The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has proposed changes to the federal discrimination complaint process reflecting the recommendations of an internal federal sector work group.
According to the EEOC, the changes include allowing agencies to conduct pilot projects for complaints processing, conforming the standard for bringing complaints of retaliation in the federal sector to private sector standards, and requiring agencies to notify complainants of their right to request a hearing when an agency investigation has gone on for more than 180 days.
In fiscal 2008, federal agencies completed close to 40,000 counseling sessions regarding employment discrimination, and handled nearly 17,000 complaints.
The proposed regulations – published in the December 21 Federal Register – authorize administrative judges to make final decisions on class complaints and provide for expedited processing of appeals from class certification decisions.
The commission noted other changes including mandating that agencies comply with management directives and bulletins issued by the EEOC, and requiring agencies and encouraging complainants to submit filings electronically in order to expedite the process and move from paper-intensive files.
A final rule would need to be reviewed by OMB prior to becoming effective.
