U.S. Department of Agriculture: Problems Continue to Hinder the Timely Processing of Discrimination Complaints
RCED-99-38
Published: Jan 29, 1999. Publicly Released: Jan 29, 1999.
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Highlights
Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Department of Agriculture's (USDA) efforts to process discrimination complaints, focusing on: (1) the timeliness of USDA's Office of Civil Rights (OCR) processing and closing of program and employment discrimination complaints; and (2) the reasons for delays in the processes.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Agriculture | To improve the timeliness of USDA's processes for resolving employment and program discrimination complaints, the Secretary of Agriculture should direct the Acting Assistant Secretary for Administration to establish target dates and ensure that they are met for: (1) issuing departmental regulations for the assisted and conducted program and employment complaints processes; and (2) revising the conducted program and employment complaints operations manuals and issuing an operations manual for assisted program complaints so that the manuals accurately reflect departmental regulations. In addition, develop procedures to ensure that departmental regulations and manuals are kept up-to-date to reflect subsequent organizational, policy, or procedural changes that can affect the implementation of USDA's civil rights program. |
Closed – Implemented
USDA issued departmental regulations in March 1999 for processing employment, assisted program, and conducted program complaints. Instead of issuing operations manuals, USDA has issued Standard Operating Procedures on January 12, 2001, for employment complaints and has issued some Standard Operating Procedures for program complaints.
|
| Department of Agriculture | To improve the timeliness of USDA's processes for resolving employment and program discrimination complaints, the Secretary of Agriculture should direct the Acting Assistant Secretary for Administration to establish target dates and ensure that they are met for having the Director, OCR, implement the office's plans to relocate the OCR employees identified as lacking necessary skills and fill the vacated positions with employees who have appropriate civil rights expertise. Additionally, direct the Director, OCR, to assess the training needs of OCR's employees and implement a program to meet current and future training needs. |
Closed – Implemented
USDA is not relocating Office of Civil Rights employees that were identified as lacking necessary skills. Instead, the Office of Civil Rights issued a Long-Term Improvement Plan in October 2000. According to the plan, USDA will address personnel problems by: (1) identifying the knowledge/skills gap for all employees, (2) determining training needed for all employees to perform their job at acceptable levels, (3) developing Individual Training Plans for all employees, (4) setting aside budget for training, and (5) assuring employees are placed under performance standards and that ratings accurately reflect level of performance. USDA is in the process of carrying out these steps.
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| Department of Agriculture | To improve the timeliness of USDA's processes for resolving employment and program discrimination complaints, the Secretary of Agriculture should direct the Acting Assistant Secretary for Administration to establish procedures for ensuring more effective consultation and communication by OCR with agency civil rights offices, Office of General Counsel, and other affected entities, particularly in implementing new processes, policies, and procedures that affect these organizations. |
Closed – Implemented
USDA officials told the OIG that they were meeting monthly with the Office of Civil Rights. In addition, USDA's Office of Civil Rights drafted a procedure specifying the roles of the Office of Civil Rights, the Office of General Counsel, and the Office of Inspector General for reviewing program complaint decisions and settlement agreements. This was incorporated into USDA DM 4300-1, "EEO Complaints Processing Procedures," and was adopted on July 20, 2001.
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| Department of Agriculture | To improve the timeliness of USDA's processes for resolving employment and program discrimination complaints, the Secretary of Agriculture should direct the Acting Assistant Secretary for Administration to develop and implement a program for using alternative dispute resolution early in the program complaint process. |
Closed – Not Implemented
USDA's departmental regulations for processing program complaints do not include the use of alternative dispute resolution.
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Topics
Administrative remediesAgricultural programsCivil rights law enforcementDispute settlementsEmployment discriminationFair employment programsFederal agency reorganizationFederal employeesFederal personnel administrative lawAlternative dispute resolutionEmployee grievances