The Comptroller will begin Inter-departmental work on grant procedures, develop a sub-contracting program including reports and reviews of major contractors' minority sub-contracting programs; complete the Regional Accounting Project by providing a full range of budget, accounting and analysis services to Regional managers; and assist the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation by providing accounting guidance in handling assets and pension payments for terminated pension plans. Provisions of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Act of 1974 will be implemented. The Directorate of Audit and Investigations will conduct audits of of Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA) prime sponsors in accordance with the biannual audit requirement in the CETA legislation. Efforts will be made to use State audit agencies in meeting this requirement. Major national audits of management procedures and operations will be conducted. Increased attention will be directed to secure greater management use of audit findings. In the Cost Determination program, priority attention will be directed to concluding indirect cost agreements with Comprehensive Employment and Training Act prime sponsors. The Directorate of Administrative Programs and Services plans to decentralize responsibility for the property management system to the regions as well as complete the move to the new DOL building. Plans will be made to develop the Library into a multi-media resource center which will include microfilm, microfiche, cassettes, motion-picture films, recordings and other information media pertinent to programs of the Department. Mandatory changes consist of $128,000 for net additional cost of pay increase Program changes consist of increases totaling 13 positions and $324,000 to staff the Departmental Office of Equal Employment Opportunity and reductions of 18 positions and $226,000. Reductions in Personnel Management, Administrative Services, Comptroller, Audit and Management Analysis are attributed to initiatives to keep overhead at a minimum. Increased efforts to streamline activities will not result in any adverse impact on current levels of accomplishments. ADDITIONAL POSITIONS FOR EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OP! ORTUNITY Proposal: The Department proposes to provide permanent financing for 13 positions currently financed from other sources, thereby insuring that the Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) program will be capable of nerforming its mission which ran's high on the list of Presidential, Secretarial, and Agency objectives and in keeping with the Civil Service Commission rules and regulations and the Equal Opportunity Act of 1972. The Need: The EEO program efforts to eliminate discrimination in employment and provide upward mobility opportunities for minorities is a permanent and recurring effort within the Department as well as the Federal Government at large. The current means of financing does not provide a solid base for support of the EEO effort. Permanent financing will insure EEO program continuity in the Department. The Program: The Equal Employment Opportunity program has been well established in the Department of Labor since 1972. New components to the program include a Federal Womens Program, a Spanish-speaking program, and recently, full-time investigators to investigate formal complaints since the Civil Service Commission no longer provides this. For three years, the Department's Affirmative Action Plan has been used as a model for other agencies by the Civil Service Commission. The Department's EEO staff has succeeded in informally resolving 87% of all complaints as well as instituted a mandatory 16 hour training program and EEO performance evaluation procedure to orient management and supervisors of their EEO responsibilities. Activity 5. APPEALS FROM DETERMINATIONS OF FEDERAL EMPLOYEE CLAIMS (1975, $260,000, Pos. 7; 1976, $264,000, Pos. 7) Narrative Description of Programs The Employees' Compensation Appeals Board hears and decides appeals under the Employees' Compensation Act. (Authorizing Legislation: 37 STAT 736, 738) In 1974, the average time lapse between the filling of an appeal and closing of the case was approximately 3.7 months. New procedures instituted during the latter part of that fiscal period should result in a substantial reduction in the time lapse during 1975 and 1976 with the target being 2.7 months. At the end of the fiscal period, there were 46 pending cases, none of which were ready for determination since they were all in some preliminary stage of processing. In 1975, the Board will function with 3 members and a supporting staff of a clerk of the Board, a Deputy Clerk, and two secretaries, conducting hearings with oral arguments when requested by the appellant and otherwise decides cases which are submitted on the record. The Board's jurisdiction is fixed by statute. It is not a policy-making body and has no control over its workload. The workload during the current fiscal year has increased dramatically and the appeals to the Board continue to have a high percentage of non-routine issues of law of first impression. Its decisions are by statute, final and serve as the ultimate guide for a program covering millions of employees and the expenditure of millions of dollars each year. The Members of the Board carefully summarize and review the record, conduct the hearings, perform legal research, decide the cases and write the decisions and orders. Every effort is made to produce decisions of a high quality, in view of the tremendous impact any one of the decisions may have on all Federal agencies and civil employees. Based upon a projection for the first two quarters of fiscal year 1975, the workload will more than double that of 1974, which was the highest since fiscal year 1909. For example, during the first six months of this fiscal period, the number of appeals docketed is 185 compared to 179 for the full 12 months of fiscal 1974. There are several thousand hearing loss cases arising primarily out of the closing of Naval shipyards and we anticipate receiving appeals in a large number of those cases. 52-899 O-75-52 1975. In 1976, it is estimated that the workload will equal or surpass that of Having no programatic responsibility as well as no control over case workload, the Board will be attempting to hear all appeals, render timely and quality decisions and increase productivity in order to avoid unmanageable case backlog. Changes in 1976 Mandatory changes amount to Program changes amount to +$4,000 None Mandatory changes consist of $2,000 for net additional cost of pay increase effective October 13, 1974; $1,000 for one extra day of pay in FY 1976; $1,000 for increased cost of administrative and program support services. Activity 6. PROMOTING EMPLOYMENT OF THE HANDICAPPED (1975, $1,297,000, Pos. 48; 1976, $1,328,000, Pos. 49) Narrative Description of Program Services are provided by the President's Committee on Employment of the Handicapped to build public and employer acceptance of physically and mentally handicapped persons. The Committee works with all segments of America; management, labor, government of all levels, the professions, mass media, health, veterans, civic groups, and others. It also cooperates with international rehabilitation groups. (Authorizing Legislation; 63 USC 409, EO 11480) It In 1974, the 'Committee placed special stress on employment of disabled veterans and the handicapped poor. It developed a new program to promote recreation for the handicapped as well as jobs in the recreation field. maintained a high level of activity in the elimination of architectural and transportation barriers against the handicapped. It sponsored an emergency energy conference of 60 national leaders to evaluate special problems faced by the handicapped. Conference findings were taken into consideration in the planning of America's energy needs. It continued its efforts to strengthen Governors' and Mayors' Committees on Employment of the Handicapped. It stepped up its cooperative programs with voluntary health organizations (mental health, mental retardation, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, others) to encourage handicapped people to prepare for the labor market and to encourage employers to accept them. In 1975, a special national meeting of 100 leaders in employment, labor and rehabilitation was called to discuss Sec. 503 of the Rehabilitation Act (affirmative action in hiring the handicapped) and its far-reaching implications; similar State-wide meetings were held in 12 States and 20 cities. Another meeting was held to bring handicapped persons together with the nation's recreation leaders, to develop policies on accessibility of recreation areas for the handicapped. Pamphlets for five major disadvantaged areas of New York City were prepared, aimed at the handicapped poor, informing them about the basics of rehabilitation; these are prototypes for other cities to adopt. A special promotion campaign was conducted to further employment of disabled veterans. Staff members have been advising national energy officials on special needs of the handicapped. Further plans for FY 1975 include implementing management by objectives for all 18 Standing Committees of the President's Committee, and stepping up services to Governors' and Mayors' Committees. Arranging another dozen State meetings on Section 503, and developing pilot projects to (a) determine whether local health organizations can effectively recruit handicapped manpower for employers; (b) determine whether local service clubs can help coordinate services to employers under Section 503 will be undertaken. The Committee will arrange special national meetings with educational groups and institutional groups on Section 504 (affirmative action for Federal agencies) of the Rehabilitation Act and its implications on employment and the providing of services. In 1976, the Committee will step up services to Governors' and Mayors' Committees through increased staff time. New demands for handicapped manpower by Section 503 have brough about need for the President's Committee to investigate current methods of preparing the handicapped for work. This will be done by a series of national meetings. Revising Management by Objectives to reflect impact of Section 503 and 504 on Standing Committee functions, stepping up efforts to promote jobs for disabled veterans in light of a new affirmative action plan in their behalf, expanding recreational facilities for the handicapped, eliminating architectural and transportation barriers, promoting employment of mentally retarded and mentally restored, developing special promotional material for the handicapped in disadvantaged areas, working with a larger number of national voluntary health organizations to encourage the handicapped to prepare for jobs, and to encourage greater acceptance of them by employers, will also be primary goals of the Committee in FY 1976. |