Affirmative Action Obligations tice for Administrative Proceedings to Enforce Equal Opportunity Under Executive Order 11246--- Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973------ SUMMARY OF FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS PART II ADMINISTRATION OF THE FEDERAL CONTRACT ન 1. Location Within the Federal Establishment Findings: Executive Order No. 11246, Section 402 of the Vietnam Era Veterans' Readjustment Act and Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act give the Department of Labor a unique capability to bring about reasonably prompt and comprehensive solutions to the employment problems of minorities, women, Vietnam era veterans, and handicapped persons. That unique capability consists essentially of the Department's quasi-legislative authority to define the national goal of equal employment opportunity through the affirmative action and nondiscrimination clause in Federal contracts; the authority and flexibility to define the scope and depth of mechanisms to determine compliance; and the authority to invoke expeditious enforcement proceedings; and the capability, through cooperative arrangements with the Labor Department's Employment and Training Administration to closely coordinate the OFCCP's enforcement actions with ETA programs to train minorities and women to fill newly opened jobs. The fact that the Department has yet to realize that full capability has raised questions as to whether it has the commitment, will, and independence to administer the program effectively and, if not, whether its total EEO enforcement responsibility should be reassigned to another agency. The Department's record of performance under the Equal Pay Act tends to contradict any assertion that the agency institutionally lacks the will, commitment, and independence to carry out a strong EEO enforcement program. Instead, the overriding defect in the administration of the Federal Contract Compliance Program lies in its fragmented enforcement structure, and the need to improve and strengthen its regulatory scheme. Studies and surveys of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission also disclose fundamental defects in the administration of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended. Regardless of the location of OFCCP and EEOC, both have basic deficiencies which prevent them from maximizing efficiency in the total EEO effort and avoiding potential conflict, competition, duplication, and inconsistency. To consolidate or merge the Executive Order and Title VII programs in their current state would aggravate the fundamental problems which confront them. Recommendations It is essential that OFCCP and EEOC remain separate pending the institution of fundamental reform measures by which each of the two organizations realizes fully its in dividual capability. In developing and executing those reform measures each must work toward a system by which the activities of one agency automatically complement, support, and reinforce the efforts of the other. 2. Fragmentation of Responsibility for Administering Findings: Under the current structure the Secretary of Labor has the responsibility for administering the Executive Order Program while the responsibility for implementing its requirements rests primarily with the 16 Federal Executive Agencies and Departments which award and administer the majority of the Government's contracts for goods and services. That fragmented structure presents three basic problems. the structure is so unwieldy as to defy the implementation of any reasonably effective management system. Second, the structure prohibits the development of a system which holds enforcement officials accountable for their performance. Third, the structure precludes the First, the span of control under implementation of a rational and efficient system for utilizing compliance and enforcement resources. Further, the original rationale for fragmenting the responsibility for administration and implementation is no longer valid. That rationale assumed that adequate funding would not be |