PREFACE

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) was established by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and began operating on July 2, 1965. In the federal sector, the EEOC enforces Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII), which prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, and national origin; the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA), which prohibits employment discrimination against individuals 40 years of age and older; the Equal Pay Act of 1963 (EPA), which prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender in compensation for substantially similar work under similar conditions; and Sections 501 and 505 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Rehabilitation Act), which prohibit employment discrimination against federal employees and applicants with disabilities.

This is the EEOC's annual report to the President and to Congress on equal employment programs in the federal workplace. This annual report is submitted as part of the EEOC's responsibility to monitor federal agency compliance with Section 717 of Title VII and Section 501 of the Rehabilitation Act. This report covers fiscal year 2002, the period from October 1, 2001, through September 30, 2002. The report describes the progress of federal agencies in creating equal employment opportunity (EEO) for America's federal workers.

It is the responsibility of the EEOC to monitor federal agency compliance with EEO laws and procedures and to review and assess the effect of agency employment programs on minorities, women, and people with disabilities. Agencies are required to maintain a continuing affirmative employment program to promote EEO and to identify and eliminate discriminatory practices and policies. Agencies must provide the EEOC with information, delineated by race, national origin, sex, and disability status, concerning their employment programs, and must submit national and regional EEO plans of action.

Agencies are also required to provide information concerning pre-complaint counseling, complaint processing, and the disposition of complaints of discrimination. Agencies must also provide reports regarding their alternative dispute resolution (ADR) programs. To support their programs, agencies must provide sufficient resources for their EEO programs; provide for the prompt, fair, and impartial processing of complaints; and conduct a continuing campaign to eradicate every form of prejudice or discrimination from their personnel policies, practices, and working conditions. Agencies must also establish a system for periodically evaluating the sufficiency and effectiveness of their EEO programs.

To prepare this report, the EEOC relied on federal agencies to provide timely and reliable data to the EEOC. If the EEOC identified inconsistencies or ambiguities in any raw data submitted, the EEOC attempted to resolve such discrepancies with the submitting agency. However, complete reconciliation of the data was not possible in every case. For example, the complaints data for the Departments of Agriculture and Commerce (and the ADR data for the Department of Education) could not ultimately be verified. Thus, the information contained in this report reflects the EEOC's best efforts in capturing accurate data. The EEOC remains committed to working with stakeholders to improve the quality, timeliness, and usefulness of data submitted in agency reports.

Much of the relevant agency data for FY 2002 can be found in Appendices III and IV to this report. Similarly, numbers in this report referring to data from prior fiscal years can be found in the corresponding report appendices.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

A. WORK FORCE PARTICIPATION RATES

• While the federal work force decreased by 7.33% from FY 1993 through FY 2002, the government-wide employment participation rate for people with disabilities decreased by 12.49%, and the participation rate for people with targeted disabilities decreased 20.49%.
• Four Cabinet agencies increased the participation rate of people with targeted disabilities from FY 1993 through FY 2002: Department of the Treasury (to 1.53%), Department of Labor (to 1.16%), Department of the Interior (to 0.99%), and Department of Energy (to 0.81%).
• The Social Security Administration had the highest participation rate for people with target disabilities in FY 2002 (2.31%), compared with to other mid-size agencies, Cabinet agencies, and the U.S. Postal Service.
• The participation rates for women and Hispanic employees in the federal work force in FY 2002 continued to be below the participation rate for women and Hispanic employees in the Civilian Labor Force (CLF) in 1990.

B. PARTICIPATION RATES BY GRADE AND PAY

• In the federal white collar workforce, the largest percentage of Black employees were employed in lower grade level, 1-8, positions (43.78%), and mid-level, 9-12, positions (34.17%).
• In the federal white-collar workforce, the largest percentage of Asian and Pacific Islander employees were employed in mid-level, 9-12, positions (37.53%), and higher level, 13-15, positions (25.32%).
• The participation rate for women in Senior Pay Level (SPL) positions increased from 13.40% in FY 1993 to 25.06% in FY 2002; the participation rate for Blacks in SPL positions increased from 4.92% in FY 1993 to 7.02% in FY 2002; the participation rate for Hispanics in SPL positions increased from 1.85% in FY 1993 to 3.31% in FY 2002; the participation rate for Asians/Pacific Islanders in SPL positions increased from 1.16% in FY 1993 to 2.31% in FY 2002; and the participation rate for American Indians/Alaskan Natives in SPL positions increased from 0.54% in FY 2001 to 0.82% in FY 2002.
• In FY 2002, the SPL participation rate of people with disabilities was 4.05%, while the participation rate of people with targeted disabilities was less than one-half of one percent (0.41%).

C. FEDERAL SECTOR EEO COMPLAINTS

• In FY 2002, federal agencies provided 55,441 instances of pre-complaint counseling, and 17,348 individuals filed 21,945 EEO complaints.
• Reprisal for prior EEO activity continued to be the most frequently cited basis for alleged unlawful practices, constituting 20% of all bases cited in EEO complaints filed in FY 2002.
• Harassment continued to be the most frequently alleged unlawful employment practice, constituting more than 21% of all issues raised in EEO complaints filed in FY 2002. Almost all of the alleged harassment has been non-sexual in nature.
• Total monetary awards obtained by complainants in EEO complaints closed by agencies in FY 2002 increased 1.70% to $33.5 million in FY 2002.
• Cabinet agencies and the U.S. Postal Service completed only 30% of complaint investigations within 180 days in FY 2002. These same agencies exceeded the 360-day limitation in 41% of complaint investigations completed in FY 2002.
• Mid-sized agencies took the longest time, on average 511 days, to issue a final agency decision on EEO complaints which were within the agency's control at all times (i.e., complaints where there had been no hearing requests).

D. ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTIONS (ADR)

• At the pre-complaint stage of the EEO process in FY 2002, 23% of individuals who received EEO counseling participated in ADR. At the formal stage, less than 4% of the complaints were processed in ADR.
• At the pre-complaint stage, agencies reported that 62% of completed ADR attempts were successful in resolving disputes through settlement or individual decisions not to file formal complaints. At the formal stage, agencies reported that 59% of completed ADR attempts resulted in a settlement or complaint withdrawal.
• At the pre-complaint stage, agencies reported ADR monetary benefits totaling $1.9 million. At the formal stage, agencies reported ADR monetary benefits totaling $5.9 million.
  

E. HEARINGS

• Due in part to the settlement of certain class action complaints, the EEOC's Hearings Program generated $92.7 million in monetary benefits to complainants - more than double the $44.3 million generated during the hearings process in FY 2001.
• The EEOC's Hearings Program increased the number of complaint resolutions by 24% in FY 2002, lowering the Hearings Program pending complaint inventory to10,072.

F. APPEALS

• The EEOC obtained $16.9 million in monetary awards and attorneys' fees for complainants in FY 2002 as a result of decisions issued at the appellate level.
• The Appellate Review Program reduced its inventory of pending cases to 4,809 - a 36% reduction from the 7,536 cases that were pending at the end of FY 2001.
• In FY 2002, the Appellate Review Program reduced the number of 500 day-old appeals in its inventory by 77%.

G. AGENCY SPECIFIC DATA

• Agency-specific narratives and data tables for 60 agencies that had 500 or more employees in FY 2002 are presented in Part VII of this report.

This page was last modified on June 26, 2003.

Return to Home Page