EEOC Report Shows Ongoing Disparities by Ethnicity and Gender
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) on Sept. 17 released its annual report on federal employment. According to the report, which lays out the status of equal employment opportunity in the federal government, employees at federal agencies in Fiscal Year (FY) 2008 filed 16,752 complaints alleging employment discrimination—up 2.4 percent from FY 2007. Complaints included allegations of discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, national origin, religion, age, disability and reprisal. Of the 2.7 million workers in federal employment in FY 2008, 55.9 percent were men, and 44.1 percent were women, with participation rates for women increasing slowly over the past 10 years, the report said. In terms of ethnicity, EEOC reported that the workforce consisted of: 7.9 percent Hispanic or Latino, 65.4 percent white, 18.3 percent black or African American, and 5.9 percent Asian. In FY 2008, Hispanics/Latinos and women were underrepresented in the federal workforce compared to their employment levels in the national civilian labor force, EEOC said. And employees with targeted disabilities—despite small gains last year—have steadily declined in the federal workforce over the past decade, from 27,601 in FY 1999 to 24,427 in FY 2008. Pay also varied by ethnicity, EEOC said. The average General Schedule (GS) grade for permanent and temporary GS employees was 9.9 ($50,411 per year); Hispanic or Latino, 9.4 ($43,776 per year); and black or African American, 9.0 ($39,795 per year). Last year, women remained on average at grade 9.3 ($42,449 per year), more than one grade below the average grade level for men of 10.5 ($49,668 per year). To see more, go to: www.eeoc.gov/press/9-17-09a.html.
An Office of Personnel Management (OPM) report released last week showed the overall number of federal workers participating in telework programs increased from 94,643 in 2007 to 102,900 last year, a jump of 8.72 percent. At the same time, however, almost half of the 78 executive branch agencies studied had not fully integrated telework into their continuity of operations planning, with office coverage and management resistance being the largest barriers to implementation. According to the OPM report, Status of Telework in the Federal Government, 2009, the overall portion of the federal workforce that teleworked in 2008 increased from 5.12 percent to 5.24 percent. The number of employees teleworking three or more days per week increased from 12,286 to 13,365, and the number teleworking one to two days/week increased from 45,231 to 52,339. Agencies showing the largest increases from FY 2007 to FY 2008 were: Department of Health and Human Services (11,272 to 12,785); Department of Veterans Affairs (1,788 to 4,161); General Services Administration (1,727 to 4,754); and Department of Interior (6,624 to 10,759). Agencies reporting the most significant decreases over the period were: Department of Commerce (3,966 to 2,979); DoD (17,921 to 16,871); Department of Justice (2,848 to 1,753); Social Security Administration (4,011 to 3,440) and Department of Treasury (6,861 to 5,444). To see more, go to: www.telework.gov/Reports_and_Studies/Annual_Reports/
2009teleworkreport.pdf.
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) on Sept. 17 issued a warning about the latest telephone scam in which callers are phoning veterans and asking for credit card numbers, claiming to need the information to update VA prescription information. Veterans service organizations alerted VA that callers were misrepresenting VA to gain personal information over the phone. The callers falsely claim that VA recently changed procedures for dispensing prescriptions and ask for the veteran’s credit card number. VA has not changed its processes for dispensing prescription medicines, said Gerald Cross, VA’s Under Secretary for Health. Veterans with questions should contact the nearest VA medical center or call, toll-free, 1-877-222-8387. To see more, go to: www1.va.gov/opa/pressrel/pressrelease.cfm?id=1769.
