Federal Workforce

How much do federal agencies spend on discrimination complaint counseling and formal discrimination complaint processing? For this fact sheet, GAO surveyed 29 departments and agencies to find out how much they spent to counsel people, investigate and reach decisions on complaints, and generally administer the discrimination complaint processing system. GAO found that they spent about $139 million in fiscal year 1991, most of which went for counseling ($40 million) and performing original investigations of formal complaints of discrimination ($39 million). Most counseling took place before any formal complaint was filed. About one out of four individuals who were counseled later filed a formal complaint.

GAO found that: (1) complaint counseling and processing cost the 29 departments and agencies surveyed a total cost of about $139 million in FY 1991; (2) most of the reported costs the departments and agencies allocated were for counseling individuals which totalled $40 million and performing original investigations of formal complaints of discrimination which totalled $39 million; (3) about $37.7 million of the $40 million in counseling costs took place before any formal complaint was filed; (4) preliminary data that the 29 departments and agencies reported to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission showed that about one out of four individuals who were counseled filed a formal complaint; and (5) the departments and agencies estimated about 80 percent of the $139 million on the basis of professional experience and judgment.