In May, the Postal Service reissued its Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Policy Statement, reaffirming its commitment to equality of opportunity in every aspect of employment. The statement is posted in all postal facilities, EEO offices, and on usps.com.
To improve working relationships with deaf and hard of hearing employees, the training course, Supervising Deaf and Hard of Hearing Employees, was developed and completed by 3,606 employees. It gives supervisors a basic awareness of communication barriers, strategies for effective communication, actions to avoid, and best practices for use of interpreters. It also includes an overview of common phrases associated with work tasks, safety, and general conversation using American Sign Language.
The Postal Service provides high quality and timely complaint processing in accordance with EEOC regulations. This year 16,125 EEO informal complaints were filed, 99.2 percent of which were processed within regulatory timeframes. Letters of Acceptance or Dismissal met regulatory timeframes 97 percent of the time, Investigations of accepted formal complaints 99 percent of the time, Final Agency Decisions 97 percent of the time, and Notice of Final Actions 99 percent of the time. Contract investigators and final agency decision writers are used to help maintain the neutrality of the investigative and decision process. The Postal Service also has 16 interagency agreements to process EEO cases on a fee-for-service basis.
