Federal employees' bias complaints down, and up

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/bias-complaints-down-and-up/2012/08/20/601f87d8-eb0b-11e1-a80b-9f898562d010_story.html

Federal employees filed slightly fewer discrimination complaints against their agencies in 2011. However, employees who pursue their challenges through additional steps are waiting nearly a year for hearing decisions and more than a year for appeal decisions, according to data released Monday.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s annual report on its federal sector case processing showed that about 15,800 individuals filed a total of about 17,000 complaints in fiscal 2011 — a drop of about 4 percent from 2010.

The most common basis for a complaint was retaliation, followed by age discrimination and race discrimination. The most frequently cited action was non-sexual harassment, followed by non-selection for promotion and changes in conditions of employment.

The bias complaint process works differently within the federal government than it does in the private sector. Federal employee complaints are first investigated by their own employing agency. Employees unhappy with the outcome can move on to a hearing before an EEOC hearing officer called an administrative judge, and from there can appeal to the EEOC central office.