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C. Five-Point Plan*

EEOC's Five-Point Plan provides the framework for accomplishing our agency's mission and is central to our three overarching Strategic Objectives. The Five-Point Plan places a premium on coordination, innovation and results. Under the Plan, all facets of EEOC's work will be viewed with an eye toward being more proactive and more effective. Each element of the Five-Point Plan is described below.

1. Proactive Prevention

The best way to combat discrimination is to prevent it from happening in the first place. We will work to proactively prevent discrimination by providing information and solutions to members of the public that will help them identify and solve problems before they escalate. We will serve as a clearinghouse of reports and best practices to encourage learning and understanding among employers and employees. We will also introduce new and innovative outreach activities, such as: teleconferences, technical assistance visits, flexible training opportunities, an enhanced Web site, information dissemination through public radio and television, cyber forums, and partnerships and strategic alliances to strengthen efforts and build support. In essence, we will work to promote healthy workplace practices and to instruct managers in an effort to find the "cure" for discrimination.

2. Proficient Resolution

Providing quality services that are fair, prompt, and cost effective, is vital to the EEOC's mission. We will ensure that our work is consistent, accurate and timely. The EEOC will evaluate and improve every stage of the private sector charge process and will collaborate with other federal agencies in our effort to make the federal complaint process more efficient. The EEOC will also introduce new performance techniques to streamline procedures, while enhancing the integrity of our processes.

3. Promote and Expand Mediation/Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR)

Promoting and expanding mediation and other types of ADR is the centerpiece of the EEOC's Five-Point Plan. Our private sector mediation program has demonstrated that disputes can be settled quickly, amicably and cost-effectively through ADR techniques.

We will build on earlier successes through the continued development of a comprehensive agency-wide ADR program. We will review the pool of private sector charges eligible for mediation and offer mediation at various stages of the private sector charge process. We also will work to expand the number of private employers participating in Universal Agreements to Mediate, which allow EEOC to attempt mediation in all cases involving an employer so long as the charging party consents.

EEOC will also expand the use of ADR in the federal sector program by continuing to explore new and different ADR methods, identifying ADR methods that prove most efficient and cost effective at the hearings stage of the federal complaint process, and evaluating the results of an appellate-stage mediation program piloted in 2002. We will continue to expand and improve our Federal Sector ADR web page, which serves as a clearinghouse about ADR for federal employees.

4. Strategic Enforcement and Litigation

We must use all research tools available to us, and deploy agency resources strategically, if we want to have a meaningful impact on discrimination in today's workplace and the workplace of the future. We will examine emerging workplace trends and issues in both the private and federal sectors and use this information to make reasoned and calculated decisions about what issues merit our attention and how we can better integrate our policy guidance, investigative, litigation and federal coordination functions. In determining where the agency needs to concentrate its enforcement and litigation efforts, the EEOC will establish baseline information on investigation, litigation and federal sector activities; examine recent court decisions; consult with agency staff and stakeholders; evaluate the agency's outreach activities; and conduct annual reviews of economic indicators, demographic trends, employer practices, industry literature and legislative initiatives. Finally, we will continue to strengthen partnerships between EEOC investigators and attorneys and between the EEOC and other federal agencies.

5. EEOC as a Model Workplace

The President's Management Agenda (PMA) provides the roadmap for the final point of the agency's Five-Point Plan. The President's agenda addresses important enhancements to internal agency operations and its interface with the public. The integration of our Five-Point Plan and other Administration and agency initiatives will help build a model workplace where we can effectively and efficiently accomplish our goals in an environment conducive to good employment practices.

The very principles and standards we promote to employers should be readily apparent in our own operations. To achieve our aims, we will build an organization committed to providing opportunities for EEOC employees to grow professionally. We will accomplish this through occupational and leadership development, performance management programs, the use of enabling technologies and a flexible, adaptable work environment that is conducive to teamwork. We will build a model workplace with programs and practices worthy of emulation.


* EEOC Chair Cari M. Dominguez adopted the Five-Point Plan in 2001. The description of the Five-Point Plan printed here is from the EEOC's Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years 2004 - 2009, which is available on the Commission's website (https://www.eeoc.gov/strategic-plan-fiscal-years-2007-2012)