Equal Employment Opportunity: Information on Personnel Actions, Employee Concerns, and Oversight at Six DOE Laboratories
GAO-05-190
Published: Feb 18, 2005. Publicly Released: Mar 23, 2005.
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Highlights
In April 2002, GAO identified the need to strengthen equal employment opportunity (EEO) oversight at three Department of Energy (DOE) national weapons laboratories and recommended that DOE and the Department of Labor's (DOL) Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) collaborate to ensure the laboratories complied with EEO requirements. GAO was subsequently asked to examine six other DOE laboratories and determine (1) whether differences exist for managerial and professional women and minorities compared with men and Whites in salaries, merit pay increases, separation patterns, and promotion rates; (2) what EEO concerns laboratory women and minorities have raised; and (3) what DOE and OFCCP have done to implement GAO's earlier recommendation.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Labor | To understand the implications of the statistical difference we found and evaluate their practical significance, the Secretary of Labor should direct OFCCP to work with the laboratories to determine their causes and take the necessary corrective steps, if appropriate, to address any EEO problems identified. |
Closed – Implemented
Acting on the recommendation in our reports, the Congress included specific provisions in the Energy Policy Act of 2005, enacted in August 2005, to increase DOE's oversight of the laboratories' EEO compliance and collaboration between DOE and OFCCP. Section 992 of the act requires DOE to submit a report to the Congress by August 2006, and biennially thereafter, that includes a(1) thorough review of each national laboratory's EEO policies, (2) statistical report on complaints and their disposition, (3) description of how EEO practices at the national labs are treated in the contract, (4) summary of disciplinary actions and their disposition, (5) summary of outreach efforts to attract women and minorities to the laboratories, (6) summary of efforts to retain women and minorities, and (7) summary of collaboration efforts with OFCCP. DOE submitted its first report on EEO practices at the DOE national laboratories in August 2007. This report establishes baselines for the laboratories and will enable DOE to perform a more analytical review of the laboratories' EEO practices in the future.
|
| Department of Energy | The Secretaries of Labor and of Energy should work together to define the scope of DOE's contract administration oversight responsibility for diversity. |
Closed – Implemented
Acting on the recommendation in our reports, the Congress included specific provisions in the Energy Policy Act of 2005, enacted in August 2005, to increase DOE's oversight of the laboratories' EEO compliance and collaboration between DOE and OFCCP. Section 992 of the act requires DOE to submit a report to the Congress by August 2006, and biennially thereafter, that includes a(1) thorough review of each national laboratory's EEO policies, (2) statistical report on complaints and their disposition, (3) description of how EEO practices at the national labs are treated in the contract, (4) summary of disciplinary actions and their disposition, (5) summary of outreach efforts to attract women and minorities to the laboratories, (6) summary of efforts to retain women and minorities, and (7) summary of collaboration efforts with OFCCP. DOE submitted its first report on EEO practices at the DOE national laboratories in August 2007. This report establishes baselines for the laboratories and will enable DOE to perform a more analytical review of the laboratories' EEO practices in the future.
|
| Department of Labor | The Secretaries of Labor and of Energy should work together to define the scope of DOE's contract administration oversight responsibility for diversity. |
Closed – Implemented
Acting on the recommendation in our reports, the Congress included specific provisions in the Energy Policy Act of 2005, enacted in August 2005, to increase DOE's oversight of the laboratories' EEO compliance and collaboration between DOE and OFCCP. Section 992 of the act requires DOE to submit a report to the Congress by August 2006, and biennially thereafter, that includes a(1) thorough review of each national laboratory's EEO policies, (2) statistical report on complaints and their disposition, (3) description of how EEO practices at the national labs are treated in the contract, (4) summary of disciplinary actions and their disposition, (5) summary of outreach efforts to attract women and minorities to the laboratories, (6) summary of efforts to retain women and minorities, and (7) summary of collaboration efforts with OFCCP. DOE submitted its first report on EEO practices at the DOE national laboratories in August 2007. This report establishes baselines for the laboratories and will enable DOE to perform a more analytical review of the laboratories' EEO practices in the future.
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Topics
Comparative analysisData collectionEmployee promotionsEmployment discriminationEmployment of minoritiesFair employment programsInteragency relationsLabor statisticsLaboratoriesMerit compensationRacial discriminationSalary increasesSex discriminationStatistical dataWomenMinoritiesContractorsCivilian employees