The guide is a follow-up to a report issued last year finding that the average time to issue such decisions is three times as long and lengthening. Image: Chokniti Khongchum/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffThe EEOC has issued a guide to what it calls “challenges and promising practices” for agencies that use contractors in writing final agency decisions in EEO complaints, in which agencies take a position regarding whether discrimination occurred and if so, their response.
In the EEO process, individual agencies first conduct an investigation and the employee then has the choice of requesting a final agency decision or appealing directly to an EEOC administrative judge. If employees choose the first route, the agency is to issue such a decision within 60 days; employees who are dissatisfied then may file an appeal with the EEOC.
The guide is a follow-up to a report issued last year finding that the average time to issue such decisions is three times as long and lengthening. Agencies often engage contractors—and, in some cases, other agencies—to help with that workload but have “expressed concerns about the quality of some of these FADs,” it said.
It said that in follow-up surveys and discussions with agencies, commonly cited issues include: insufficient staff to review FAD drafts; difficulty holding contractors and other agencies accountable for performance; and delays caused by sending FADs back for revisions and additions.
Best practices include (in its words):
* “Start the contracting process early, or request FAD drafting services and provide necessary documentation as soon as possible.
* “Provide specific instructions for FAD drafting and include any available templates, boilerplate, or sample language.
* “Request a copy of the revisions made by the client agency to facilitate improvement by the drafting agency for future FAD drafts.
* “Maintain regular communication about timeframes and drafting issues to ensure the timeliness and quality of FADs.”
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