FY 2007
PERFORMANCE BUDGET

FEBRUARY 2006

Submitted to the
Congress of the United States

Our Vision

A Strong and Prosperous Nation Secured Through a Fair and Inclusive Workplace

Our Mission

We Promote Equality of Opportunity in the Workplace and Enforce Federal Laws Prohibiting Employment Discrimination

Table of Contents

1. FISCAL YEAR 2007 PERFORMANCE BUDGET HIGHLIGHTS
2. INTEGRATING ELEMENTS OF THE PERFORMANCE BUDGET
   1. Staffing and Funding Profile

      Table 1: Total Agency Staffing and Funding Profile by Strategic Objective and Program

   2. Analysis of Change
   3. Analysis of Change - Highlights
   4. Appropriation Language
   5. Object Class Schedule - Agency Summary
3. STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE 1 - JUSTICE AND OPPORTUNITY
   1. Introduction

      Table 2: FY 2007 Budget Request Summary for Justice and Opportunity

   2. Performance Measures and Results
   3. Program Areas
      1. Private Sector Enforcement
         • Chart 1: Private Sector Charges Pending Inventory
         • Table 3: Private Sector Enforcement Program Workload Table
         • Table 4: Workload/Workflow by Statute
         • Chart 2: Litigation Inventory for Fiscal Years 2005 through 2007
         • Table 5: Litigation Workload Projections
         • Table 6: State and Local Workload Projections
      2. Federal Sector Enforcement
         • Table 7: Hearings Workload Projections
         • Chart 3: Hearings Workload Received, Resolved, and Pending for Fiscal Years 2004 through 2007
         • Table 8: Appeals Workload Projections
         • Chart 4: Federal Sector Appeals Received, Resolved, and Pending Inventory for Fiscal Years 2005 through 2007
   4. Object Class Schedule – Strategic Objective 1: Justice and Opportunity
4. STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE 2 – INCLUSIVE WORKPLACE
   1. Introduction
      • Table 9: FY 2007 Budget Request Summary for Inclusive Workplace
   2. Performance Measures and Results
   3. Program Areas
      1. Outreach
   4. Summary of Financing for the Revolving Fund
   5. Object Class Schedule – Strategic Objective 2: Inclusive Workplace
   6. Object Class Schedule – EEOC Education, Technical Assistance, and Training Revolving Fund
5. STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE 3 - ORGANIZATIONAL EXCELLENCE
   1. Introduction
   2. Performance Measures and Results
   3. Highlighted Areas
      1. Highlighted Resource Areas
      2. Table 10: Highlighted Resource Area in Organizational Excellence
      2. Meeting the President’s Management Agenda
6. VERIFICATION AND VALIDATION OF DATA
7. PROGRAM EVALUATION
8. GENERAL STATEMENT OF LAWS
9. ADDENDUM: INTERIM ADJUSTMENTS TO STRATEGIC PLAN

I. FISCAL YEAR 2007 PERFORMANCE BUDGET HIGHLIGHTS

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is requesting a budget of $322,807,000 for fiscal year 2007. This request represents a decrease of $4.2 million from the fiscal year 2006 level. The fiscal year 2007 request will allow EEOC to maintain its enforcement and outreach activities.

This fiscal year 2007 performance budget request integrates with our Strategic Plan and continues our long-held standard of providing quality service to the public through enforcement and prevention. Our enforcement efforts are captured under Strategic Objective 1, Justice and Opportunity. Prevention activities are discussed in Strategic Objective 2, Inclusive Workplace. Our third Strategic Objective, Organizational Excellence, articulates efforts to improve the agency’s capacity and infrastructure to achieve greater enforcement and prevention results.

Achieving Justice and Opportunity

A key component of our enforcement strategy is the continued emphasis on the use of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) as an effective tool to resolve charges of discrimination. We have successfully managed charge inventory and charge processing time through effective use of mediation. Additionally, we continue to pursue efforts to secure greater participation by employers, including the use of our Universal Agreements to Mediate and the development of informational materials explaining the benefits of mediation to employers. We will continue to achieve more timely charge processing and ensure that the quality of our investigative enforcement activities is maintained.

Our litigation program is an important part of our overall enforcement efforts. While the cost to prosecute cases continues to rise, the filing of high impact litigation not only provides compensation to aggrieved individuals, but often results in significant changes to employers' policies and practices which benefit entire workforces. The litigation program also provides an incentive for the early resolution of a charge during the agency's administrative enforcement process in the pre-cause determination and mediation process and in the conciliation process. We also believe that publicity of high impact litigation and other cases serves to increase employer compliance with the laws we enforce.

We are joined by our 94 State and Local partners, Fair Employment Practices Agencies (FEPAs), in our vital enforcement role. The partnership we share with the FEPAs around the nation is a critical component of our success. Additionally, we continue to support the 64 Tribal Employment Rights Organizations (TEROs), providing outreach and training to address the specific equal employment issues facing the Native American community.

Our federal sector program has a unique role in ensuring that all federal applicants and employees have the freedom to compete in the workplace on a fair and level playing field. Our hearings and appellate enforcement efforts, along with our monitoring, guidance and assistance activities, help us achieve our purposes. We will continue efforts to effectively manage our hearings and appeals inventory and reduce average processing times. The use of ADR has proven to be a valuable tool in resolving disputes more efficiently. It has had a powerful impact on federal agencies’ EEO complaint inventories. We will continue to expand the use of ADR in the federal sector program.

Also, our Management Directive (MD)-715 provides for the Commission to be a proactive partner with federal agencies by assisting in identifying barriers in the workplace; providing agencies with guidance and information on best practices and recommendations for eliminating barriers; and creating a culture that promotes an inclusive workforce. On January 31, 2005, Federal agencies started submitting the first MD-715 progress reports and action plans, which we are now reviewing and discussing with those agencies.

Our enforcement efforts are discussed in more detail under Strategic Objective 1 in Section III C, page 28.

Fostering Inclusive Workplaces

In fiscal year 2007, we will sustain several key outreach initiatives, as part of our proactive prevention efforts. Our outreach initiatives include the Race and Color Initiative, Small and Mid-sized Employer Initiative, Youth@Work Initiative, the Education, Technical Assistance and Training Revolving Fund, and the President's New Freedom Initiative. In addition, in fiscal year 2005, we inaugurated the agency’s first-ever Freedom to Compete Award program to recognize best practices in the private sector, public sector, associations and other organizations. We have engaged in outreach efforts with the award-winners to introduce these practices to other businesses, government entities, or other groups, and adapt them to improve their own workplace practices.

In support of the President's New Freedom Initiative, we will continue to work with state governments on strategies to promote the employment of people with disabilities. We will continue reviews of state best practices for the employment of people with disabilities and provide customized technical assistance to state governments to promote voluntary compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Lastly, we will continue to provide training and technical assistance to federal agencies in the implementation of MD-715, including the completion of a checklist for gauging progress in building a model EEO program. We will work with agencies to promote workplace policies and practices that foster an inclusive work culture and prevent employment discrimination.

Our prevention efforts are discussed in more detail under Strategic Objective 2 in Section IV C, page 44.

Pursuing Organizational Excellence

Consistent with the President’s Management Agenda (PMA), we have undertaken efforts to examine our operations and pursue strategies that make for a more customer-centered and results-driven agency. To this end, the agency undertook a comprehensive review of its operations and structure, and devised a three-phase approach to repositioning the Commission. The first phase was establishing a National Contact Center (NCC) pilot. The second phase is repositioning the agency’s field structure for improved customer service and efficiency. The third phase is streamlining EEOC’s headquarters. We have established a NCC pilot; began implementing the approved plan to reposition the field structure January 1, 2006; and examined the headquarters' structure and operations to streamline functions and clarify roles and responsibilities.

In fiscal year 2007, we will continue efforts to reposition the EEOC to better meet the demands and challenges of this century. As part of those efforts, we will complete the evaluation of the NCC two-year pilot. We will continue to: streamline functions and processes; strategically align and redeploy staff; and build upon efforts to meet the standards of the PMA.

Over the past several years, EEOC has completed several major information technology projects that have streamlined internal processes, reduced paperwork burden, integrated data, advanced our technological infrastructure, and allowed the agency to conduct business more efficiently. EEOC will maintain our critical technology infrastructure but will halt major hardware refreshes for the infrastructure and EEOC's information systems, discontinue new development and modernization initiatives, and reduce services in the areas related to network management, inventory control, project management, graphics development, and desktop support.

The lease for EEOC’s headquarters located at 1801 L Street, NW, Washington, DC, expires in July 2008, and it will be necessary to fund either relocation or significant remodeling of the current space in fiscal year 2007. The future space requirements are approximately 20% less than current requirements. Costs will include planning, project management, design, construction, furniture, and telecommunications.

Efforts to achieve organizational excellence are discussed in more detail under Strategic Objective 3 in Section V C, page 60.

II. INTEGRATING ELEMENTS OF THE PERFORMANCE BUDGET

The structure of the performance budget for fiscal year 2007 is based on our Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years 2004-2009, which was implemented on October 1, 2003. This performance budget integrates our strategic objectives, the EEOC's operational Five-Point Plan, the President's Management Agenda, and our program operations. In fiscal year 2006, we will undertake the required three year review of our Strategic Plan and update it as appropriate. It will be effective on October 1, 2006, for fiscal year 2007.

EEOC's Strategic Objectives and Five-Point Plan provide the framework for accomplishing our agency's mission. The Five-Point Plan places a premium on coordination, innovation, and results. Under the Plan, all facets of EEOC's work are viewed with an eye toward being more proactive and more effective.

Through strategic enforcement and proactive prevention we will advance the agency's mission and meet our strategic objectives. We continue to balance enforcement and resources to support prevention/initiatives - outreach, education and technical assistance. Both are vital to achieving our mission and serving the public. We aim to make full use of all the agency's tools to combat discrimination in the workplace.

Our overall strategic framework also guides our results-based performance measures from fiscal year 2004 through fiscal year 2009. These inter-relationships are illustrated in the three tables on the following pages. Specific performance measures, and the annual targets to achieve results during fiscal year 2007, are discussed under the appropriate Strategic Objective for each program area.

A. Staffing and Funding Profile

Table 1 below displays the EEOC’s total agency staffing and funding profile by Strategic Objective and programs for fiscal years 2005 through 2007.

*may not add due to rounding

B. Analysis of Change

*may not add due to rounding

C. Analysis of Change - Highlights

D. Appropriation Language

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

SALARIES AND EXPENSES

For necessary expenses of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission as authorized by title VII of the Civil Rights Act of the 1964 (29 U.S.C. 206(d) and 621-634), the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, 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; and not to exceed $28,000,000 for payments to the State and local enforcement agencies for services to the Commission pursuant to title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, sections 6 and 14 of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, and the Civil Rights Act of 1991, $322,807,000: Provided, That the Commission is authorized to make available for official reception and representation expenses not to exceed $2,500 from available funds: Provided further, That the Chair is authorized to accept and use any gift or donation to carry out the work of the Commission. (Science, State, Justice, Commerce, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2006, Reported in House, (H.R. 2862))

E. Object Class Schedule - Agency Summary

*may not add due to rounding

III. STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE 1 - JUSTICE AND OPPORTUNITY

A. Introduction

Our first Strategic Objective – Justice and Opportunity – is premised on the belief that our fundamental responsibility is to correct the wrongs of employment discrimination and bring justice and equal opportunity to the workplace. To fulfill this responsibility, we must continually focus on enhancing ways to deliver quality services to the public efficiently. We must maintain the public’s confidence in our abilities to resolve charges of discrimination in a timely, accurate, and consistent manner. Our front-line enforcement programs in the private and Federal sectors require a continuing investment in resources to ensure that we are able to contain an expanding workload.

The budget request for fiscal year 2007 for Justice and Opportunity is $274,386,000. We will continue efforts to decrease the number of hearings cases and address a workload of appeals cases in the Federal sector. We will also continue efforts to promote mediation/ADR at all levels of the Federal sector EEO complaint process in order to resolve workplace disputes early, thereby saving resources and enabling agencies to focus on their core missions. In addition, these resources will enable us to maintain a nationwide litigation program that includes high impact, resource-intensive cases.

Finally, the resources will support our endeavors to meet the thirteen performance measures under three elements of our Five-Point Plan. We separately discuss each performance measure in Section B.

Table 2 outlines our budget information for the agency’s enforcement programs under Strategic Objective 1 - Justice and Opportunity, for fiscal years 2005 through 2007. Our performance measures, the agency’s programs, and the requested budget are described in more detail in subsequent sections.

*may not add due to rounding

B. Performance Measures and Results

Our Strategic Plan for fiscal years 2004-2009 links our broad Strategic Objectives to the agency’s Five Point Plan. Strategic Objective 1, Justice and Opportunity, relates to three of the elements of our Five-Point Plan – Proficient Resolution, Promote and Expand Mediation/ADR and Strategic Enforcement and Litigation. It also identifies our long-term goals to achieve results in each of these areas.

Since our performance measures and results link to specific programs, we have included information to provide a broader context for reviewing the measures and the results in Section C.

Proficient Resolution

There are five performance measures under the Proficient Resolution element of our Five-Point Plan. Three measures ensure that a significant percentage of private sector charges, Federal sector hearings, and Federal sector appeals will be resolved in 180 days or fewer. Another measure evaluates the quality of investigative charge files. The final measure determines how the general public rates its confidence in EEOC's enforcement of Federal equal employment laws.

This measure builds on our steady success in recent years in reducing the average time to process private sector charges. Although the fiscal year 2009 goal is to resolve 75% of the private sector charges within 180 days or fewer, we did not meet our fiscal year 2005 target of 70%. The agency resolved 65.9% of the private sector charges within 180 days or fewer, 51,060 charges out of 77,441 total resolutions.

Several factors contributed to this result. To ensure that this measure did not unduly affect older cases, we enhanced efforts to process our aging inventory in a timely way. As a result, offices had to balance the processing of their older inventory with the concurrent processing of newer charges. In addition, the agency relied on the transfer of cases between offices to address workload and staffing imbalances. Finally, for the last 5 weeks of this fiscal year, our New Orleans office was not operational because of the effects of Hurricane Katrina. Nearby offices were later affected by Hurricane Rita. As a result, their projected contribution to agency resolution figures was not reflected in our final count.

All of these factors adversely affected our ability to achieve this measure. We believe that our long-term approach to balance the age of our inventory and manage the workload will assist us in meeting this goal in future years. We will maintain the 70% target level for fiscal year 2006, because it balances prompt service in our private sector processes with the need to devote resources to charges that take longer to process because meritorious or complex claims are involved. In fiscal years 2007 and 2008 we will increase our targets to 72% and 73%, respectively, in order to achieve our final fiscal year 2009 goal that 75% of the charges be resolved in 180 days or fewer.

Like our private sector charges, this measure identifies our efforts to process a significant portion of our Federal sector hearings workload in 180 days or fewer. By focusing our resources on reducing our older cases in fiscal year 2004, we better positioned ourselves to address newer hearings cases in fiscal year 2005. This strategy enabled us to resolve 51.3% of our hearings cases within 180 days or fewer (5,241 complaints out of 10,221 total resolutions), exceeding our target of 38.0% by a substantial margin. We believe that our approach lets us increase future targets for this measure to 50% of the hearings resolved in 180 days or fewer for fiscal years 2006 through 2009, maintaining this significant achievement to reach our final goal. We will revisit the target for this measure during fiscal year 2006, as part of our efforts to update the Strategic Plan by fiscal year 2007.

We made significant gains in processing our Federal sector appellate inventory during fiscal year 2004, exceeding our goal for resolving appeals in 180 days or fewer, even with an 11% increase in new appeals. Building on this achievement, our target for fiscal year 2005 was to resolve 50% of the appellate cases received during the fiscal year in 180 days or fewer. We surpassed this goal, resolving 52% of the appeals within 180 days or fewer (3,899 out of 7,490 appeals received). We surpassed our target through the effective management of the appellate inventory and by using strategic inventory management projects and technological innovations.

Starting in fiscal year 2006, however, we will revise the current methodology for calculating the achievement of our targets and final goal for this measure. The formula will mirror the way we measure the timeliness of our private sector charge resolutions, calculating all appellate cases regardless of the fiscal year they were filed, rather than just cases filed and closed within the fiscal year being measured.

Besides this new approach to the calculation of success for this measure, we will also increase our targets by 5% each year from fiscal year 2006 through fiscal year 2009. These target levels will enable us to meet our final goal of resolving 70% of all Federal sector appeals cases, regardless of the year filed, in 180 days or fewer. The revised methodology will uniformly address our timeliness standards for both the private and Federal sectors, and the increased target values will help us continue to make steady gains toward our long-range goal as many of the streamlining efforts and other federal sector reforms take hold. As Federal sector enforcement staff successfully resolves the older appellate inventory, resources will be deployed to resolve an increasing percentage of newly filed appeals in 180 days or fewer.

This measure builds on one of the three key factors of charge processing—quality. Along with timeliness (captured in Measure 1.1.1) and inventory, these factors are interdependent and impact our charge processing efforts. In fiscal year 2005, we established our baseline for this measure and the targets for fiscal years 2006–2009. We used a sampling methodology to select investigative files processed by our field offices, then evaluated the files on two critical quality criteria: (1) appropriate charge categorization and file documentation to support actions and (2) charge resolution.

Using this methodology, the agency established a baseline value for this measure of 88.5% to indicate the quality of our charge processing. For fiscal year 2006, we will approximate this rate to improve the collection of the data. In subsequent years, we will increase the target values by one percentage point each year towards the achievement of our final goal of 90% by fiscal year 2009.

* TBD = To Be Determined

Our Strategic Plan identifies several agency measures that involve the use of external surveys to collect information, establish baseline and target values for results expected, and determine results achieved. The agency’s survey methodology to establish our goals and measure our results for this performance measure was to survey members of the public to determine how familiar they are with our enforcement efforts and to what extent they believe that we responsibly and effectively address workplace discrimination. Our assumption is that employers, employees, attorneys, and members of the general public will have confidence in our impartial role as a law enforcement agency, come to us for assistance, and trust in our capability to handle the complaint, if we are viewed as a fair and just enforcer of the civil rights employment laws.

Results from a 2004 survey conducted by a reputable private organization were available during fiscal year 2005, including responses to a question that the agency used to identify a fiscal year 2005 baseline value for this measure. The results demonstrated that 49% of all of the individuals responding to the question who identified a specific confidence level have confidence in EEOC’s ability to enforce Federal equal employment laws.

As we revise our Strategic Plan during fiscal year 2006, we will simultaneously continue to review the survey information and possible targets for fiscal years 2006 through 2009. A critical component of our review will be determining a survey methodology to use in subsequent years to identify yearly targets and a final goal for this measure.

Promote and Expand Mediation/ADR

There are four performance measures under the Promotion and Expansion of Mediation/ADR element of our Five-Point Plan. Three measures involve EEOC’s private sector mediation/ADR program: increase the number of employers agreeing to participate in the program; maintain a high level of confidence in the program; and assess the contributions of the program toward improved workplaces. The fourth measure aims to increase the participation of Federal employees in mediation to resolve issues before a formal complaint of discrimination is filed.

Each year, the agency resolves charges of employment discrimination at various stages of the administrative charge processing. This measure focuses on only those charges in EEOC’s mediation program where the allegations of employment discrimination are resolved with a written mediation agreement.

In fiscal year 2005, EEOC resolved 5,572 charges of discrimination using mediation. Mediation agreements generally involve relief only for the individual who made the allegations of discrimination. Relief can include an individual receiving a position previously denied, back pay awarded to a person to correct for lost wages, or various other forms of monetary or non-monetary compensation.

Although relief obtained for individuals is a vital part of our work, some types of relief obtained in mediation agreements extend beyond the specific individual who was identified from the original allegations in the charge. We wanted to begin to measure the impact of this broader relief. We had not been capturing this information prior to the creation of this measure. Measure 1.2.1. is designed to assess the contributions our mediation program makes to improving workplaces through provisions in mediation agreements that provide for changes in policies, practices or procedures. These types of changes have the potential to impact a much larger number of individuals at the worksite. Even though this type of relief is obtained in a small portion of our ADR resolutions, this type of effect on workplaces is a critical measure of our work. For example, in fiscal year 2005, we began to collect the appropriate data for all mediation agreements reached through our mediation/ADR program. We determined that in fiscal year 2005, 3.1% (or 171 charges) of the total 5,772 charges resolved through mediation agreements included provisions for improvements in workplace policies, practices or procedures. Although this is a small percentage of the total number of mediation agreements, the workplace improvements brought about by these resolutions benefited approximately 191,000 individuals in addition to the specific individuals who received relief under the settlement.

Again, since most mediation agreements focus on individual relief that is mutually agreed to by both the charging party and the respondent, the percentage of agreements that involve broader improvements to the workplace will always be relatively small. Given this limitation, we have established meaningful targets and a final goal for fiscal years 2006 through 2009 for obtaining mediation agreements that include the types of workplace changes reflected by this measure. Even moderate percentage changes in target values can indicate increases in the number of mediation agreements obtained or the number of individuals benefited from year to year. Since the agency only began collecting this type of data in fiscal year 2005, we anticipate that the overall percentage of these types of resolutions will not increase during fiscal year 2006. For fiscal years 2007 through 2009, we will increase the target by one-half a percentage point each year to reach a projected final goal in fiscal year 2009 of 4.6%. As an illustration, if the total number of mediation agreements remains the same at 5,772, the final goal represents approximately 266 mediation agreements containing provisions that result in improvements in an organization’s policies, practices or procedures. This represents 95 mediation agreements more than the 171 in fiscal year 2005 and could reflect an impact on over 297,000 additional employees in these affected organizations.

As part of our efforts during fiscal year 2006 to update the agency’s Strategic Plan we will also revisit the targets for this measure.

The targets and final goal for this measure are percentage increases above the fiscal year 2003 baseline level of 13,177 charges in which employers agreed to participate in the EEOC mediation program. The fiscal year 2005 target was to increase the number of such charges in which an employer agrees to mediate by 8.5%, or to 14,297. The fiscal year 2005 result was 12,527 employers who agreed to mediate, which falls below our target. For fiscal year 2006, we have a final goal to increase the acceptance rate over the baseline by 20%. Although we will continue our efforts to try to increase the acceptance level, including some of the activities we engaged in during fiscal year 2005, it will be a challenge to achieve the goal by the end of fiscal year 2006.

In fiscal year 2005, in an effort to increase the number of employers agreeing to participate in our private sector mediation program, we produced and distributed two DVDs highlighting the benefits of mediation to employers, developed a universal automated presentation addressing employer concerns about mediation for EEOC staff to use during outreach events, and developed and distributed a bookmark for employers highlighting the “Top Ten Reasons to Mediate.” These efforts were considerable, but have not yet translated into an improved respondent acceptance rate of participation in our mediation program. We will continue outreach efforts in fiscal year 2006 to allow more time for the effects of these efforts to become apparent. We will revisit the target for this measure as part of our efforts during fiscal year 2006 to update the agency’s Strategic Plan.

We obtained the result for this measure by surveying participants in EEOC’s mediation program during the year and tabulating their responses about their confidence in using the program. The fiscal year 2005 survey result of 96.3% exceeds our target by a substantial margin and continues to demonstrate the success of our private sector mediation program once both parties elect to participate in it. We will continue to survey participants and maintain the high confidence level expected for our program, because it helps with our efforts to convince participants, particularly company representatives, of the value of the mediation approach. We will revisit the target for this measure as part of efforts during fiscal year 2006 to update the agency’s Strategic Plan.

This measure supports the proposition that resolving complaints at Federal agencies at the earliest possible stage in the EEO (equal employment opportunity) process improves the workforce environment and curtails actions that could take substantially longer to resolve and would use valuable Federal agency and EEOC resources. EEOC did not receive data from Federal agencies for fiscal year 2004 until the second quarter of fiscal year 2005. Consequently, we now can report that we exceeded the fiscal year 2004 target by a substantial amount. Due to lag time in reporting, the fiscal year 2005 result for this measure will be reported in fiscal year 2006.

Because this was a relatively new approach when we first developed the measure, we estimated for fiscal year 2004 that only 25% of the Federal employees would engage in an ADR attempt during the pre-complaint stage. In fact, in fiscal year 2004 parties elected to participate in ADR in 18,381 out of 42,412 instances of pre-complaint EEO counseling across the Federal government, or 43.3% of the time. Since this result was substantially above the target value we had estimated, we adjusted our future target values. For fiscal year 2005, we raised our target value considerably, from 30% to 40%, expecting more parties to participate in ADR in the pre-complaint stage because of the initial success in fiscal year 2004 and, during fiscal year 2005, our continued technical assistance efforts with agencies to encourage the development of effective ADR programs and the promotion of ADR training among government managers and staff. For fiscal years 2006 through 2008, we have increased the target value by 2% each year in order to make steady progress toward our 50% goal by the end of fiscal year 2009.

Strategic Enforcement and Litigation

There are four performance measures under Strategic Enforcement and Litigation. One measure assesses how resolutions of our private sector charges result in workplace improvements. Two measures assess the ripple effect of our high impact litigation and our ability to maintain our high rate of successful litigation. A final measure assesses the results of our Federal sector evaluations and assistance efforts in improving Federal workplaces.

Measure 1.3.1 is a companion to Measure 1.2.1. This measure encompasses all resolutions of charges of discrimination obtained by settlement or conciliation agreement where EEOC is a party, except for those charges in our mediation/ADR program, which are included in Measure 1.2.1. Charges resolved by settlement or conciliation agreement can provide relief before or after the agency makes a finding on the allegations in the charge. Settlement agreements are made prior to a finding and EEOC is a party to these agreements and will enforce the provisions of the agreement, if necessary. Once the agency makes a finding of discrimination on the allegations of the charge, an agreement resolving the charge is called a conciliation agreement. Both types of agreements are considered under this measure. In fiscal year 2005, EEOC resolved 9,435 charges of discrimination with a settlement or conciliation agreement, of which 5,572 were resolved as a result of mediation. The number of settlement or conciliation agreements reached in fiscal year 2005, where EEOC was a party, was 3,863.

Both settlement and conciliation agreements often involve relief for one or several specific individuals. Relief for these individuals can include a position previously denied or back pay, for example.

Some types of relief we obtain in these agreements, however, extend beyond providing relief to the identified victims of alleged acts of discrimination. As with Measure 1.2.1., we wanted to begin to measure the impact this broader relief had on the workplace. We started to collect this information so that we could assess the contributions our private sector enforcement activities, excluding the mediation program, were making to improve workplaces through settlement and conciliation agreements that provide for changes in policies, practices or procedures. These types of changes have the potential to impact a much larger number of individuals at the worksite. Even though this type of relief is obtained in a limited portion of our charge resolutions, this type of effect on workplaces is a critical measure of our work, along with the measure for our mediation program. For example, in fiscal year 2005, from our initial collection of the information about our settlement and conciliation agreements reached in the charge process, other than mediation/ADR resolutions, we found that 18.1% of the 3,863 resolutions reached, or 701 settlements/conciliations, included broader improvements in workplace policies, practices or procedures. Although this represents about one-fifth of the total number of agreements, the workplace improvements brought about by these resolutions benefited approximately 384,500 individuals in addition to the specific individuals that received relief under the settlement or conciliation agreement.

Again, since the primary focus of these agreements is on individual relief, the percentage of settlement/conciliation agreements, excluding mediated agreements, that involve this broader type of relief will be small. Given this limitation, we have established meaningful targets and a final goal for fiscal years 2006 through 2009 for obtaining settlement and conciliation agreements that include the types of workplace changes reflected by this measure. Even moderate percentage changes in target values can indicate increases in the number of agreements obtained or the number of individuals benefited from year to year. Since the agency only began collecting this type of data in fiscal year 2005, we anticipate that the overall percentage of these types of agreements will not increase during fiscal year 2006. Our target will increase to 18.5% for fiscal year 2007, remain at that level in fiscal year 2008, and increase to our final goal of 19.0% in fiscal year 2009. As an illustration, if the total number of settlement and conciliation agreements in our charge program, excluding mediation resolutions, remains approximately the same at 3,863, the final goal represents approximately 734 agreements containing provisions that result in improvements in an organization’s policies, practices or procedures. This represents 33 settlement and conciliation agreements more than the 701 obtained in fiscal year 2005 and could reflect an impact on approximately 403,000 additional employees in these affected organizations.

As part of our efforts during fiscal year 2006 to update the agency’s Strategic Plan, we will also revisit the targets for this measure.

This measure will assess our high impact litigation, and the subsequent publicity that results from that litigation, and how those cases affect workplaces through a program evaluation in fiscal year 2008. In fiscal year 2004, we defined the case types that constitute our “high impact litigation” and how we will measure any “change in workforce status.” Based on our criteria, we identified three High Impact Litigation cases resolved in fiscal year 2004: EEOC v. Morgan Stanley, EEOC v. Heartway (which is now on appeal to the 10th Circuit), and EEOC v. Milgard Manufacturing. We identified an additional five High Impact Litigation cases resolved in fiscal year 2005: EEOC v. Abercrombie & Fitch Stores, Inc., EEOC v. Northwest Airlines, Inc., EEOC v. Ford Motor Co. and U.A.W., EEOC v. Dial Corp., and EEOC v. EchoStar Communications Corp.

In early fiscal year 2005, we developed an approach to obtain more detailed information to help us measure the effects of our high impact litigation and to measure “changes in workforce status” occurring as a result of our litigation program. The methodology is cost-effective in that it utilizes data collected from the agency’s charge/case database, the Integrated Mission System (IMS). Now, instead of using the database to capture only monetary and non-monetary benefits achieved on behalf of specific individuals, we modified the system to track a broader form of relief on the kind of workforce-wide impact, if any, a resolved lawsuit will have.

During fiscal years 2006 and 2007, we will continue to improve the quality of the data we collect for measuring the effects of our designated high impact litigation cases (and other cases we identify), and to develop approaches for improving our efforts to achieve greater results. We will begin to analyze the information and determine the extent of impact in specific workplaces, geographical areas, or industries, and assess whether these cases, along with our targeted outreach and publicity efforts, resulted in any positive changes in the workplace. The identified cases and the collection and analysis of data will assist us with the Program Evaluation of our litigation program in fiscal year 2008.

This measure ensures that we maintain a high success rate for resolving our lawsuits. Based on an earlier 5-year study, we established the baseline value of 90% for this measure and our litigation program. To aid our efforts to deter and remedy discrimination in the workplace, we expect to maintain at least this 90% level using a 6-year rolling average of successful lawsuits. In fiscal year 2005, we successfully resolved 93.1% of our lawsuits, bringing our 6-year rolling average to 92.8%. We will revisit the target for this measure as part of efforts during fiscal year 2006 to update the agency’s Strategic Plan.

Building on the success of the first year of the Relationship Management pilot, in fiscal year 2005 we expanded the pilot to include an additional 6 Federal agencies for a total of 12 agencies. The Relationship Management Project is designed to improve customer service and relationships among EEOC and Federal agencies; help agencies achieve a Model EEO Program under MD-715; address specific agency needs; and change the way we provide services to our stakeholders. Applying the strategies and tools developed from the experiences of this Relationship Management Project better positions the agency to become a more customer oriented organization that can deliver relevant information and solutions to Federal agencies. The effects of these activities on the Federal sector EEO community will be assessed with a Program Evaluation study in fiscal year 2009. During fiscal years 2005 through 2008, we will continue to assess, refine, and expand our outreach, training, technical assistance, and oversight efforts with agencies in preparation for the 2009 Program Evaluation study to determine program achievements.

C. Program Areas

1. Private Sector Enforcement

Charge Processing

As part of the emphasis of our mission-driven responsibility to enforce the federal equal employment opportunity laws, we also recognize that we must be sufficiently prepared to meet emerging trends and issues in the workplace.

In fiscal year 2005, we ended the fiscal year with a pending inventory of 33,562, which is approximately 12% higher than the inventory at the end of fiscal year 2004. As reflected in Chart 1 and Table 3, we project that our workload will grow in fiscal years 2006 and 2007 as a result of staff attrition.

Chart 1: Private Sector Charges Pending Inventory
for Fiscal Years 2004 through 2007

Table 3 below shows our workload projections for our Private Sector Enforcement program and our mediation efforts for fiscal years 2005–2007. Table 4 on page 30 provides workload estimates by statute for fiscal years 2005–2007.

May not add due to rounding

Mediation/ADR Workload and Initiatives

A key component of our enforcement strategy is the continued emphasis on the use of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) as an effective tool to resolve charges of discrimination. We have successfully managed charge inventory and charge processing time through effective use of mediation. Additionally, we continue to pursue efforts to secure greater participation by employers, including the use of our Universal Agreements to Mediate and the development of informational materials explaining the benefits of mediation to employers.

While participants almost uniformly view our mediation program favorably, the number of employers agreeing to mediate is considerably less than the number of charging parties agreeing to mediate. A past independent study of our mediation program identified several key reasons that made employers reluctant to participate in EEOC’s mediation program. The study found that employers principally decline mediation because they have conducted their own internal investigation and believe the specific charge to be without merit, or they have concluded that EEOC will not issue a reasonable cause finding and prefer to let the charge proceed through the investigative process.

Litigation

The importance of a strong litigation program to effectively enforce our statutes cannot be overstated. It provides relief for many victims of discrimination who may have no other recourse, and we also believe it serves as an incentive for other employers to voluntarily comply with the civil rights laws and it strengthens our ability to resolve meritorious cases in the administrative enforcement process. In addition, we believe that publicity regarding our high impact cases and other litigation increases voluntary employer compliance with the laws we enforce.

The agency estimates filing 350 new lawsuits in fiscal year 2007. Our projected workload of 870 cases is slightly lower workload in past years. In addition to their litigation work field legal staffs perform a wide range of other functions. They provide advice and counsel to enforcement staff in all phases of the administrative process of private sector charges. They process over 15,000 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests received from the public each year. Finally, they participate in agency outreach programs under Strategic Objective 2.

Chart 2 below depicts the estimated litigation inventory including the number of lawsuits filed, pending lawsuits and resolutions for the fiscal years 2005 through 2007.

Chart 2: Litigation Inventory for Fiscal Years 2005 through 2007

Consistent with the agency’s Strategic Plan, we plan to use our resources more strategically to litigate cases that have a high impact on reducing discrimination and removing barriers in the workplace. High impact cases frequently affect large numbers of individuals, including individuals not party to a case, and can lead to positive changes throughout a wide geographical area, industry, or employer community. Such cases can be more resource intensive at times, but often may involve less expense where developing legal issues are of primary concern.

State and Local Contracts

The EEOC’s partnership with both the Fair Employment Practices Agencies (FEPAs) and the Tribal Employment Right Organizations (TEROs) continues to flourish. During fiscal year 2005, the agency-designated State and Local Re-engineering Workgroup presented recommendations that address enhancing this relationship and other process improvements. We plan to begin implementing some of these recommendations during fiscal year2006. It is important to note that this workgroup was comprised of both EEOC and FEPA representatives working together for the common goal of improving our process for enforcing civil rights employment laws and educating both employee and employer communities about their rights and responsibilities. EEOC has also designed a comprehensive training package for delivery to all contract FEPAs' staff during fiscal year 2006. This training was developed in response to the FEPAs desire for more directed training and will serve as a model for future training efforts.

We contracted with 94 FEPAs in fiscal year 2005 to resolve dual-filed charges as a means of preventing duplication of effort and streamlining the charge resolution process. While the FEPAs continue to produce at acceptable levels, we have reached a point where greater benefits can be achieved for the FEPAs’ contributions by increasing the per charge rate, rather than expecting a significant increase in charge resolutions from the FEPAs.

2. Federal Sector Enforcement

Our Federal sector program has a unique role in promoting justice and opportunity in the workplace by ensuring that all Federal applicants and employees have the freedom to compete on a fair and level playing field and to be judged on the merit of their performance and not on the basis of their race, gender, ethnicity, religion, age, or disability. Our hearings and appellate enforcement efforts and our monitoring, guidance, and assistance activities help us achieve our purposes. We plan to continue reducing the age of the complaint inventory by utilizing approaches that will yield faster processing. We also will maintain our recent success in controlling the growth of the appellate inventory while ensuring that appeals are resolved in a fair and efficient manner. Using the guidance and principles contained in MD 715, the Commission will evaluate the progress of Federal agencies in creating effective equal employment opportunity programs. We will monitor plans submitted by the Federal agencies to the EEOC to identify and remove barriers to free and open competition in the workplace. With the implementation of MD 715 and our focus on establishing effective relationship programs with agencies, we will deliver relevant and helpful information, training, and EEO solutions to Federal agencies.

Federal Sector Improvements – Hearings

We intend to achieve our goals for hearings by using coordinated initiatives we began in fiscal year 2004 to provide substantive and operational support and oversight towards the resolution of hearings cases to help prepare decisions more expeditiously. Federal sector appellate legal tools will be made available to assist administrative judges in processing hearings efficiently by making available fully researched and computerized legal language for inclusion in findings and decisions and fully-searchable past decisions on our Intranet site.

Table 7 - below shows the overall hearing inventory for fiscal years 2005 through 2007.

Chart 3: Hearings Workload Received, Resolved, and Pending for Fiscal Years 2004 through 2007

Appeals and Oversight of Federal EEO Programs

Our appellate review program adjudicates appeals from administrative decisions made by federal agencies on complaints of employment discrimination filed by federal employees or applicants for federal employment. The federal operations program has fully implemented the Proficient Resolution component of the Commission’s Five-Point Plan by streamlining operations to make its appellate adjudicatory body more efficient with the result that we have dramatically reduced the number, age, and processing time of pending appeals.

In Table 8 and Chart 4, we project that while new appeals will increase in fiscal years 2006 and 2007, we will be able to resolve a sufficient number of appeals to maintain the appellate inventory at acceptable levels in those years. In anticipation of projected EEOC attrition rates and increases in appellate receipts, the Commission is taking proactive steps to leverage technology to effectively manage the appellate inventory. For example, EEOC is implementing a Document Management System (DMS), which will convert incoming documents from paper to digital format. In fiscal year 2005 the Commission put into production Phase I of the DMS, whereby active complaint files were digitally converted for use by appellate attorneys.

Chart 4: Federal Sector Appeals Received, Resolved, and Pending Inventory for Fiscal Years 2005 through 2007

The use of ADR has had a powerful impact on Federal agencies’ EEO complaint inventories and, in turn, EEOC’s hearings and appeals inventories. Resolving disputes as early as possible in the Federal sector EEO process will improve the work environment and reduce the number of formal complaints, allowing all agencies, including the EEOC, to redeploy resources otherwise devoted to these activities. We aim to increase the use of ADR techniques at the pre-complaint stage in the Federal sector; the stage before a formal complaint is filed with a Federal agency. As more agencies expand their efforts to offer ADR during the informal process, we expect to see continued decreases in the number of formal complaints filed, which will reduce costs for complainants and all Federal agencies, and enable an agency to focus resources on its primary mission.

One of the most important mechanisms in our Federal sector program is our authority to conduct evaluations of Federal agency EEO programs. Using targeted evaluations, combined with the new self-assessment tools and checklists in MD 715, we will help Federal agencies assess the effectiveness and efficiency of their EEO programs and identify whether there are barriers precluding them from effectively utilizing their entire workforce in accomplishing their missions. We will periodically issue evaluative reports on a wide variety of topics in order to share government-wide, as appropriate, valuable information to assist agencies in developing model EEO programs.

During fiscal year 2005, we continued to provide training and technical assistance to agencies in the implementation of MD-715. During the year, we have also expanded our partnership with selected federal agencies in the Relationship Management project to explore new ways for our federal sector staff to interact with agencies to ensure that we can assist agencies in creating more effective EEO programs. Applying the strategies and tools developed from the experiences of the relationship management project, we will be in a position to better establish a customer-oriented organization which can deliver relevant information and solutions to federal agencies’ leadership.

D. Object Class Schedule – Strategic Objective 1: Justice and Opportunity

*may not add due to rounding

IV. STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE 2 – INCLUSIVE WORKPLACE

A. Introduction

Under our Inclusive Workplace Strategic Objective, we have focused on achieving increased voluntary compliance with the Federal equal employment opportunity laws coupled with an increased individual awareness and understanding of rights and responsibilities under those laws. The three performance measures in our Strategic Plan for this Objective are associated with the Proactive Prevention element of our Five-Point Plan.

Our budget request for fiscal year 2007 for this Strategic Objective is $48,421,000, not including the Revolving Fund. The proposed request will allow us to increase our outreach efforts, getting our message out to employers and employees, students and educators in diverse communities throughout the country, achieving increased awareness of, and compliance with, EEO laws and reducing discrimination in the workplace.

*may not add due to rounding

B. Performance Measures and Results

Our Strategic Plan for fiscal years 2004-2009 links our broad Strategic objectives to the agency’s Five Point Plan. Strategic Objective 2, Inclusive Workplace, relates to one element of our Five-Point Plan– Proactive Prevention. It also identifies our long-term goals to achieve results in this area.

Since our performance measures and results link to specific programs, we have included, in Section C, information to provide a broader context for reviewing the measure and the results we have achieved.

Proactive Prevention

There are three performance measures under Strategic Objective 2. One measure assesses the extent to which private and Federal sector employers attending our major outreach events improve their workplaces as a result of their participation. A second measure seeks to ensure that over half of the Federal agencies will implement EEOC’s Model EEO Program attributes. Our final measure was designed to assess individuals’ awareness of their EEO rights and responsibilities.

In fiscal year 2004, we postponed establishing a baseline and target values through fiscal year 2009 because earlier survey results were from only a limited year-end sample of our fee-based outreach participants. Our fiscal year 2005 results reflect a broader sampling of the employer representatives attending our free and fee-based outreach and training.

Based on responses on training evaluation forms from participants attending our free and fee-based outreach and training, who had previously attended EEOC training or other presentations, 91.2% of the participants in fiscal year 2005 indicated that their organization had made an improvement in their employment policies, practices, or procedures as a result of their participation in previous programs. We believe, however, that this figure may include participants’ responses about cumulative or repeated workplace changes resulting from attendance at several previous years of EEOC training activities. Our survey methodology in subsequent years will adjust the time frame for participants to link our training activity to resulting workplace improvements in order to avoid double-counting responses in later years for the same workplace changes. We project that this adjustment will lower the claimed rate of improvements over the next 4 years. We have set realistic, yet challenging targets to take this revised approach into account: 85% in fiscal year 2006, 75% in fiscal year 2008, and a final goal of 70% by fiscal year 2009.

* TBD = To Be Determined

We are working to complete the EEO Performance Compliance Assessment (EPCA) tool, the measurement index for assessing the performance of Federal agencies’ EEO programs. The tool will be shared with appropriate agencies before it is finalized. With this tool we will measure Federal agencies’ progress toward meeting our goal of 50% of the identified agencies successfully implementing the Model EEO Program elements described in EEOC’s Management Directive (MD)-715 by the end of fiscal year 2009. We will focus our resources and efforts on 83 identified agencies with 100 or more employees, a sample that comprises over 99% of the civilian employees in the Federal Government.

Since Federal agencies report their EEO information only once each year, several months after the fiscal year ends, we will also establish preliminary target values for fiscal years 2006 through 2008 and reassess them once we collect the information and determine the current status of agencies meeting the criteria.

*TBD=To Be Determined

Our Strategic Plan identifies this performance measure as an indicator of the agency’s contributions toward ensuring that individuals understand their EEO rights and responsibilities. Much of our past work has provided people with information they need to understand their rights and responsibilities under the EEO laws we enforce. We believe that individuals who know both their rights and their responsibilities are more likely to properly identify discriminatory behaviors at the workplace and know what to do about them. In addition, we believe it is equally important for individuals who are responsible for workplace policies, practices, and procedures to possess the information they need to critically assess whether their workplaces are contributing to a discriminatory environment and what their responsibilities are for changing the situation.

Although we intend to use a survey methodology and establish our targets and final goal to measure our results, agency resource priorities have necessitated that we postpone this activity at this time. We anticipate future opportunities to initiate the activities necessary to implement the survey approach; however, we also will reassess measures, including this one, when we review our Strategic Plan during fiscal year 2006.

C. Program Areas

1. Outreach

Strategic Objective #2 for Inclusive Workplaces incorporates the Proactive Prevention element of our Five-Point Plan - a belief that preventing discrimination is an important part of our mission. On the following pages, we highlight specific programs and initiatives that will enable the agency to carry out its efforts to prevent or reduce discriminatory barriers to employment opportunities.

Race and Color Initiative

With the enactment of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Congress sought to eliminate the problems of segregation and discrimination in the United States. Today, the national policy of nondiscrimination is firmly rooted in the law and is widely supported. It generally is agreed that equal employment opportunity has increased dramatically in the United States. African-Americans and other people of color now work in virtually every field, and opportunities are increasing at every level.

Nonetheless, significant work remains to be done. Race remains the most frequently alleged basis of employment discrimination under federal law – charges alleging race discrimination in employment accounted for over thirty-five percent of the Commission's 2004 charge receipts.

Vigorous law enforcement and proactive prevention of discrimination – i.e., enhanced outreach, education, and technical assistance to promote voluntary compliance – remain critical to ensuring that race and color play no part in employment decisions. Thus, the Commission will issue new guidance on race and color discrimination. In addition, it will provide comprehensive training on race and color discrimination for its investigators and enforcement staff.

Small and Mid-sized Employer Initiative

According to the Small Business Administration (SBA), small firms employ about half of the private sector workforce, and generate between two-thirds and three-quarters of the net new jobs.[17] This employer community contributes substantially to the growth of the nation’s workforce and economy. It is critical that our Proactive Prevention efforts are geared toward reaching small to mid-sized employers – providing them with information that demonstrates the benefits of fostering an inclusive workplace.

Smaller employers are often without the resources and infrastructure that exist in large companies to address employment disputes. Our efforts to reach out to small and mid-sized companies will equip them with the information needed to comply with federal EEO laws and implement sound workplace practices. As a workplace partner, EEOC seeks to work with the employer community to proactively prevent discrimination through outreach, education and technical assistance. The materials and training that we will provide to these employers will assist them in identifying ways to promote a work environment that promotes equal employment opportunity.

Youth@Work Initiative

Each year, millions of teens work part-time or during the summer. During the height of the summer of 2004, more than 7.1 million young adults age 16-19 were employed. Between 33%-44% of teens age 16-19 have worked during the school year in the past five years. The EEOC has seen, through charges filed and anecdotal evidence, that discrimination is a problem for many in this group. We will continue to educate students and young workers about their workplace rights and responsibilities, including specific d