.
• Resolve 20% of appeals cases received in fiscal year 2002, within 180 days.
• Resolve 50% of appeals that involve breach of settlement agreements and that are filed within the first 3 quarters of fiscal year 2002, within 180 days.
• Resolve 50% of those appeals filed within the first 3 quarters of fiscal year 2002, alleging non-compliance with an agency's final action or final decisions within 180 days.

Section II Discussion

The following subsections discuss in further detail EEOC's budget request and display GPRA measures for fiscal years 2001-2002 for the three program areas covered in Section II: the Private Sector Comprehensive Enforcement Program, the State and Local Program and the Federal Sector Comprehensive Enforcement Program. We have included in Appendix C-4 our Fiscal Year 2000 Annual Performance Report under the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 (GPRA), which discusses our accomplishments in fiscal year 2000.

B. PRIVATE SECTOR COMPREHENSIVE ENFORCEMENT PROGRAM

Introduction

In the past few years the Commission has introduced initiatives in the private sector that have resulted in successfully managing large volumes of charges filed each year, while increasing beneficiaries of charge resolutions through a nationwide mediation program and investigator-attorney collaboration to focus resources on substantive issues. The building blocks of this success are the Priority Charge Handling Procedures, through which charges are prioritized based on potential merit; the National Enforcement Plan (NEP), which establishes agency-wide policy priorities; the translation of the NEP into Local Enforcement Plans to address specific needs within each office's geographic area; and the Comprehensive Enforcement Program.

The Comprehensive Enforcement program (CEP) is designed to ensure an integrated and strategic approach to the implementation of the equal employment opportunity laws enforced by the Commission. This is achieved through collaboration among staff to carry out outreach, investigative and legal functions and all phases of enforcement to achieve timely, fair, and efficient service to the public. The CEP addresses the new reality of the Commission's complex workload; over 90% of private sector charges now represent potentially meritorious claims, requiring more in-depth work and close collaboration between attorneys and enforcement staff.

Accordingly, our performance measures focus on timely and quality resolution of charges; they mark our efforts to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the private sector enforcement program through a strategic and coordinated approach.

NOTE

Appendix B-3 shows a diagram illustrating the private sector Comprehensive Enforcement Program (CEP) concepts and Appendix B-1 displays a flow chart of the private sector enforcement process in brief. Our Regulations detailing this process are published in Title 29 of the Code of Federal Regulations (C.F.R.) under Part 1601. They are available on the U.S. Government Printing Office's web site and can be accessed through EEOC's web site. EEOC's web site is located at http://www.eeoc.gov/ and contains a wealth of information about the Commission, the laws we enforce and charge resolution processing procedures. A link on our web site to Part 1601 can be found at http://www.eeoc.gov/regs/index.html.

GPRA Measures

STRATEGIC GOAL 1

Enforce Federal Civil Rights Employment Laws Through a Comprehensive Enforcement Program.

Strategic Objective 1.1.

Improve the effectiveness of the private sector enforcement program, including the use of charge prioritization, mediation and, where necessary, litigation, by utilizing a comprehensive enforcement strategy that focuses on National Enforcement Plan priorities.

Program Highlights

In fiscal year 2000, we exceeded two measures that are continued into fiscal year 2002 with higher target levels. For example, targets set for the percentage of charge resolutions benefitting victims of discrimination (measure 1.1.1.) and the percentage of cases filed in court involving multiple aggrieved parties or discriminatory practices (measure 1.1.6.) were exceeded, as shown above. For more information about our fiscal year 2000 achievements for these measures and other measures not continued into fiscal year 2002, see our Fiscal Year 2000 Annual Performance Report, included with this Budget Request in Appendix C-4.

In addition to the two measures we are continuing, we have added five others for fiscal years 2001 and 2002 to enhance our emphasis on several key areas of the Comprehensive Enforcement Program (CEP) in our private sector enforcement program.

With the successful implementation of the Priority Charge Handling Procedures (PCHP) and introduction of the CEP in fiscal year 1999, the Commission has made significant reductions in its inventory and is now closer to achieving a manageable workload. In fiscal year 2002, we will continue to focus on inventory reduction; anticipating a 6% lower inventory over fiscal year 2000 levels-a projected 31,438 charges by the end of fiscal year 2002, assuming that EEOC charge receipts and deferrals from Fair Employment Practices Agencies (FEPAs) are approximately 80,000 and 7,900, respectively, as projected. (See Table 1 Private Sector Enforcement Inventory Projections.

Administrative Enforcement

A key timeliness indicator is average charge processing time. As Figure 1 indicates, we have achieved a steady decline in our average processing time over the past few years.

For fiscal years 2001 and 2002, we are targeting our efforts on resolving a substantial number of incoming charges within 180 days to provide better service to employers and charging parties alike. To accomplish this, we have established a key measure of timeliness to resolve within 180 days 60% of the charges filed within the fiscal year (measure 1.1.2.). Our successful mediation program, which resolves charges in 96 days, on average, will be an important element for achieving this measure.

As implementation of the PCHP and the CEP has continued, charges that lack merit are quickly dismissed and the "B" inventory (potentially meritorious charges) continues to decline. This trend has allowed the agency to focus more resources on charges that fall into the "A" category, i.e. those charges with the greatest likelihood to have merit. Currently, "A" charges make up close to 40% of EEOC's workload, and we expect the number of "A" charges in the inventory to continue to increase. Since these charges are more complex and difficult to resolve, attorneys and investigators are working collaboratively in the investigation and litigation of "A" charges. Because more resources will be focused on the "A" charge inventory as it grows, we are likely to continue to see an increase in the percentage of charge resolutions benefitting victims of discrimination-projected at 22% for fiscal year 2002.

The increasing complexity of our workload requires timely collaboration under the CEP to maintain quality investigative and legal work. Four new measures for fiscal years 2001 and 2002 will help ensure that we achieve the maximum collaborative approach between our staff to properly and efficiently identify and develop evidence of discrimination for the "A" charges (measures 1.1.3.-5. and 1.1.7.). These four measures address both the involvement of attorneys in advising investigators and the involvement of investigators in litigation when settlement attempts fail.

Both investigators and attorneys benefit from collaboration. For example, litigation cases provide knowledge and experience to investigators, giving them a better understanding of the quantity and quality of evidence necessary to successfully litigate a case. Measure 1.1.7. is an important addition to our CEP; our staff working together in a common effort to improve our entire enforcement program.

Legal Enforcement

An effective litigation program is not only a deterrent to employment discrimination-helping to support voluntary compliance with EEO laws- but also motivates successful resolutions through mediation and other settlement efforts in the administrative process. EEOC's litigation program continues to focus on cases that have not been settled, despite numerous attempts, and that meet one or more of several criteria, including the following:

• The issues presented are priorities in the Commission's National Enforcement Plan, ratified in 1996, such as egregious harassment based on race, national origin or sex;
• Diversity based on the statutes, bases, and issues addressed, including where there are matters raised that call for clarification or guidance from EEOC and the courts; and
• Geographic distribution of the caseload to provide equity in access to EEOC legal assistance and provide a presence nationwide.

With the need to balance resources among program requirements, the Commission projects a modest increase over the fiscal year 2001 levels in the number of new lawsuits filed during the year and the total active caseload, which comprises the new lawsuits and all active cases carried into the current fiscal year. The litigation caseload projected in fiscal years 2001 and 2002 is shown in Figure 3, Active Litigation Caseload. These estimates adjust those provided in last year's Budget Request, based on actual results for fiscal year 2000. For example, we filed fewer new cases and settled more lawsuits than we projected. As a result, we carried fewer cases into fiscal year 2001, and will have fewer cases in the total active caseload throughout the year.

We project that 400 lawsuits will be filed during fiscal year 2002, over 5% more than our estimate of 380 lawsuits during fiscal year 2001. In addition, we are projecting that our total active caseload for fiscal year 2002 will grow almost 6% to 892 cases from the projected 842 cases in our active caseload in fiscal year 2001. (See Figure 2, Types of Lawsuits Filed.) We expect to achieve our goal that 36% of the cases filed will involve multiple aggrieved parties or discriminatory policies, which is a cost-effective approach to resolving multiple charges and issues affecting numerous individuals. These cases consolidate allegations against the same employer, providing an expedited and coherent approach to their resolution.

Enforcement Workload Projections

Table 1, Private Sector Enforcement Inventory Projections, Figure 2, Types of Lawsuits Filed, and Figure 3, Active Litigation Caseload, summarize workload projections for fiscal years 2001-2002.

TABLE 1
Private Sector Enforcement
Inventory Projections

* The pending charges at the beginning of fiscal year 2000 was adjusted from the 40,234 charges stated as pending at the end of fiscal year 1999 to reflect refinements in charge process reports. Tables may not add due to rounding.

** Receipts for fiscal year 2000 were nearly 1,000 more than projected, and are expected to increase modestly in fiscal year 2001 and remain the same in fiscal year 2002.

FIGURE 2
Types of Lawsuits Filed
Fiscal Years 2000 - 2002

FIGURE 3
Active Litigation Caseload
FY 2000 - 2002

C. STATE AND LOCAL PROGRAM

Introduction

EEOC's fiscal year 2002 Budget Request includes $30.0 million for the State and Local Program. The Commission has developed strong partnerships with the many state and local Fair Employment Practices Agencies (FEPAs) and Native-American Tribal Employment Rights Organizations (TEROs) we have worked with over the years. Our work-sharing agreements and other activities have benefitted the employer and employee community by coordinating charges dual-filed under state or local law and federal law, where appropriate, providing training on investigative and legal issues, and conducting joint activities, such as outreach. In fiscal year 2001, the EEOC is contracting with 92 FEPAs to resolve dual-filed charges. This arrangement prevents duplication of effort and streamlines the charge resolution process. In fiscal year 2001, the Commission also is contracting with 64 TEROs to promote employment opportunity on Indian reservations. Our collaborative efforts have helped advance equal employment opportunity nationwide.

GPRA Measures

STRATEGIC GOAL 1

Enforce Federal Civil Rights Employment Laws Through a Comprehensive Enforcement Program.

Strategic Objective 1.3.

Strengthen partnerships with State and Local Fair Employment Practices Agencies (FEPAs) and Native American Tribal Employment Rights Organizations (TEROs) to enhance effective implementation of laws addressing employment discrimination.

Program Highlights

We exceeded our fiscal year 2000 measures for the state and local program and intend to continue them into fiscal year 2002 (measures 1.3.1. and 1.3.2.). Our Fiscal Year 2000 Annual Performance Report, provided in Appendix C-4, describes our fiscal year 2000 achievements for these measures.

For fiscal years 2001 and 2002, we modified the measure related to training FEPAs and TEROs (measure 1.3.1.) and added another addressing joint outreach programs (measure 1.3.3.) to leverage the contacts and expertise of selected FEPAs and EEOC to more effectively meet the needs of an increasingly diverse workforce and small businesses, which have the fewest resources to understand and implement federal, state and local equal employment opportunity laws. These performance measures will continue to strengthen our partnerships with the FEPAs and TEROs. We will continue our training, technical assistance and contractual efforts with the FEPAs and the TEROs. We will also provide technology enhancements to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of FEPA charge resolution processing procedures, which is a continuation of an initiative we began in fiscal year 1999. With the completion of a multi-year computer upgrade process for the FEPAs in fiscal year 2001, and ongoing technical support services, we will continue to provide FEPAs with technology needed for reporting the dual-filed charge activity.

With $30.0 million for the State and Local Program in fiscal year 2002, EEOC will:

• Contract with our FEPA partners to resolve approximately 55,000 charges.
• Contract with our TERO partners for various enforcement activities.
• Continue to provide training to the FEPAs and TEROs.
• Conduct 20 joint outreach programs with the FEPAs for small businesses and under-served communities and groups.
• Continue to support FEPA technology needs for reporting charge intake, processing and resolutions.
• Identify the next generation of needs for effective data collection and reporting.

Table 2 summarizes the actual and projected State and Local Program funding, workload and results for fiscal years 2000-2002:

TABLE 2
Workload Projections and Funding

D. FEDERAL SECTOR COMPREHENSIVE ENFORCEMENT PROGRAM

Introduction

The Commission's role in enforcing equal employment opportunity laws in the federal sector differs from its role in the private sector. In contrast to the private sector program, where EEOC conducts all activities from prevention through litigation, in the federal sector an individual files a complaint with his/her own agency and can request a hearing at the EEOC after 180 days. Both individuals and federal agencies can file appeals with the EEOC and, when complainants are dissatisfied with the outcome, they may file their own lawsuit in federal court. However, EEOC's decisions are binding on federal agencies.

As is the case in the private sector program, the EEOC establishes policies to implement equal opportunity laws and conducts outreach, technical assistance and training activities to prevent or correct discriminatory practices. In the federal sector program, the EEOC also carries out its oversight responsibilities through a unique activity called "on-site reviews," for which visits are made to selected federal agency locations and, where areas of concern are identified, agency managers are advised on appropriate corrective actions.

First introduced in fiscal year 1999, the Comprehensive Enforcement Program (CEP) continues to be a primary focus for improving the federal sector process at the Commission. Under the CEP, we have reached out to more employee and employer stakeholders as part of our "citizen-centered" approach; provided more technical assistance; conducted more strategically focused onsite reviews; and stemmed the growth of the hearings and appellate inventories. By linking the hearings and appeals programs with strong oversight, technical assistance and educational initiatives, the Commission is strategically focusing its resources on achieving measurable results and identifying and eliminating the root causes of discrimination in the federal sector.

Our federal sector accomplishments for fiscal year 2000 demonstrate that the initiatives and reforms EEOC began in1999 are contributing to the goal of the federal government as a model employer. With a modest increase in staff dedicated to this program in fiscal year 2001, and maintained with the budget request for fiscal year 2002, we have added measures to continue our accomplishments in this program.

NOTE

Appendix B-3 shows a diagram illustrating the federal sector Comprehensive Enforcement Program (CEP) concepts and Appendix B-2 displays a flow chart of the federal sector enforcement process in brief. Our Regulations detailing this process are published in Title 29 of the Code of Federal Regulations (C.F.R.) under Part 1614. They are available on the U.S. Government Printing Office's web site and can be accessed through EEOC's web site. EEOC's web site is located at http://www.eeoc.gov and contains a wealth of information about the Commission, the laws we enforce and federal complaint processing procedures. A link on our web site to Part 1614 can be found at http://www.eeoc.gov/federal/regulations.html.

GPRA Measures

STRATEGIC GOAL 1

Enforce Federal Civil Rights Employment Laws Through a Comprehensive Enforcement Program.

Strategic Objective 1.2.

Enhance the effectiveness of the federal sector program by utilizing a comprehensive enforcement strategy.

Program Highlights

We exceeded all of the fiscal year 2000 measures and will build on our accomplishments in fiscal year 2002. As the results indicate above, we exceeded all of our targets for fiscal year 2000, resolving a greater percentage of hearings over 180 days old (measure 1.2.1.), closing a greater percentage of appeals cases over 500 days old (measure 1.2.3.), and resolving a greater percentage of appeals cases within 180 days (measure 1.2.4.). We are continuing these measures in fiscal years 2001 and 2002. A more complete description of our fiscal year 2000 achievements for these measures, and others not continued into fiscal year 2002, are in our Fiscal Year 2000 Annual Performance Report included with this Budget Request in Appendix C-4.

For fiscal years 2001 and 2002, we have adopted additional measures that will improve the timeliness of service in the hearings and appeals programs. The federal Comprehensive Enforcement Program (CEP) provides a framework for implementing new regulations in 29 C.F.R. Part 1614, which streamlines procedures governing the discrimination complaint process for federal employees. The revised regulations have improved the complaint processing system by eliminating unnecessary layers of review, utilizing alternative dispute resolution (ADR) throughout the process, and addressing perceptions of unfairness in the system.

Hearings Program

The revised federal sector regulations, implemented in November 1999, expanded the role of administrative judges in the complaint process, permitting them to consolidate all complaints by the same party and gather additional information to fill gaps in the record. As a result of the new regulatory provisions, the hearing process is more equitable for the parties and the record developed before an administrative judge is more impartial and complete. By fiscal year 2002, the administrative judges' hearings manual will be developed establishing quality standards under the federal sector Comprehensive Enforcement Program (CEP) in the future.

Our Hearings measures (see 1.2.1. and 1.2.2.) balance the use of agency resources to address new hearing requests in a timely fashion while simultaneously resolving a share of older cases in the hearings inventory. This approach to inventory management controls growth in the age of the inventory, while resolving a portion of the cases within 180 days. Our goal is to increase closures of older cases and resolve more new cases in the future.

Table 3, Hearings Workload Projections for FY2002, shows that while the impact of the revised regulations and the consolidation efforts have had a positive impact on the number of requests we are receiving for hearings, we anticipate a 9% decrease in the number of hearings resolved from 10,183 in fiscal year 2000 to 9,305 in fiscal year 2001, due to the new, multiple tasks performed under the revised regulations, and the lag time in getting new staff on board this fiscal year. EEOC maintained a freeze on hiring through fiscal year 2000 and into the second quarter of fiscal year 2001-our appropriation was not received until the end of the first quarter.

TABLE 3
HEARINGS WORKLOAD PROJECTIONS FOR FY2002
Impact of revised Part 1614 regulations on the hearings inventory.

With increases to base requested to maintain staff dedicated to this program in fiscal year 2002, EEOC will achieve its GPRA measures and significantly increase the number of hearings resolved, reducing the months of inventory from 13.4 to 9.0, which translates into more timely service to our customers. As EEOC continues to reduce the hearings inventory, we expect other federal agencies will apply provisions of the Part 1614 regulations controlling their workload. For example, the regulations require each agency to avoid fragmentation of complaints by the same party, eliminate spin-off complaints, and adopt effective ADR programs to resolve disputes early. We have found that Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) techniques can reduce the number of formal complaints and requests for hearings. To expand the use of ADR in fiscal year 2002, we intend to use mediation to resolve hearings cases in EEOC's offices, refer cases to agency ADR programs, such as the Postal Service's REDRESS II program, use volunteer mediators available through local bar associations or the Federal Executive Board, and explore other ways to use ADR mechanisms to resolve cases more expeditiously.

Accurate and timely information is vital if we expect to efficiently manage our program and curtail the growth in the Hearings inventory, as well as further implement the federal sector CEP concepts. Improvements in our computerized data systems will assist our efforts to provide senior managers with more accurate and timely information. (See technology discussion in Section IV.D.)

APPEALS PROGRAM

In the 1990s, the agency witnessed an expanding federal sector workload and an increase in the average age of cases reaching the hearings and appeals stages. A General Accounting Office Report (GAO/GCD-98-167BR) acknowledged these results and raised concerns that they would continue to worsen unless measures were adopted to stem their growth. In fiscal year 2000, we closely monitored the appellate case process and adjusted priorities, which has begun to reverse the trend in increases to our appeals inventory and our average processing time, which peaked at 473 days in fiscal year 1998 and declined to 420 days in fiscal year 2000. These management actions and reforms to our federal sector program contributed, in part, to enhanced benefits for our stakeholders. We will continue these efforts in fiscal year 2002, to make the appellate process even more efficient and effective.

The Federal Appellate Inventory Review (FAIR) Project, implemented at the beginning of fiscal year 2001, is a key project that already has enabled the Commission to gain an accurate assessment of its appellate inventory. We expect FAIR to decrease the average processing time of appeals, expedite the consolidation of appeals from the same complainant to minimize the fragmentation of claims, subject all appeals to an early initial attorney review to assess the nature of the issues and prioritize the appeal, and compile an appellate case record in a more efficient, timely and accurate manner.

FAIR was designed, in part, in response to feedback from the Commission's federal sector stakeholders. In fiscal year 2000, federal SECTOR program staff conducted a series of town hall meetings in four different cities nationwide with employees and other stakeholders interested in the federal sector EEO process. Also, they met periodically with federal agency representatives and members of the bar. As a result of the suggestions and feedback received, the Commission implemented the FAIR Project.

The new provisions of the Part 1614 regulations are critical for the successful implementation of the federal sector CEP and the accomplishment of our measures in fiscal year 2002. Table 4, below, illustrates the anticipated effect of these regulations on the appellate inventory. The Commission halted the growth of the appeals inventory in fiscal year 2000, the first reduction since implementation of the original Part 1614 regulations in 1992. In fiscal year 2002, the Commission projects that it will reduce the pending appeals inventory to 7.6 months.

TABLE 4
APPEALS WORKLOAD PROJECTIONS FOR FY2002
Impact of revised Part 1614 regulations on the appellate inventory.

Under the federal sector CEP, many of our appellate activities will enhance the design of our outreach, education and technical assistance programs in the federal sector. The same information will also be used to assist in the selection and design of onsite reviews. This synergy in our programs will optimize the use of our resources and help us deliver better information and assistance to our stakeholders.

Also, the Commission is exploring more and better ways to use technology to make its appellate program more effective and efficient and further stem the growth of the appellate inventory. A prime example of our use of technology was a pilot program we initiated in fiscal year 2000 with the Defense Logistics Agency. When an administrative appeal is filed, DLA electronically transfers the complaint files to the Commission. In fiscal year 2002, we will expand this approach to other federal agencies.

Section III
PREVENTION OF EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMINATION

A. HIGHLIGHTS OF FY2002 BUDGET REQUEST FOR PREVENTION OF EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMINATION

The agency's Prevention effort is a key component of the Commission's enforcement strategy. Activities carried out under the agency's outreach, education and technical assistance function are financed with the $233.4 million provided under the Comprehensive Enforcement Program. Prevention of employment discrimination includes outreach, education, and technical assistance to employees and employers in both the private and federal sector.

With the resources requested for fiscal year 2002, EEOC will engage in prevention activities aimed at accomplishing its GPRA measures. The following activities will focus on employers

• Conduct 1,200 consultations with employer stakeholders on operational and legal issues.
• Provide technical assistance to 50,000 private sector and federal sector employers through activities.
• Conduct 250 outreach events for employers encouraging their participation in EEOC's mediation program.
• Provide education and information materials for 5,000 small employers with approximately 15-99 employees.
• Develop and implement an outreach plan to provide education and technical assistance and proactively distribute EEOC's education and information materials to small private sector employers and federal sector employers.
• Conduct at least 120 outreach, education or other technical assistance activities to assist federal agencies make EEO program improvements, including establishing alternative dispute resolution programs throughout the EEO process
• Conduct 20 on-site evaluations of federal agency EEO programs.
• Conduct 3,900 consultations with employee stakeholders on operational and legal issues.
• Provide education and information materials to 30,000 employee representatives, including representatives from under-served groups or communities
• Implement an outreach plan to inform under-served constituencies of their rights, and to proactively distribute educational and informational materials to employee stakeholders.
• Make 15 additional publications available in an alternate format and translated into 7 alternate languages.
• Make information about employment discrimination and the federal EEO procedures available for the approximately 2 million federal employees, using EEOC's web site and other innovative means.
• Provide EEOC informational materials to federal sector employees and major employee groups identified in the prior fiscal year(s) and give appropriate follow-up assistance.

Section III Discussion

The following subsections discuss the budget request in further detail and provide the fiscal year 2002 GPRA measures for the two program areas covered in Section III: Outreach, Education and Technical Assistance to Employers and to Employees. We have included in Appendix C-4, EEOC's Fiscal Year 2000 Annual Performance Report under the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 (GPRA) describing accomplishments in fiscal year 2000.

B. OUTREACH, EDUCATION AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TO EMPLOYERS

Introduction

The Commission believes that the preferred method to eradicate employment discrimination from the work place is to prevent it from happening in the first place. We have a statutory mandate to provide education, outreach and technical assistance to our various stakeholders to facilitate voluntary compliance with the laws we enforce. The outreach, education and technical assistance programs are key components of the Commission's enforcement strategy.

The Comprehensive Enforcement Plan (CEP) requires a strategic and coordinated approach to outreach, education and technical assistance activities. Enforcement and legal staff jointly and actively participate in outreach and educational activities. Their collaboration strategically links the agency's resources to ensure that prevention activities are more comprehensive, user friendly and of high technical quality, resulting in the delivery of fair, effective and efficient service to the public. We provide education and technical assistance to a broad range of stakeholders on EEOC's interpretations of the laws we enforce, and on how we carry out our enforcement responsibilities. These activities benefit our stakeholders, but they also provide valuable input on improving our processes and providing better service to the public.

The CEP also requires a coordinated approach to outreach, education and technical assistance in the field and at headquarters. In fiscal year 2002, we will identify trends across offices and opportunities for regional and national outreach programs. In addition, we will continue to implement the three-year Outreach Plan, which was developed in 1999 to ensure a coordinated approach between the primary EEOC programs having responsibilities for the agency's outreach, education and technical assistance activities.

GPRA Measures

STRATEGIC GOAL 2

Promote Equal Opportunity in Employment Through Education and Technical Assistance.

Strategic Objective 2.1.

Encourage and facilitate voluntary compliance with equal employment opportunity laws among employers and employer groups in the private and federal sectors.

Program Highlights

We exceeded our ambitious fiscal year 2000 targets for our outreach, education and technical assistance efforts to the private- and federal sector employer communities (measures 2.1.1., 2.1.2., 2.1.5., 2.1.6. and 2.1.8.). Our Fiscal Year 2000 Annual Performance Report accompanying this Budget Request in Appendix C-4 gives a complete description of these achievements. Our efforts in the past few years have accomplished many of our initial goals to reach out more to our various stakeholders. For fiscal years 2001 and 2002, we will focus some of our prevention resources on specific activities and audiences in the expectation that we can further enhance our prevention programs. We have added several new measures and balanced our limited resources in establishing our target values among all of our measures.

In fiscal year 2002, the Commission will continue to expand and diversify its proactive outreach efforts aimed at the employer community. Prior to fiscal year 2000, EEOC's non-fee outreach efforts to employers focused primarily on consultations with employers and technical assistance events on legal and operational issues. EEOC will continue these efforts in fiscal year 2002. We will continue to consult with a significant number of our employer stakeholders on operational and legal issues (measure 2.1.1.), continue to provide technical assistance to private sector and federal sector employers and employer representatives, including small to mid-sized businesses (measure 2.1.2.), and continue to conduct fee-based training for employers under the Revolving Fund (measure 2.1.5.). [The Revolving Fund is discussed separately in Section V.]

PRIVATE SECTOR OUTREACH, EDUCATION AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE ACTIVITIES

Beginning in fiscal year 2000, however, we started to redirect some of our outreach efforts towards several new agency-initiated activities. As a result of a series of meetings and dialogues initiated by the Chairwoman, we learned that employers and businesses wanted the agency to expand its voluntary mediation program and provide greater availability of public information materials. In fiscal year 2001, we added two new measures to address these issues and will continue both of them in fiscal year 2002. We will conduct outreach events specifically aimed at increasing employer participation in EEOC's mediation program (measure 2.1.3.).

The mediation program has been a tremendous success. In fiscal year 2000, we resolved 7,438 charges through mediation and obtained $108.4 million in monetary benefits. The program achieved a settlement success rate of 65%, and resolved charges in 96 days on average. For those appropriate charges eligible for mediation in fiscal year 2000, 81% of the charging parties chose to participate in mediation, while only 31% of the employers chose to participate. While the employer rate has risen since the expanded mediation program was launched in fiscal year 1999, it remains substantially lower than the employee participation rate. This is one aspect of the program that we want to improve. We are hopeful that expanded outreach focusing on the benefits of mediation will increase employer participation in our program.

EEOC is also expanding the availability of, and access to, informational materials on EEOC laws and procedures. We will continue a measure initiated in fiscal year 2001 focusing on providing our education and information materials to small employers with only approximately 15-99 employees (measure 2.1.4.). Employers of this size typically do not have human resources or legal staff to help them understand their obligations, or effective techniques, to provide a discrimination-free workplace. In addition, this measure supports our Small Business Initiative. The Initiative promotes voluntary compliance in the small and mid-sized employer community by building a more cooperative and collaborative relationship, and addressing concerns expressed by, these key stakeholders.

FEDERAL SECTOR OUTREACH, EDUCATION AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE ACTIVITIES

Federal agencies are another important employer community. The EEOC is a part of this community as well as a vital source for education and technical assistance to other federal agencies to foster discrimination-free workplaces throughout the federal government and make it a model employer for Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO). Outreach, education, and technical assistance programs have a primary role in the Commission's federal sector Comprehensive Enforcement Program (CEP). Our federal sector program is proactive in its outreach efforts to prevent discrimination and make the federal EEO process fairer and more efficient and effective for both federal agencies and employees. The number of formal complaints filed can be reduced if the Commission better educates federal employees and agencies so that they understand their rights and responsibilities. EEOC fulfills its outreach, education and technical assistance role in several ways.

An important tool for fostering discrimination-free federal sector workplaces and carrying out EEO oversight functions is to use onsite visits as part of a comprehensive, strategic enforcement approach. Onsite reviews are conducted for several reasons. We identify and address underlying problems that lead to complaints of employment discrimination. We identify barriers to equal employment opportunities for minorities, women, and people with disabilities and provide advice and assistance to help agencies eliminate them. Finally, we determine if agencies are in compliance with the Commission's affirmative employment and EEO complaints processing requirements. In fiscal year 2001, we are developing guidance to assist EEOC's staff to conduct onsite reviews. The guidance and its specific criteria establish a uniform approach to improve the quality to enhance EEO programs.

Under our federal sector CEP, we are reviewing all sources of information to select agencies for onsite reviews, including potential problems identified in complaints in our hearings or appeals cases and information obtained in our outreach contacts with stakeholder groups, where appropriate. Technical assistance is offered and follow-up visits are scheduled after onsite reviews to ensure that agencies comply with our recommendations.

We will conduct at least 20 comprehensive or limited onsite reviews of federal agency operations In fiscal year 2002 (measure 2.1.8.).

Another way we foster discrimination-free workplaces, and successfully implement the federal- sector CEP initiative, is to support the new Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) provisions in EEOC's Part 1614 federal regulations. ADR is an effective tool for resolving disputes early in the EEO process at federal agencies and, ultimately, reducing EEOC's hearings and appeals workload. The Commission's new regulations require that all federal agencies provide an ADR program designed to fit the agency's unique circumstances. Although the Commission has used a variety of approaches in the past to help agencies develop these programs, it has introduced a new measure in fiscal year 2001 and 2002 to initiate additional efforts to provide in-depth ADR technical assistance to federal agencies currently developing or implementing an ADR program (measure 2.1.7.).

The Commission will ensure that its guiding principles for effective ADR programs and the requirements of the Commission's regulations are properly reflected in federal agencies' ADR programs. EEOC staff will continue to be available for consultations to assist agencies implement their programs. In addition, in fiscal year 2002 we will continue our successful Federal sector Mediation Services Pilot Program to provide mediation services for small agencies with limited resources.

In fiscal year 2002, we will maintain and update the Commission's web site to provide information and links to other web sites and resources about ADR and other EEO areas (for example, EEOC's Management Directive-110 on the EEO process and procedures, its quarterly EEO Digest, and various fact sheets and questions and answers on the 1614 regulations). In particular, we will continue to maintain and update the Commission's federal sector decisions on its web site. Our web site, and links to other resources, provide public access to a wealth of federal sector informational materials on employment discrimination and federal EEO procedures previously available only through paid legal research services.

The Commission also will conduct semi-annual briefings for federal agency EEO Directors on federal sector developments and will conduct semi-annual meetings for stakeholders to announce federal sector initiatives and provide guidance on federal sector processing issues. In addition, we will conduct Town Hall Meeting(s) at regional locations and/or headquarters to provide opportunities for public input and feedback to federal sector policy makers. Our headquarters and field office staffs will continue speaking before federal sector employers and employee stakeholder groups and participating in no cost outreach and educational activities for employer and/or employee stakeholders.

Finally, the Commission is forging ahead with important technological projects, which will have an enormous impact on the Commission's training efforts. One of these projects is a computer-based training (CBT) approach on the revised federal sector regulations Part 1614. The CBT provides information indexing and testing on the regulations. We are starting to distribute the CBT during fiscal year 2001 and will continue to disseminate it to federal agency EEO staff and employer/employee stakeholders in fiscal year 2002.

C. OUTREACH, EDUCATION AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TO EMPLOYEES

Introduction

EEOC will continue to expand and diversify its outreach efforts to the employee community, as we have done with the employer community. We have significantly enhanced our outreach, education and technical assistance efforts under the Commission's Comprehensive Enforcement Program (CEP) in both the private sector and the federal sector to reach under-served groups and communities. An important part of our commitment to prevent workplace discrimination is to provide information to employees about their rights to a discrimination-free workplace and how to protect those rights. Eliminating discrimination from the workplace benefits all segments of our society and supports our economic well-being. The Commission's efforts to provide outreach, education and technical assistance on an equal basis to the employer and employee community will help bring that vision to fruition.

GPRA Measures

STRATEGIC GOAL 2

Promote Equal Opportunity in Employment Through Education and Technical Assistance.

Strategic Objective 2.2.

Increase knowledge about individual rights under equal employment opportunity laws among the public and employee groups.

Program Highlights

We were very successful in our outreach, education and technical assistance efforts to private and federal sector employee communities. We met or exceeded our ambitious fiscal year 2000 measures (measures 2.2.1. and 2.2.3.). Our Fiscal Year 2000 Annual Performance Report in Appendix C-4 provides a description of our achievements during the past fiscal year.

In fiscal year 2000, the Commission implemented several initiatives which are largely responsible for the substantial increase in consultations with employee stakeholders. For example, the agency conducted outreach, education and technical assistance activities designed to improve access to, and participation in, EEOC programs under the government-wide Asian American and Pacific Islander Initiative. We will continue efforts to improve Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders' access to, and participation in, EEOC's programs.

During fiscal year 2002, EEOC's National Origin and Low Wage Earners Task Forces will provide outreach and education on issues affecting national origin communities and low wage earners (immigrants, workers along the border and farm laborers).

Eight district offices with jurisdictions containing large national origin communities participate in the National Origin Task Force, an internal working group created by EEOC in fiscal year 1999. In fiscal year 2002 in collaboration with community groups, these offices will expand outreach and education programs at the grassroots level in their offices' communities with large national origin populations-particularly focusing on outreach programs for communities with recent immigrant and refugee populations-to increase awareness of their legal rights, including prohibitions against language and accent discrimination.

Offices participating in the Low Wage Earners Task Force, another intra-agency group created in fiscal year 1999, will provide outreach to immigrant workers along the border and farm laborers. We will build upon a network of stakeholder representatives and contacts who can identify issues of concern to the low wage earner population and provide information and education to this community. Our offices will closely coordinate with federal, state and local government agencies with similar jurisdictional responsibilities.

The Commission had a banner year from all of these initiatives and other efforts, resulting in an unexpectantly high number of consultations in fiscal year 2000 (measure 2.2.1.). Also, we are continuing to implement the specific activities contained in our outreach plan developed in fiscal year 1999 (measure 2.2.3.).

After assessing its outreach, education and technical assistance measures and target values and the fiscal year 2000 results achieved for employee groups and the public, the Commission decided to add further measures and to continue the previous measures as well, making appropriate adjustments to target values to account for the added measures. The four new measures added in fiscal year 2001, and continuing into fiscal year 2002, aim to better serve and expand outreach to private- and federal-sector employees, and under-served communities. These measures focus on increasing access to EEOC information and education materials, which is paramount to the Commission's ability to reach its constituents.

One added measure seeks to provide education and information materials to 30,000 employees, including under-served groups or communities. This effort will increase awareness of employees rights, employers responsibilities and EEOC's enforcement authority (measure 2.2.2.). Also, to strengthen efforts to reach under-served communities, a measure was added to make 15 of EEOC's most frequently requested publications available in an alternative format and in seven different languages-Spanish, Haitian/Creole, Vietnamese, Russian, Korean, Arabic and Chinese (measure 2.2.4.). Finally, two measures were added to inform federal employees about employment discrimination and provide assistance to those federal employee groups identified in an earlier initiative in fiscal year 2000 (measures 2.2.5. and 2.2.6.).

All of the Commission's measures under Strategic Objective 2.2, taken together, strengthen its ability to reach its constituents through a broad spectrum of outreach, education and technical assistance activities. Established target levels allow EEOC to effectively deliver services to each segment of the employee community and under-served groups, balancing its resources among many competing demands and other strategic measures.

Section IV
IMPROVING SERVICE TO THE PUBLIC THROUGH EXECUTIVE DIRECTION AND SUPPORT, INCLUDING TECHNOLOGY

A. HIGHLIGHTS OF FY2002 BUDGET REQUEST FOR IMPROVING SERVICE TO THE PUBLIC THROUGH EXECUTIVE DIRECTION AND SUPPORT, INCLUDING TECHNOLOGY

This component of the agency's program budget structure includes the Commissioners and supporting administrative and policy guidance staff, information technology resources to support agency programs nationwide, financial and human resource management, GPRA planning and analytical functions, publications and public information, and the Office of Inspector General.

The budget request includes $47 million for Executive Direction and support functions, of which the major component is information technology. Consistent with the Administration's management improvement objectives and the agency's Five-Year Technology Strategic Plan (see Figure 4), in fiscal year 2002, EEOC will continue its commitment to deploy management information systems that ensure financial integrity and cost-efficient utilization of human and other resources to achieve program results.

With the resources requested for fiscal year 2002, EEOC will:

Transition to a widely used and reliable financial management system since the current system is not longer supported by the system developer. The new system will support the Administration's