Equal Employment Opportunity

The Postal Service Needs to Better Ensure the Quality of EEO Complaint Data Gao ID: GGD-99-167 September 28, 1999

In its limited analysis of the data that the Postal Service reported to the Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Commission, GAO found errors in the statistics underlying EEO complaints. GAO also found that required data on the issues raised in the complaints were not fully reported. These discrepancies were generally limited to statistical reports generated by the Postal Service's automated complaint information system. Because GAO examined only a limited portion of the reported data for obvious discrepancies and because the errors GAO identified were related to the data generated by an automated complaint information system put in place in 1995, GAO has concerns about the completeness, the accuracy, and the reliability of the data that it did not examine. GAO recommends that the Postal Service review its controls over the recording and the reporting of data that it submits to the EEO Commission.

GAO noted that: (1) in GAO's limited analyses of the data the Service reported to EEOC, GAO found errors in statistics on the underlying bases for EEO complaints and on the length of time complaints had been in inventory; (2) GAO also found that required data on the issues raised in complaint information system; (3) these discrepancies were generally linked to statistical reports generated by the Service's automated complaint information system; (4) after GAO brought these discrepancies to the attention of Postal Service staff, they promptly corrected them and appeared to correct the underlying causes for the errors, with one exception; (5) that situation need not be resolved until EEOC revises its reporting form; and (6) because GAO examined only a portion of the reported data for obvious discrepancies and because the errors GAO identified were related to data generated by an automated complaint information system put in place in 1995, GAO has concerns about the completeness, accuracy, and reliability of the data that GAO did not examined.

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.

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