After careful analysis, a decision was reached to redesign this annual goal.

In 1995, John Koskinen, then Deputy Director for Management at the Office of Management and Budget convened a working group comprised of staff from OPM and all of the adjudicatory agencies. The group’s purpose was to consider ways to streamline the Federal employment adjudicatory processes and present a report to Congress in Spring, 1996. The findings of that report indicated that neither a curtailment of employee rights nor a merger of adjudicatory agencies was recommended. The report did recommend that the law be amended to eliminate the right to review by EEOC of mixed cases. Further, the report gave strong support to the use of alternative dispute resolution techniques in the resolution of employment grievances.

Based on these recommendations, we have focused our efforts on streamlining the mixed case process and promoting alternative dispute resolution programs. OWR will continue its efforts to increase the use of alternative dispute resolution techniques, which provide employees with a quicker, easier, and less litigious process for resolving workplace disputes, by publicizing these techniques and educating the human resources community on their usefulness. This effort is outlined more completely under OWR Goal #7.

		In FY 2000, OPM will actively pursue the feasibility of implementing the recommendation in the Koskinen report to streamline the current process for adjudicating mixed case appeals.
		Feedback is obtained from adjudicatory agencies on the feasibility of streamlining the mixed case appeal process.

Additional Information Available on the Next Page

---