Congressional Justifications for 1998 Budget Estimates
Budget Activity 13: Departmental Equal Employment Opportunity
Salaries and Expenses
Scope
of Activity
The
Office of Departmental Equal Employment Opportunity (ODEEO) was
established in 1995. ODEEO is responsible for planning and implementing
the Department's Equal Employment Opportunity/Affirmative Employment
(EEO/AE) activities pursuant to the HUD regulations at 24 CFR Part
7. It is charged with preparing and monitoring HUD's Affirmative
Employment Program (AEP) and providing guidance in the development
and implementation of Headquarters and Field AEP Plans. This office
processes complaints of employment discrimination filed by HUD employees
and applicants for employment under Executive Order 11478, Title
VII, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, as amended, the Rehabilitation
Act, the Equal Pay Act, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
(EEOC) and Departmental regulations.
The
Office of Departmental Equal Employment Opportunity reports directly
to the Secretary. The Office is composed of an Equal Employment
Opportunity Division (EEOD) and an Affirmative Employment Division
(AED). It is comprised of a small staff of EEO/AE Specialists in
Headquarters and the Field. This staff is supplemented with 150
collateral duty EEO Counselors, along with collateral duty EEO Discrimination
Complaint Managers, Affirmative Employment Program Managers and
Diversity Managers located in the HUD Program Offices.
Workload
The
Equal Employment Opportunity Division
is responsible for: (a) EEO complaint investigation and adjudication;
(b) compliance and enforcement activities under Executive Order
11478; and (c) enforcement of Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
(EEOC) and Department regulations. This Division has primary responsibility
for EEO complaint processing, including complaint receipt, assignment
of the complaints for investigation, review of the investigative
file and writing the Final Agency Decision. It also coordinates
and supervises the Department's EEO counseling activities, monitors
complaint processing by the EEO Officers, and provides technical
assistance and training.
The
Affirmative Employment Division is responsible for the
management of HUD's Affirmative Employment Program (AEP). This involves
the provision of guidance, training and technical assistance to
the EEO Officers and their AEP Managers in the development and implementation
of AEP Plans for the employment of women, minorities and persons
with disabilities. This involves:
-
developing
recruitment and outreach strategies to attract minorities, women
and persons with disabilities to the Department;
-
managing
the Department's Diversity Program and interfacing with national
groups such as the NAACP and LULAC;
-
co-managing
the Department's Mentoring Program with the HUD Training Academy
to provide female and minority employees with the experiences
and assistance of successful HUD staff members to guide them
in their career development;
-
providing training and technical assistance in implementing
the Managers' Guide for Persons with Disabilities, for the recruitment,
hiring and employment of persons with disabilities, including
methods of providing reasonable accommodation to disabled persons
seeking positions and those already employed by the Department;
-
implementing
and promoting HUD's Transformation Plan through the "Valuing
the HUD Employee" and "Valuing the HUD Customer"
training programs;
-
managing
the Exit Survey which is administered to all persons separating
from the Department in order to determine why certain groups
of women and minorities are leaving and how this loss can be
reduced in order to maintain a representative work force;
Salaries
and Expenses, Housing and Urban Development
Budget Activity 14: Departmental Equal Employment Opportunity
-
managing
the Applicant Flow System to determine whether the applicant
pool for the Department's positions is sufficiently representative
of the Civilian Labor Force and whether appropriate applicants
are being selected to meet the Department's AEP goals; and
-
analyzing
data and preparing reports on the Department's AEP progress
for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Office
of Personnel Management (OPM) and HUD's management staff.
Travel
The
table below identifies travel requirements unique to this activity.
|
Actual 1996
|
Budget Estimate 1997
|
Current Estimate 1997
|
Estimate 1997
| Increase
+ Decrease - 1998 vs 1997
|
(Dollars
in Thousands)
|
Travel...
| $26
| ...
| $26
| $26
| ...
|
There
is no 1997 budget estimate because this activity was not separately
justified in the 1997 Budget request. The travel funding requested
for 1998 will allow the EEO Counselors to travel within their jurisdictions
to conduct EEO counseling, alternate dispute resolution activities,
and monitor the performance of contract investigators. It will also
permit EEOD management staff to attend EEOC's annual conference
which is designed to keep Federal EEO officials informed of developments
in EEO procedures, laws and interpretations. Funding is also required
for travel to the Field to monitor and evaluate implementation of
EEO/AE efforts as part of HUD's Management Plan. Finally, AED staff
need to be fully briefed on the latest techniques for preparing
Affirmative Employment Plans, methods of effecting Affirmative Action
and Managing Diversity, and attendance at training conferences sponsored
by EEOC, OPM and private contractors will be mandatory.
No
increase to 1997 is being requested for 1998.
Contracts
The
table below identifies contract requirements unique to this activity.
|
Actual 1996
|
Budget Estimate 1997
|
Current Estimate 1997
|
Estimate 1998
| Increase
+ Decrease - 1998 vs 1997
|
(Dollars
in Thousands)
|
Technical
Services
| $912
| ...
| 975
| 975
| ...
|
Technical
Services
There
is no 1997 budget estimate because this activity was not separately
justified in the 1997 Budget request. Funding is requested in 1998
for EEO contract investigations and for the continuation of the
Department's Diversity Program. In order for the Diversity Program
to be successful and to fully support the continuing implementation
of HUD's Transformation Plan, it must contain effective strategies
for the development and management of qualified minorities, women
and persons with disabilities. Additionally, implementation of the
automated feedback and assistance system must be continued to provide
up to the minute AEP and Diversity information to all managers,
supervisors and staff. This system is needed in order to effectively
integrate the F.A.I.R. (Feedback, Assistance, Inclusion and Respect)
concepts introduced in the 1996 "Valuing the HUD Employee"
training and the 1997 "Valuing the HUD Customer" training
into the daily activities of the Department and in support of the
HUD Transformation Plan.
No
increase to 1997 is being requested for 1998.