EEOC Proposes Regulations To StreamlineThe EEO Complaint Process For Federal Employees

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced today proposed changes to its regulations governing the procedures for federal employee discrimination complaints as part of the Commission's broader efforts to improve the effectiveness of its operations. The proposed changes, published in the Federal Register as a Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM), are the result of a nearly two-year process.

In signing the Notice, EEOC Chairman Paul M. Igasaki said, "These changes take important steps toward making the process for federal workers fairer and more efficient." He added that the NPRM will also "advance the Administration's National Performance Review goals of removing unnecessary layers of review and delegating decision-making to front-line employees."

In developing the NPRM, the Commission consulted broadly with its various stakeholders, including federal agencies and officials as well as federal employees and their representatives. The major proposed changes include:

• Expanded use of Alternative Dispute Resolution to resolve complaints earlier in thecomplaint process;
• A provision that the decisions of EEOC administrative judges will be final, eliminatingthe ability of the agency accused of discrimination to change or reverse the decision ofthe judge;
• Mechanisms to enhance the management of cases by creating two new bases for thedismissal of claims and eliminating an outdated one;
• A new "Offer of Resolution" provision which allows an agency to make a settlementoffer to an employee and, if the employee does not accept the offer and does notrecover at least as much as the agency offered, avoid further liability for attorney's feesand costs;
• Expanded use of class actions to combat discrimination in federal employment;
• Adoption of a substantial evidence standard of review for decisions of administrativejudges following a hearing; and
• Narrowing of the circumstances in which the parties can seek reconsideration of anEEOC appellate decision issued after an appeal by an agency or employee.

The NPRM acknowledges a number of comments made by agencies during the formal inter-agency review process, and asks for public comments on those issues. The public comment period runs from February 20 through April 21, 1998. Comments should be addressed to: EEOC Headquarters, Office of Legal Counsel, 1801 L Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20507. The text of the NPRM will be available on EEOC's web site at www.eeoc.gov shortly after its publication in the Federal Register.

EEOC enforces Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin; the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, which prohibits discrimination against individuals 40 years of age or older; sections of the Civil Rights Act of 1991; the Equal Pay Act; Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in the private sector and state and local governments; and the Rehabilitation Act's prohibitions against disability discrimination in the federal government.