The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

Government-Wide

Permanent Workforce: 2,606,903

Workforce Composition

Employee Pool Total # Men Women Hispanics Whites Blacks Asian Americans / Pacific Islanders American Indians / Alaskan Natives
Permanent Workforce* 2,606,903 57.1% 42.9% 7.46% 66.91% 18.18% 5.79% 1.67%
GS-14 and GS-15** 160,919 68.85% 31.15% 3.92% 80.7% 8.95% 5.48% 0.94%
Senior Pay Level** 19,117 74.25% 25.75% 3.44% 86.09% 6.51% 3.18% 0.81%

*Includes data for those agencies which are provided by CPDF plus AAFES, TVA, and USPS; does not include data for intelligence-gathering agencies.

**Includes data only for those agencies which are provided by CPDF; does not include pay-banded employees or data for intelligence-gathering agencies.

Targeted Disabilities

Employees with targeted disabilities represented 0.99% of the total government workforce in FY 2004, and of agencies with a permanent workforce of 500 or more, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, at 2.23%, had the highest percentage of employees with targeted disabilities.

EEO Complaint Processing

  1. Counseling

    There were 42,412 instances of pre-complaint counseling (performed by EEO counselors and/or ADR intake officers). Government-wide, agencies timely processed 76.3% of the total number of counselings. Following counseling, 19,024 formal complaints of discrimination were filed.

  2. Alternative Dispute Resolution

    Of the 42,412 instances of counseling government-wide, ADR was offered 79.5% of the time; the parties elected to participate in 43.3% of the completed counselings; and 48.7% of the ADR closures were resolved through settlements or withdrawals.

    At the formal complaint phase, federal agencies offered ADR 7.4% of the time; the parties elected to participate in 2.8% of the complaint workload; and 77.0% of the ADR closures were resolved through settlements or withdrawals.

  3. Processing Times

    Government-wide, agencies completed 43% of their investigations within the regulatory time frames, with an average processing time of 280 days for all investigations. In most instances, the regulations require completion of investigations within 180 days. Of the agencies completing 25 or more investigations, the

    Tennessee Valley Authority was the only agency to complete 100% of their investigations within the regulatory time frames, with an average processing time of 117 days.

    The government-wide average processing time for all complaint closures decreased from 541 days in FY 2003 to 469 days in FY 2004.

  4. Pending Inventory

    Government-wide, agencies had a total of 25,394 complaints pending at the end of FY 2004, with 1,573 pending acknowledgment for an average of 211 days; 9,017 pending investigation for an average of 221 days; and 5,012 pending the issuance of final decisions for an average of 580 days.

  5. Costs

    Agencies throughout the government agreed to pay $3,137,912 for 7,856 counseling settlements with benefits, an average $399.42 per counseling settled.

    Agencies agreed to pay a total of $29,695,916 for 4,739 complaint closures through settlement agreement, final agency decision, and final agency orders fully implementing AJ decisions. For complaint closures with benefits, the average award (including back/front pay, compensatory damages, attorney's fees, and lump sum payments) was $6,266.28.

    Agencies throughout the government expended a total of $29,943,635 for 11,876 complaint investigations, for an average expenditure of $2,521.35. It should be noted that, due to inconsistencies in the way agencies report investigative costs, these figures may not reflect the full costs associated with a federal sector investigation. Some agencies do not report overhead and administrative costs in addition to the salary or contract price of the actual investigator.

Outcome of Counselings Completed in FY 2004

Counseling Outcomes Completed by EEO Counselor Completed Using ADR All Completed Counselings
# % # % # %
Total Instances of Counseling: 25,196   17,216   42,412  
Settlements 1,429 5.67% 6,427 37.33% 7,856 18.52%
Withdrawal/no Complaint Filed 11,700 46.43% 1,964 11.40% 13,664 32.21%
Complaints Filed*         18,369 43.31%
Decision to File Complaint Pending at End of Fiscal Year         2,523 5.94%

*Includes only complaints filed in FY 2004 where counseling was also completed during FY 2004.

Agency Use of ADR for EEO Dispute Resolution

Counselings / Complaints ADR Offers ADR Participation
# # % # %
FY 2003 Pre-Complaint Counselings 45,030 32,864 73.00% 19,075 42.00%
FY 2004 Pre-Complaint Counselings 42,412 33,735 79.54% 18,381 43.34%
Percentage Change FY 2003 to FY 2004 -5.81% 2.65%   -3.63%  
FY 2003 Complaints* 51,775 6,068 12.00% 3,665 7.00%
FY 2004 Complaints* 48,555 3,572 7.36% 1,347 2.77%
Percentage Change FY 2003 to FY 2004 -6.21% -41.13%   -63.24%  

*Includes all complaints filed in the fiscal year, including those where the counseling was completed in the prior fiscal year.

Timeliness

Total # # Timely % Timely FY 2003 APD* FY 2004 APD % Change
All Counselings (minus remands) 42,386 32,344 76.30%      
All Investigations 11,876 5,076 42.74% 267 280 4.86%
Merit Decisions (no AJ) 6,186 2,695 43.57% 598 601 0.50%
Dismissal Decisions 5,444     207 150 -27.54%

*APD = Average Processing Days

Outcomes of Complaints Closed in FY 2004

Complaint Outcomes Complaint Closures Final Agency Decision (no AJ decision) Final Order (AJ Decision Fully Implemented) Final Order (AJ Decision Not Fully Implemented)
Total Closures (23,153) # % # % # % # %
Settlements 4,469 19.29%            
Withdrawals 2,325 10.04%            
Dismissals 5,444 23.51%            
Merit Decisions 10,915 47.15%            
Finding Discrimination 321 2.94% 147 45.79% 124 38.62% 50 15.57%
Finding No Discrimination 10,594 97.05% 6,020 56.82% 4,515 42.61% 59 0.55%

This page was last modified on May 3, 2005.

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