EEOC will be implementing changes to the complaint process beginning in November 1999. We found that agencies’ complaint inventories, and even more so, EEOC’s hearings and appeals inventories, had increased since fiscal year 1991; as the size of inventories grew, so did the average length of time that cases had been in inventory as well as the proportion of cases remaining in inventory longer than allowed by regulations; the size of the inventories and the age of cases in them increased as agencies and EEOC did not keep up with the influx of new cases; with the increased caseloads, EEOC and, to some extent, agencies, took longer on average to process complaints, contributing to the size and age of inventories; and the implications of these trends were that inventories of cases pending would grow even larger in the future, particularly at EEOC, and that cases would take even longer to process. Overall, from fiscal year 1991 to fiscal year 1998, complaint inventories at federal agencies rose by about 114 percent. During this period, however, the number of new complaints at the Postal Service increased slightly, from 14,326 to 14,397 (see app. The long-term outlook is uncertain. Only when EEOC and agencies are able to process and close more cases than they receive will progress be made toward reducing backlogs. Over 5 years, with no change in the number of new cases filed each year or resources to process them, EEOC’s appeals inventory could increase by 3,975, while adding about 186 days to the average processing time. The struggle of nonpostal agencies was especially evident in that their inventories rose by almost 8 percent in fiscal year 1998 despite a 6 percent decline in new complaints. At the same time, EEOC’s inventory of hearing requests rose by almost 20 percent, about twice the rate of increase in new hearing requests that the agency received. Future trends and, therefore, agencies’ and EEOC’s resource needs, are likely to be affected by the revisions to the complaint process. However, EEOC has not developed estimates of the extent to which revisions to complaint process regulations and procedures may affect the flow of cases into and through the process. Recommendations

To provide Congress with a clear picture of future caseload trends and the resources that are needed to deal with current backlogs, as well as the volume of cases expected in the future, we recommend that the EEOC Chairwoman take steps to (1) develop estimates of the effects of the forthcoming changes in program regulations and procedures on agencies’ and EEOC’s caseloads and (2) complete development of measures and indicators to track and assess the impact of these revisions on caseload trends. We updated (1) trends in the size of inventories and the age of cases in inventory at the various stages of the equal employment opportunity (EEO) complaint process and (2) trends in the number of complaints filed by federal employees and the time taken by agencies and EEOC to process them to include fiscal years 1991 through 1998. Table III.5: Total and Postal Workers’ Complaints, Hearing Requests, and Appeals and Postal Workers as a Percentage of Total Complaints, Hearing Requests, and Appeals for Fiscal Years 1991-1998

Selected Federal Sector EEO Complaint Data for Fiscal Years 1991 to 1998

The following figures show the trends in (1) inventories of unresolved equal employment opportunity (EEO) complaints at federal agencies and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC); (2) the age of cases in the inventories; (3) the number of complaints, hearing requests, and appeals filed; and (4) processing times for complaints, hearings, and appeals. A recorded menu will provide information on how to obtain these lists.
Why GAO Did This Study

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's (EEOC) complaint caseload, focusing on: (1) trends in the size of inventories and the age of cases in inventory at various stages of the EEO complaint process; (2) trends in the number of complaints filed by federal employees and the time taken by agencies and EEOC to process them; and (3) implications of these trends and how future caseloads may be affected by EEOC's regulatory changes to the complaint process.

What GAO Found

GAO noted that: (1) inventories of unresolved federal sector discrimination cases at agencies and EEOC have continued to grow; (2) overall, from fiscal year (FY) 1991 to FY 1998, complaint inventories at federal agencies rose by about 114 percent, to 36,333; (3) at EEOC, during the same period, the hearings inventory rose by 280 percent, to 11,967, while the appeals inventory went up by 648 percent, to 10,966; (4) as inventories grew, the average age of cases in agencies' inventories (446 days) and EEOC's hearings (320 days) and appeals (293 days) inventories also reached new levels; (5) the size of the inventories and the age of cases in them continued their upward trend during FY 1998 as neither the agencies nor EEOC kept up with the influx of new cases; (6) agencies' inventories grew by 6 percent in FY 1998 despite a 2.8 percent decline in the number of new complaints; (7) the growth in EEOC's inventory of hearing requests during this period--19.5 percent--was greater than the increase in the number of new hearing requests, which rose by about 9.2 percent; (8) at the same time, EEOC's appeals inventory increased by 9.9 percent, even though the number of new appeals filed remained almost unchanged; (9) the average time to process a complaint at agencies showed a small decline in FY 1998, from 391 to 384 days, but there were sharp increases in the average time EEOC took to process hearing requests (rising from 277 to 320 days) and appeals (rising from 375 to 473 days); (10) a case travelling the entire complaint process could be expected to take 1,186 days to process, based on FY 1998 data; (11) this was 91 days longer than in FY 1997; (12) the logjams at EEOC and agencies are likely to persist, at least in the short run, as long as agencies and EEOC receive more new cases than they process and close; (13) the long-term outlook, however, is unclear; (14) substantive revisions to complaint program regulations and procedures are to be implemented beginning in November 1999; (15) these revisions are intended to reduce the volume of cases flowing through the complaint process; (16) the revisions include a requirement that agencies offer alternative dispute resolution, as well as other rules to reduce the opportunities for multiple complaints by the same complainant; and (17) however, EEOC has not yet developed estimates of how the revisions to program regulations will affect caseload trends and resource needs, nor has the agency completed development of measures and indicators to track the effects of these revisions once they are implemented.