Further Improvements Needed in EEOC Enforcement Activities

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) enforces title VII of the Civil Rights Act which prohibits discrimination in employment on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. The President's 1978 Reorganization Plan increased the authority and responsibility of EEOC and made it the principal agency for enforcing federal equal employment opportunity requirements. In 1976, GAO reported that EEOC management problems were thwarting its enforcement activities.

Since the previous GAO report, EEOC has made many changes to correct its problems in handling individual charges of employment discrimination and in developing and investigating self-initiated charges. However, many of these improvements represent only the potential for success because they are still relatively new and in their implementation stages. Additional matters need to be considered to help ensure that EEOC reforms fulfill their potential, such as: (1) not settling charges that lack reasonable cause under the rapid charge process; (2) authorizing EEOC to sue state and local governments under title VII; and (3) improving the collection of employment data from private employers and aggressively monitoring conciliation agreements and consent decrees.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

Director: Franklin A. Curtis Team: General Accounting Office: Human Resources Division Phone: (202) 275-5451