Summary
In 2003, GAO found that women, on average, earned 80 percent of what men earned in 2000 and workplace discrimination may be one contributing factor. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the Department of Labor (Labor) enforce several laws intended to prevent gender pay discrimination. GAO examined (1) how EEOC enforces laws addressing gender pay disparities among private sector employers and provides outreach and what is known about its performance, and (2) how Labor enforces laws addressing gender pay disparities among federal contractors and provides outreach and what is known about its performance. GAO analyzed relevant laws, regulations, monitoring reports, and agency enforcement data and conducted interviews at the agencies' central offices and two field offices experienced in gender pay cases.
EEOC addresses gender pay discrimination primarily by responding to individual charges, initiating investigations, and conducting outreach, but the agency does not fully monitor gender pay enforcement efforts. EEOC prioritizes incoming charges of discrimination against employers that appear to merit further investigation, and GAO's analysis of EEOC data showed that charges of gender pay discrimination were prioritized for investigation more frequently than non-gender pay charges. EEOC collects detailed information on all its enforcement efforts and uses these data to monitor enforcement performance overall as well as by statute, including one statute dedicated to gender pay. However, EEOC does not monitor gender pay enforcement efforts under another statute that covers multiple discrimination topics and under which more than half of gender pay charges are filed. As a result, EEOC does not make complete use of available information to help identify trends related to gender pay cases, set agency priorities, or understand how its gender pay enforcement efforts are contributing to overall performance goals relative to other efforts. EEOC also conducts both fee-based and free outreach on a broad range of topics, which can include gender pay. EEOC monitors the number and type of free outreach activities and holds itself accountable for providing outreach to both employers and employees and obtaining high audience ratings on some fee-based outreach. Labor's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) conducts compliance evaluations targeted to federal contractors based on whether they may be engaging in systemic discrimination, but efforts to monitor the performance of enforcement and outreach activities are limited. OFCCP uses a mathematical model to select contractors for review based on the likelihood of noncompliance, but it has not yet evaluated the model for how well it predicts systemic discrimination due to resource constraints. In addition, regulations require contractors to conduct a self-evaluation of their compensation systems to identify and address gender pay disparities. However, OFCCP's guidance on this is found in different source documents that are not cross-referenced, and its data system lacks a unique code to help the agency easily determine the extent to which contractors are complying with the self-evaluation requirement. While OFCCP collects enforcement data by type of discrimination and monitors enforcement performance overall, it does not monitor enforcement trends and performance outcomes regarding gender pay or other specific areas of discrimination. Even if it were to do so, questionable reliability of certain enforcement data undermines performance monitoring. As a result, OFCCP may have difficulty determining how best to prioritize its resources among the different types of discrimination it addresses. To increase awareness of anti-discrimination laws, OFCCP also conducts outreach to federal contractors on topics that include gender pay. OFCCP holds itself accountable for achieving a targeted number of events, but does not systematically gather recipient feedback and use it to measure the quality of its outreach efforts. In contrast, Labor's Women's Bureau, which also provides outreach to working women, sets performance targets and systematically measures its impact.
Recommendations
Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.
Director:
Team:
Phone:
Andrew Sherrill
Government Accountability Office: Education, Workforce, and Income Security
(202) 512-4146
Recommendations for Executive Action
Recommendation: To gauge how well EEOC is carrying out its responsibilities regarding gender pay discrimination, the Chair of the EEOC should devise a cost-effective method to improve its ability to monitor the performance of its gender pay enforcement efforts relative to other areas, using information already captured in its databases and supplementing information already reported.
Agency Affected: Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Status: Open
Comments: EEOC has created a specialized report from its information technology system tracking charges of gender pay discrimination by statute, including the Equal Pay Act, Title VII, and other statutes, and has used this report to generate historical gender pay data from FY 1997 to FY 2008. EEOC plans to continue generating this data each quarter and to use this information to track and respond to trends in gender pay enforcement. EEOC also plans to incorporate this information into its budget and performance planning. We are gathering more information from EEOC to determine whether these efforts have satisfied the intent of the recommendation.
Recommendation: To strengthen OFCCP's enforcement and outreach efforts and gauge the performance of those efforts, the Secretary of Labor should direct the Director of OFCCP to evaluate the Westat mathematical model and incorporate lessons learned from the prior model to ensure contractors are appropriately being selected for compliance evaluations and to maximize limited enforcement resources.
Agency Affected: Department of Labor
Status: Open
Comments: According to Labor, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance (OFCCP) has discontinued the use of any data generated from the Westat mathematical model. Instead, OFCCP is planning to review and update its current contractor selection system and continue to explore ways to enhance its existing databases. OFCCP has requested a program study from the Center for Program, Planning and Results (CPPR) to assess the existing selection system. As of August 24, 2009, funding had been approved for the project and CPPR was assessing vendors. Labor estimates that this effort will be completed by the end of December 2009.
Recommendation: To strengthen OFCCP's enforcement and outreach efforts and gauge the performance of those efforts, the Secretary of Labor should direct the Director of OFCCP to improve oversight of compliance evaluations for contractors by establishing linkages between relevant and current guidance on conducting compensation self-evaluations and devising a unique violation code to document any non-compliance with the compensation selfevaluation requirement.
Agency Affected: Department of Labor
Status: Open
Comments: According to Labor, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance (OFCCP) is currently conducting research on alternatives means of obtaining compensation data. When this research is complete, OFCCP plans to revise its guidance to OFCCP investigators on conducting compensation investigations to incorporate the new information. It also plans to revise the scheduling letter, which requests information and data from contractors at the beginning of an investigation, including compensation data. Labor estimates that this work will be completed by December 31, 2009. Additionally, OFCCP is seeking funding for a new IT system to replace and improve upon the current system, which is over 20 years old. As part of the design of the new IT system, OFCCP will consider adding a violation code indicating non-compliance with OFCCP's compensation self-evaluation policy. OFCCP did not receive funding for the new system in FY 2009 and resubmitted a request for FY 2010. If funding is not approved, OFCCP does not plan to begin developing the system.
Recommendation: To strengthen OFCCP's enforcement and outreach efforts and gauge the performance of those efforts, the Secretary of Labor should direct the Director of OFCCP to ensure the planned new data system incorporates standardized data entry instructions and adequate internal controls to screen for erroneous, inconsistent, or missing data, and ensures violation codes are correctly entered.
Agency Affected: Department of Labor
Status: Open
Comments: OFCCP is seeking funding for a new information technology system to replace the current system, which is over 20 years old. If funding is appropriated, OFCCP plans to reduce its data collection error rate and improve its internal controls by automating and standardizing business workflow processes. OFCCP also plans to provide appropriate user documentation and training on the new system to all OFCCP employees. OFCCP estimated that it would take about two years to fully implement the new system, but did not receive funding for the new system in FY 2009. The program resubmitted a request for FY 2010. If funding is not approved, OFCCP does not plan to begin developing the system.
Recommendation: To strengthen OFCCP's enforcement and outreach efforts and gauge the performance of those efforts, the Secretary of Labor should direct the Director of OFCCP to develop a cost-effective means for monitoring performance of gender pay enforcement efforts relative to other areas, using information generally already captured in existing databases, once determined reliable.
Agency Affected: Department of Labor
Status: Open
Comments: OFCCP plans to broaden its existing regional monitoring systems to gather, monitor, and report on investigation activities and performance affecting gender pay enforcement. OFCCP is currently assessing means of developing such a system and anticipates having it in place by the end of December 2009.
Recommendation: To strengthen OFCCP's enforcement and outreach efforts and gauge the performance of those efforts, the Secretary of Labor should direct the Director of OFCCP to devise a method for systematically collecting feedback from recipients of outreach and technical assistance and using this information to measure and monitor outreach performance.
Agency Affected: Department of Labor
Status: Open
Comments: In FY 2009, OFCCP developed a feedback form and began distributing it to contractors receiving compliance and technical assistance. Analysis of this feedback was included in OFCCP's semi-annual Compliance Assistance Plan beginning March 31, 2009. We are gathering more information from OFCCP to determine whether these efforts have satisfied the intent of the recommendation.
