Legislative Employment: Operations of the Office of Fair Employment
Practices Could Be Improved (Letter Report, 12/09/93, GAO/GGD-94-36).

Although the House of Representatives has experienced an annual turnover
rate of 25 percent each year since the Office of Fair Employment
Practices was established in 1988, the Office has not been routinely
informing congressional staff about employees' rights and the office
created to enforce them.  Unlike its Senate counterpart, the House
Office has not been required to develop programs that would, by
heightening awareness of employee rights, prevent violations in the
first place.  The lack of a statutory mandate or House rule could have
contributed to the Office's limited educational efforts.  By the end of
July 1993, the Office had received more than 1,000 inquiries in the 5
years since it had started up.  It had not, however, collected data on
the exact nature of the information requested or the concerns
expressed--information that would allow the Office to target its
educational efforts and to anticipate its potential complaint workload.
The Office's hearing procedures could be strengthened by (1) barring the
appointment of House employees or officers as hearing officers and (2)
requiring that hearing officers be familiar with equal employment
opportunity and civil rights laws.  Also, the Office's procedures for
addressing employees' grievances should be extended to House employees
working for the Architect of the Capitol.

--------------------------- Indexing Terms -----------------------------

 REPORTNUM:  GGD-94-36
     TITLE:  Legislative Employment: Operations of the Office of Fair 
             Employment Practices Could Be Improved
      DATE:  12/09/93
   SUBJECT:  Congressional employees
             Employment discrimination
             Hearings
             Fair employment programs
             Civil rights law enforcement
             Labor-management relations
             Human resources training
             Data collection operations
             Proposed legislation
             Information dissemination operations
IDENTIFIER:  Congressional Employees Fairness Act
             Sexual Harassment Prevention Act of 1993
             
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