Management's Discussion and Analysis

Introduction

This FY 2012 Performance and Accountability Report (PAR) was prepared in accordance with the Reports Consolidation Act of 2000 and the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) Circular A-136, Financial Reporting Requirements. It presents the results of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's programs and financial performance, along with its management challenges. This section of the PAR summarizes agency efforts in each of these areas. A more detailed discussion can be found in the following sections of the report:

• Performance Results: Highlight the progress made in meeting the agency's performance measures, which are articulated in the new Strategic Plan for FYs 2012 through 2016.

• The Inspector General's Statements: Present key management challenges identified by the Inspector General, the agency's progress and plans to address them, and a statement of compliance with the Federal Managers' Financial Integrity Act (FMFIA).

• The Consolidated Financial Statements: Demonstrate efforts to be good stewards over the funds the agency receives to carry out its mission. Included in this section is an independent auditor's opinion on the agency's financial statements.

This report also satisfies the Commission's obligation to provide Congress with annual reports of the agency's significant accomplishments achieved during the fiscal year.

Agency Overview

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC or Commission) is the leading federal law enforcement agency dedicated to eradicating employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, religion, pregnancy, age, disability, and family medical history or genetic information. The agency began its work nearly 50 years ago and while there have been significant changes in society and the workplace, the public continues to rely on the EEOC to carry out its responsibility to bring justice and equal opportunity to the workplace.

The Commission receives, investigates, and resolves charges of employment discrimination filed against private sector employers, employment agencies, labor unions, and state and local governments. Where the Commission does not resolve these charges through conciliation or other informal methods, it may also file suit in court against private sector employers, employment agencies and labor unions (and against state and local governments in cases alleging age discrimination or equal pay violations). The EEOC also leads and coordinates equal employment opportunity efforts across the federal government, and conducts administrative hearings and issues appellate decisions on complaints of discrimination filed by federal employees and applicants for federal employment. Finally, the Commission engages in extensive communication and outreach, provides technical assistance, and promulgates regulations and written enforcement guidance to help employers and employees better understand their rights and responsibilities under the laws the EEOC enforces.

A more detailed explanation of the EEOC's structure and the laws it enforces can be found in Appendix A.

Agency Results Under Strategic Plan Performance Measures and New Strategic Plan

The Government Performance and Results Modernization Act, enacted on January 4, 2011, requires Federal agencies to prepare a Strategic Plan every four fiscal years, beginning in 2012. (5 USC 306, as amended). As a result, the EEOC developed a new Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years 2012-2016 ("Strategic Plan" or "Plan"). The new Plan was approved by the Commission on February 22, 2012.

The FY 2012 PAR is based on the agency's new Fiscal Year 2012-2016 Strategic Plan, which is located at: http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/plan/strategic_plan_12to16.cfm. The new Plan established a framework for achieving the EEOC's mission to stop and remedy unlawful employment discrimination, so that the Nation might soon realize the Commission's vision of justice and equality in the workplace.

To accomplish our mission and achieve this vision for the 21^st century, the EEOC has committed to pursuing the following objectives and outcome goals:

1. Strategic Objective I. Combat employment discrimination through strategic law enforcement, with the outcome goals of: 1) having a broad impact on reducing employment discrimination at the national and local levels; and 2) remedying discriminatory practices and securing meaningful relief for victims of discrimination;

2. Strategic Objective II. Prevent employment discrimination through education and outreach, with the outcome goals of: 1) having members of the public understand and know how to exercise their right to employment free of discrimination; and 2) having employers, unions and employment agencies (covered entities) better address and resolve EEO issues, thereby creating more inclusive workplaces; and

3. Strategic Objective III. Deliver excellent and consistent service through a skilled and diverse workforce and effective systems, with an outcome goal where all interactions with the public are timely, of high quality, and informative.

The Plan also identified strategies for achieving each outcome goal and identified 14 performance measures for gauging the EEOC's progress as it approaches FY 2016. The Agency's progress in meeting these measures is displayed below and discussed in detail in the Performance Results section of this report.

EEOC FY 2012 Performance
Measures	Image Targets Met or Exceeded	Image Targets Partially Met1	Image Targets Not Met	Not Applicable in FY 2012
14	8	2	0	4
1 Image Targets Partially Met: A rating assigned to target results where (1) at least half of the activities targeted for completion were completed, or (2) we were unable to assess the results because full year data is not yet available.

Related Program Results and Activities Highlights

Serving the Public More Efficiently

In FY 2012, the EEOC produced historic levels in its year-end results. Most notably, the pending inventory of private sector charges was reduced by 7,824 charges over the FY 2011 level, bringing the level to 70,312, which reflects the second consecutive year of significant reduction in inventory since FY 2002. These results were achieved despite having received 99,412 charges. A total of 111,139 charges were resolved in FY 2012.

In FY 2012, the EEOC secured more than $61.9 million in relief for parties who requested hearings in the federal sector. There were a total of 7,728 requests for hearings received in FY 2012. Additionally, the Commission's hearings program resolved a total of 7,538 complaints.

During the last fiscal year, the EEOC received 4,350 appeals of final agency actions in the federal sector, a 16.0 percent decrease from the 5,176 such appeals received in FY 2011. This offsets the 13.8 percent increase that occurred between FY 2010 and FY 2011. FY 2012 was the first full year the EEOC applied a more balanced approach to the resolution of the newest and oldest appeals. The agency resolved 4,265 appeals, including 52.9 percent of them within 180 days of their receipt.

Enforcing the Law More Effectively

The EEOC's private sector administrative enforcement activities secured more than $365.4 million in monetary benefits in FY 2012, the highest level of monetary relief ever obtained by the Commission through the administrative process and $700,000 more than was recovered in FY 2011. Overall, the agency secured both monetary and non-monetary benefits for more than 23,446 people through administrative enforcement activities including mediation, settlements, conciliations, and withdrawals with benefits.

Field legal units of the agency filed 122 merits lawsuits during FY 2012. These included 86 individual suits, 26 multiple-victim suits (with fewer than 20 victims) and 10 systemic suits. Legal staff resolved 254 merits lawsuits for a total monetary recovery of $44.2 million. At the end of FY 2012, the EEOC had 309 cases on its active docket, of which 75 (24 percent) involved multiple aggrieved parties (but fewer than 20) and 62 (20 percent) involved challenges to systemic discrimination.

In FY 2012, EEOC field offices completed work on 240 systemic investigations resulting in 46 settlements or conciliation agreements, recovering $36.2 million. In addition, 94 systemic investigations were resolved with reasonable cause determinations. In FY 2012, 12 new Commissioner charges were filed. Systemic suits comprised 8 percent of all merits filings, and by the end of the year represented 20 percent of all active merit suits - the largest proportion since tracking started in FY 2006.

Leadership in Federal Civil Rights Enforcement

The work of the Commission is made more efficient with interagency coordination and to this end, the EEOC has established active and ongoing relationships with other agencies as well as the White House. Coordinating with partners allows shared resources, information and ideas, resulting in a greater impact on many different communities and issues. In FY 2012, these efforts included the EEOC's participation in the White House Initiative on Asian American and Pacific Islanders (AAPI), the National HIV/AIDS Strategy, the Federal Interagency Reentry Council, President's Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Human Trafficking and Senior Policy Operating Group, and the White House National Equal Pay Enforcement Task Force.

In FY 2012, the Commission published final regulations and guidance on two federal employment discrimination statutes. The EEOC issued its final rule on Disparate Impact and Reasonable Factors Other Than Age (RFOA) Under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) on March 30, 2012. The Enforcement Guidance on the Consideration of Arrest and Conviction Records in Employment Decisions Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was issued by the Commission on April 25, 2012. The Commission also issued a final rule to improve efficiencies and encourage innovation in the federal sector EEO compliant process, EEOC Final Rule on Federal Sector Equal Employment Opportunity, on July 25, 2012.

Extending the EEOC's Reach

The agency's outreach programs reached 318,838 persons in FY 2012 through participation in 3,992 no-cost educational, training, and outreach events. Additionally, in FY 2012, the EEOC Training Institute, which is managed under a separate statutory authority that enables the Commission to offer in-depth and specialized programs on a fee basis, supplementing the free general informational and outreach activities, trained over 23,119 individuals at more than 473 events, including 417 field "Customer Specific Training" events with 16,932 attendees.

These efforts targeted small businesses, vulnerable workers, underserved geographic areas and communities, and emphasized new statutory responsibilities, issues related to migrant workers, human trafficking and youth, and equal pay in the workplace.

Improved Labor Management Relations

Pursuant to the President's Executive Order 13522 "Creating Labor-Management Forums to Improve Delivery of Government Services," the EEOC established a National Joint Labor Management Council (JLMC) in addition to Councils in each of its 15 Districts, the Washington Field Office, and Headquarters. The National JLMC established three metrics to measure goal-related activities associated with implementing the Executive Order "Improve Mission and Service Delivery," "Employee Satisfaction and Engagement" and "Improved Labor-Management Relations." In FY 2012, the JLMC reported to the President's National Council of Federal Labor Management Relations that the Agency experienced improvements in each of the metrics.

The Federal Employees' Viewpoint Survey shows that EEOC employees continue to like the kind of work they do, believe their work is important, are willing to give extra effort to get a job done and, are looking for ways to do their jobs better. In fact, employees rate the overall quality of work done in their work unit above 80 percent. Employees also say they are held accountable for achieving results and know how their work relates to agency goals. Supervisors/Team Leaders talk with their employees about their performance and treat them with respect.

Federal Managers' Financial Integrity Act

The EEOC's management controls and financial management systems were sound during FY 2012, with the exception of three findings of financial non-conformances. The financial non-conformances were identified in several audit reports prepared by the Office of Inspector General (OIG): OIG Report No. 2011-03-FIN, December 15, 2011, and OIG Report No. 2011-02-FIN, November 14, 2011. The agency has implemented corrective action plans to resolve all uncorrected financial, non-conformances in FY 2013.

Based on the actions taken, and considering the agency's controls environment as a whole, the agency concludes that during FY 2012, its financial and management controls systems were in compliance with the Federal Managers' Financial Integrity Act (FMFIA). The agency has plans in place to resolve the remaining financial non-conformances in FY 2013. The controls systems were effective; agency resources were used consistent with the agency's mission; the resources were used in compliance with laws and regulations; and, there was minimal potential for waste, fraud, and mismanagement of the resources.

Financial Highlights

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular Number A-136 Revised dated August 3, 2012 was used as guidance for the preparation of the accompanying financial statements. EEOC prepares four financial statements: the Consolidated Balance Sheets, Consolidated Statements of Net Cost, Consolidated Statement of Changes in Net Position, and the Combined Statements of Budgetary Resources.

Consolidated Balance Sheets

The Consolidated Balance Sheets present amounts that are owned or managed by EEOC (assets); amounts owed (liabilities); and the net position of the agency divided between the cumulative results of operations and unexpended appropriations.

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EEOC's balance sheets show total assets of $62 million at the end of FY 2012. This is a decrease of $3 million, or approximately a 5 percent change from EEOC's total assets of $65 million for FY 2011. This change is due primarily to a decrease in EEOC's Fund Balance with Treasury of $3 million.

The Net Position is the sum of Unexpended Appropriations and the Cumulative Results of Operations. At the end of FY 2012, EEOC's Net Position on its Balance Sheets and the Statement of Changes in Net Position is $2 million, a decrease of $2 million, or 50 percent changed from the FY 2011 ending Net Position of $4 million. This decrease is due primarily to a decrease in EEOC's Unexpended Appropriations for Fiscal Year 2012.

Consolidated Statements of Net Cost

The Consolidated Statements of Net Cost presents the gross cost incurred by major programs less any revenue earned. Overall, in FY 2012, EEOC's Consolidated Statements of Net Cost decreased by $23 million or 6 percent. The allocation of costs for FY 2012 shows that private sector resources used for enforcement and litigation decreased $19 million, or 5 percent, while the Federal Sector Programs decreased by $4 million or 7 percent.

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Consolidated Statement of Changes in Net Position

The Consolidated Statement of Changes in Net Position represent the change in the net position for FY 2012 and FY 2011 from the cost of operations, appropriations received and used, net of rescissions, and the financing of some costs by other government agencies. The Consolidated Statement of Changes in Net Position decreased over last year by $2 million, or 50 percent. EEOC's total assets exceeded total liabilities (funded and unfunded) by approximate $3 million, or 5 percent.

Combined Statements of Budgetary Resources

The Combined Statements of Budgetary Resources shows how budgetary resources were made available and the status of those resources at the end of the fiscal year. In FY 2012, EEOC received a $360 million appropriation.

EEOC ended FY 2012 with no increase in total budgetary resources. Resources not available for new obligations at the end of the year totaled $11 million and $12 million in FY 2012 and FY 2011, respectively. The unobligated balance not available represents expired budget authority from prior years that are no longer available for new obligations.

Use of Resources

The pie chart displays EEOC's FY 2012 use of resources by major object class. The chart shows that Pay and Benefits, State & Local, Rent to GSA and Other Contractual Services consumed 96 percent of EEOC's resources, and other expenses (e.g., travel & transportation, equipment, supplies & materials, etc.) consumed less than 4 percent of EEOC's resources for FY 2012.

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The dual axis chart below depicts EEOC's compensation and benefits versus full-time equivalents (FTE) over the past six years. EEOC ended FY 2012 with 2,346 FTEs, a net decrease of 159, or 6 percent, below FY 2011.

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