2001 Annual Performance Plan

Introduction

The goals and measures contained in EBSA’s Annual Performance Plan for FY 2001 support those contained in the EBSA FY 1999 - 2004 Strategic Plan. Specifically, the Department’s 2nd strategic goal: A Secure Workforce. EBSA’s primary mission is to protect the pension, health and other employee benefits of the over 150 million participants and beneficiaries in private sector employee benefit plans in excess of 6 million plans and $4.3 trillion in assets. Through its program, EBSA safeguards and promotes the economic security of workers and families. To accomplish this, EBSA has established the following agency goals:

• Deter and correct violations of the relevant statutes. EBSA deters and corrects violations of the relevant statutes by identifying civil violations and achieving appropriate correction in a cost- effective manner (i.e. voluntary compliance, administrative proceedings or federal court action); detecting, investigating and referring criminal violations to prosecutorial authorities; ensuring that annual reports are filed timely and accurately; and ensuring that audits of employee benefit plans comply with professional standards.

• Facilitate compliance by plan sponsors, plan officials, service providers and other members of the regulated community. EBSA facilitates compliance through the timely issuance of advisory opinions, exemptions, regulations, compliance guides and other issuances designed to assist the regulated community in understanding and complying with their responsibilities under the law, while removing unnecessary impediments and protecting the rights and benefits of participants and beneficiaries. These efforts are supplemented by EBSA participation in conferences, symposia, and programs designed to expand an understanding of ERISA’s compliance requirements.

• Assist workers in understanding their rights and protecting their benefits. EBSA assists workers in understanding their rights and protecting their benefits by disclosing plan documents; developing publications, news releases, and other educational materials which inform participants of their rights under Federal law; assists in the development of amicus curiae briefs to further participant rights and benefits; and maintains a nationwide participant assistance program which provides written and telephone responses to participant problems and inquiries.

• Encourage the growth of employment-based benefits. As one of the principal agencies with responsibility in the area of pension, health and other employee benefits, EBSA plays a leadership role in the development of retirement, health and employee benefits policy. EBSA discharges its responsibilities in this area in a variety of forms including, but not limited to, maintaining an active research program; continuing its educational outreach efforts to help plan sponsors and participants understand their rights and obligations as well as the importance of and options for retirement savings and health care benefits; assisting the Administration, other Federal agencies (e.g. the Departments of Treasury and Health and Human Services, the Internal Revenue Service, and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, among others) and the Congress in the development and/or review of legislative initiatives affecting employee benefits.

Agency Mission

The Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) is responsible for the administration and enforcement of Title I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (ERISA), in both civil and criminal areas. EBSA is also responsible for enforcing sections 8477 and 8478 of the Federal Employees’ Retirement System Act of 1986 (FERSA). The primary mission of EBSA is to protect the pension, health and other employee benefits of the over 150 million participants and beneficiaries in private sector employee benefit plans.

The EBSA’s appropriation is comprised of three budget activities: (1) Enforcement and Compliance; (2) Policy, Regulation and Public Services; and (3) Program Oversight. The following provides a description of the functions of each of these budget activities:

The Enforcement and Compliance activity conducts civil and criminal investigations, performs reviews to ensure compliance with the fiduciary provisions of ERISA and FERSA, and assures compliance with applicable reporting requirements, as well as accounting, auditing, and actuarial standards. This activity seeks the restoration of plan losses, removal of plan fiduciaries and/or prosecution of fiduciaries and others that result from violations of ERISA and applicable criminal Statutes, assesses civil penalties under ERISA, and conducts quality reviews of plan accountants' work papers. It also conducts liaison activities with the Financial Accounting Standards Board and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, including referrals of deficient accountants' work.

The Policy, Regulation and Public Services activity conducts policy, research and legislative analysis on pension, health, and other employee benefit issues; promulgates regulations and interpretations regarding reporting and disclosure, fiduciary, and coverage provisions; issues individual and class exemptions from ERISA's and FERSA's prohibited transactions provisions; discloses legally-required reports; provides technical assistance to plan officials, employee benefits practitioners, and the general public; provides direct assistance to plan participants and beneficiaries in enforcing their rights under ERISA and in obtaining benefits under employee benefit plans; and provides assistance in response to requests from members of Congress (including constituent requests), as well as technical assistance to about a dozen legislative committees with jurisdiction affecting ERISA and FERSA.

The Program Oversight activity provides leadership, policy direction, strategic planning, and management of the pension and welfare benefits program. Oversight and operational guidance is provided in the areas of financial management, budget formulation and execution, debt management, human resource management, labor and employee relations, employee development and other administrative activities. In addition, this activity conducts a comprehensive technical training program in support of the agency’s enforcement, policy, legislative, and regulatory functions.

Goals and Measures

Departmental Goal #1 - A Secure Workforce (Promote the economic security of workers and families).

Agency Strategic Goal - Deter and correct violations of the relevant statutes.

Strategies to Achieve Goals - Enforcement activities are perhaps the most prominent activities and consequently, are where the vast majority of resources are devoted. However, underlying the enforcement program are a whole array of activities that support our Deter and Correct Performance measure. They include traditional enforcement activities, compliance assistance and education, as well as technology enhancements.

Enforcement - Finally, EBSA will pro-actively enforce existing and future regulations as a means for deterring and correcting violations of ERISA. Strategies include:

Continuing to target and investigate pension plan violations where participants are susceptible to actual loss of benefits, or “populations” of plan participants who are potentially exposed to the greatest risk of falling victim to unlawful conduct.

Identifying civil violations and achieving appropriate correction in the least obtrusive and most cost-effective manner.

Strategical targeting and investigating of cases where meaningful monetary or injunctive relief can be obtained. When alternative methods are available to prevent, redress, or punish violative behavior, in general, preference will be given to options which will result in the most timely remedial action and the most efficient use of agency resources.

Referring evidence of criminal activity, whether or not pursued by EBSA, to the appropriate United States Attorney’s office or to the appropriate state’s attorney’s office.

Correcting abusive practices by service providers and financial institutions who offer a variety of administrative, financial, consulting, and other types of services to employee benefit plans enabling EBSA to leverage its enforcement resources.

Continuing to be alert for new and emerging threats to employee benefit plans and plan participants.

Enforcing the new health care provisions contained in the new part 7 of ERISA, particularly HIPAA, Newborns’ and Mothers’ Health Protection Act of 1996, Mental Health Parity Act of 1996, the Women’s Health and Cancer Rights Act of 1998, and anticipated new health care reform legislation. The ongoing responsibilities of EBSA in this area include developing comprehensive regulations, interpretive bulletins, opinions, rulings, and model forms and providing training, technical assistance and other guidance at the State and Federal level to facilitate compliance with and enforcement of the health care portability, non-discrimination and other provisions of Title I of ERISA relating to group health plans. In satisfying these responsibilities EBSA coordinates closely with the Department of the Treasury and the Department of Health and Human Services through an ongoing interagency working group.

Refining our investigative aid to assist investigators in reviews of health plans to determine whether there is compliance with the new health care laws. EBSA investigators are currently implementing a nationwide enforcement pilot project to test the investigative aid and how it can best be used in future investigations of health plans to ensure that workers and their families are not unjustly denied any protections provided under HIPAA and other related health care provisions.

Compliance Assistance - Increasing compliance of benefit plan filings and related audits by (1) educating filers through establishing a filer Help Desk; (2) refining computerized edit tests and corrective correspondence; (3) expanding outreach with the AICPA and State CPA societies to educate and provide technical guidance to plan auditors; (4) imposing penalties for deficient audits; and (5) referring significantly deficient professional audit work to the AICPA and State licensing authorities for disciplinary action. Since small CPA firms often have little ERISA expertise, technical assistance will be particularly focused on these entities. As the redesigned Form 5500 employee benefit plan annual filing is implemented, users will need additional help in becoming familiar with the new form to avoid an increased error rate.

Promoting the formal voluntary compliance program through which fiduciaries who have found problems with their plans can seek assistance and/or approval in taking corrective action. This will particularly benefit small employers who otherwise might not take the corrective actions necessary to come into compliance.

Continuing to develop and refine compliance guides for our customer service staff in EBSA field offices to assist them in handling inquiries and ensure that American workers and their families receive the important protections afforded under HIPAA and other recently enacted health care laws.

Providing individual technical assistance to target audiences (employers, unions, fiduciaries, accountants, actuaries, attorneys, third-party administrators, workers and their dependents).

Supporting the Department’s cross-cutting initiatives pertaining to Coordinated Compliance Assistance for Small Businesses and One-Stop Centers for Education and Outreach.

Educating the pension and welfare benefits community as to the problem areas that we have uncovered in our investigations and the standards for compliance with ERISA.

Technology - EBSA has and continues to take advantage of state-of-the-art technologies as a means for achieving more efficient and effective program delivery. They include:

Implementing the new processing system outside the IRS for Form 5500 Annual Report. The reports are filed annually by employee benefit plans to provide information about plan operations to plan participants and the regulatory agencies. The new system will streamline the process for converting Form 5500 data into electronic format and yield more accurate and timely data for enforcement targeting and public disclosure.

Promoting the electronic filing of the annual reports to: (1) reduce the cost and burden of filing; (2) reduce the cost of operating the system; and (3) provide more timely reports as a means for facilitating enforcement and disclosure activities.

Developing a system to disclose Form 5500 annual reports via an Internet site to make data more readily available to participants and to the agencies which use it to protect employee benefits. The use of the Internet for disclosure will provide DOL with the technology it needs to enhance its customer service.

Departmental Goal #2 - A Secure Workforce (Promote the economic security of workers and families).

Agency Strategic Goal - Facilitate compliance by plan sponsors, plan officials, service providers and other members of the regulated community.

Strategies to Achieve Goals - Continue monitoring the new Form 5500 processing system which was implemented in FY 2000 that promotes the electronic filing of the annual reports to further streamline the system and reduce the cost and burden of filing, as well as the cost of operating the system. The reports are filed annually by employee benefit plans to provide information about plan operations to plan participants and the regulatory agencies. The new system will streamline the process for converting Form 5500 data into electronic format and yield more accurate and timely data for enforcement targeting, public disclosure, research and policy development.

Increase compliance of benefit plan filings and related audits by (1) educating filers through a filer Help Desk, clearer Form 5500 instructions, enhanced Web pages, and printed forms; (2) refining computerized edit tests and corrective correspondence; (3) expanding outreach with the AICPA and State CPA societies to educate and provide technical guidance to plan auditors; (4) imposing penalties for deficient audits; and (5) referring significantly deficient professional audit work to the AICPA and State licensing authorities for disciplinary action. Since small CPA firms often have little ERISA expertise, technical assistance will be particularly focused on these entities. As the redesigned Form 5500 employee benefit plan annual filing is implemented, users will need additional help in becoming familiar with the new form to avoid an increased error rate. A new, toll free number will be established and publicized.

Provide individual technical assistance to target audiences (employers, unions, fiduciaries, accountants, actuaries, attorneys, third-party administrators, workers and their dependents) by participating in conferences, symposia and programs designed to expand an understanding of ERISA’s compliance requirements. Web and satellite broadcasts will be utilized to reduce participant costs.

Provide appropriate, responsive and cost-effective regulatory framework and interpretive guidelines for private-sector employee benefit plans which minimize regulatory and administrative burdens with respect to the statutory and regulatory requirements.

Process exemption requests under Title I of ERISA in a timely manner, establishing effective conditions and safeguards to protect plans, participants and beneficiaries and facilitating meritorious transactions that would otherwise be prohibited.

Departmental Goal #3 - A Secure Workforce (Promote the economic security of workers and families).

Agency Strategic Goal - Assist workers in understanding their rights and protecting their benefits.

Strategies to Achieve Goals - Assisting workers and conducting outreach and education activities are perhaps the most ubiquitous of activities yet are an integral part of achieving EBSA’s mission in a cost effective manner. The tangible outcomes, however, are the most difficult to measure. Nevertheless, EBSA strongly advocates that meaningful education, outreach, and assistance results in positive dividends such as earlier detection of potential violations, protection and/or restoration of assets or benefits to participants, and increased coverage rates. Some of the strategies utilized include:

Continuing to implement a new health education campaign to (1) raise public awareness about where to seek assistance about their rights, (2) educate workers and their employers about health plans, (3) provide individual technical assistance to workers who have questions about their health benefits or need assistance in obtaining those benefits, and (4) provide information to employers and plan sponsors about their responsibilities under the law.

Maintaining the Federal-State-local partnership to educate employee benefit plan participants who are at risk (such as, dislocated workers who face job loss and associated benefits losses) in understanding not only their rights under ERISA, COBRA, HIPAA, etc. but also how their employment status may affect their pension and health benefits. We work with the state Dislocated Worker Units which are funded by ETA under JTPA, Title III.

In addition, EBSA will coordinate with ETA to support the education and assistance to dislocated workers on pension and health issues.

Providing individualized participant assistance (information concerning their rights, help in seeking benefits or an explanation of why they are not entitled to benefits, an explanation of how the law applies and, in appropriate cases, make inquiries on their behalf).

Providing a prompt and courteous response to all benefit complaints filed with us and, when requested, furnish the complainant with an understandable explanation of the outcome or our review and investigation.

Departmental Goal #4 - A Secure Workforce (Promote the economic security of workers and families).

Agency Strategic Goal - Encourage the growth of employment-based benefits.

Strategies to Achieve Goals - Promote greater rates of retirement savings particularly for women and minorities by encouraging individuals to begin saving at a younger age; improving individuals’ understanding of their savings options (including the value and importance of keeping existing defined benefits pension plans), the consequences of their choices, and sources of information and assistance; in partnership with the SBA, encourage smaller companies to provide retirement benefits to their employees; elevating the need to save for retirement on the nation’s list of concerns and priorities; and undertaking initiatives to raise public awareness about what is needed to ensure long-term personal financial independence.

Seek to help simplify pension and health care laws and reduce paperwork by developing legislative proposals and by providing analysis and technical assistance to all parties involved in the legislative process.

Develop and work with Congress to increase public awareness of basic pension and retirement planning issues, including the importance of personal savings, and general information on pension investing.

Conduct research and policy analysis required to address emerging policy, legislative and operational issues; evaluate the impact of new types of pension plans for small firms; and expand research on employee health benefit plans’ structural, operational, and medical quality.

Develop new sources of data on ERISA covered employee benefit plans and conduct research and policy analysis required to address emerging policy, legislative and operational issues, including new types of pension plans for small firms and quality of employee health benefits.

Conduct SAVER Summits as a means for focusing national attention on the need for every American to adequately prepare for retirement.

Activities

Resources, Operations and Processes - This activity’s request for FY 2001 was formulated within the context of this activity's extensive and growing responsibilities. The budget request reflects EBSA's program to effectively address the Department's responsibilities in protecting plan participants' retirement, health care, and other benefits. There are over 6 million private employee benefit plans, which cover approximately 150 million people, including workers, their families, and retirees, and control more than $4.3 trillion in assets. EBSA's comprehensive and coordinated enforcement strategy is designed to (1) ensure that annual reports are filed timely and accurately; (2) ensure the highest quality independent CPA audits of employee benefit plans; (3) identify civil violations and prevent loss or achieve appropriate correction in the least obtrusive and most cost-effective manner, i.e. voluntary compliance, administrative proceedings or Federal court action; and (4) detect, investigate and refer criminal violations to prosecutorial authorities. EBSA's enforcement strategy will continue to be implemented through increased and decentralized investigatory activity, reporting and compliance efforts, and improvement of employee productivity and information sharing through training and technology.

In the area of FERSA audits, the statute provides that the Secretary of Labor will establish a program to carry out fiduciary compliance audits. The Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) has experienced phenomenal growth since its inception. Without effective DOL oversight of the TSP, the Thrift Investment Board would have little capacity for gaining information on behalf of the TSP participants and beneficiaries about how policy is applied in practice and the impact of the fiduciary decisions. In addition, the TSP is adding two new funds in FY 2001— an international and small cap — and will soon be transitioning to a daily valued rather than monthly valued system adding that much more complexity.

The agency will continue to develop and implement ADP information systems which will strengthen enforcement capabilities and improve customer service in order to assist plan participants in obtaining earned benefits. Work will also continue on a new processing system which will be devoted exclusively to processing Form 5500 Series annual employee benefit report filings. When fully implemented, this new system will improve the quality and accuracy of processed data, speed its use in safeguarding benefits, and be less costly to operate, yielding a substantial long-term savings to the Federal government.

This level of funding in FY 2001 will allow the agency to maintain an effective enforcement program of fiduciary and criminal investigations; perform a substantial number of compliance reviews and continue efforts to promote voluntary compliance with ERISA reporting requirements; maintain the integrity of the ERISA database; and allow the agency to keep pace with the complex and changing issues directly impacting the financial stability of plan assets.

The FY 2001 budget request level for this activity is $83,652,000 and 683 FTE. This level of funding includes program increases totaling $7,119,000 and 21 FTE. The program increases include: $1,240,000 and 10 FTE to protect the rights and benefits of pension plan participants in bankruptcy cases; $4,100,000 and 3 FTE to enhance the agency’s information technology capabilities in support of its basic core programs; $700,000 and 3 FTE to expand its reporting compliance “help desk” operation; $400,000 and 3 FTE to install an interactive “toll free” line for all EBSA inquiries and to provide additional staff to handle the expected increase in inquiries received; $200,000 and 2 FTE to for enhanced pension enforcement; $250,000 to conduct audits of the new Thrift Savings Plan record keeping system; and $229,000 to develop and establish an Internet site for disclosing Form 5500 Annual Reports.

Resources, Operations and Processes - This activity’s request for FY 2001 supports several important areas, including managing its participant assistance program to assure responsiveness to the increasing demand for pension and health benefits information and technical assistance by the general public; ensuring the provision of regulatory and interpretative guidance to the public and other governmental agencies within responsive time frames; providing policy guidance and legislative efforts in the areas of pension coverage, portability, and preservation and health care access and security; and carrying out an effective research program directed toward pension and health care issues, providing both long- term and basic research studies and short-term studies with immediate policy applications.

The recent enactment of the health care laws significantly expanded DOL’s regulatory and interpretative responsibilities under ERISA. These new laws establish Federal requirements for virtually all of the nation’s health benefit programs by adding new provisions to ERISA, the Public Health Services Act and the Internal Revenue Code. DOL was assigned general authority and discretion to promulgate compliance guidance (rules, guidelines and regulations) and enforce provisions of the Act relating to employer-sponsored group health plans. Specific DOL rule making actions are required to assure that workers receive certification of prior benefit coverage so that benefits for pre-existing conditions are covered by new employers and insurers. These new laws and the Department’s compliance guidance and interpretations thereunder potentially impact over 2.5 million group health plans, providing health care coverage to an estimated 125 million participants and beneficiaries, and benefit-related expenditures in excess of $250 billion.

In FY 2001, the level of resources needed to properly carry out EBSA’s compliance guidance activities and related functions will increase. This is the result of several related factors: (1) the very significant new Federal health benefits statutes which create extensive new guidance, enforcement and assistance responsibilities for the Secretary of Labor; (2) the greater incidence of self-insurance which leaves EBSA with essentially sole jurisdiction over virtually all aspects of the operation of employment-based health plans due to ERISA’s broad preemption provisions; and (3) the continued evolution of the structure and operation of the employment-based health care system toward complicated and sophisticated forms of managed care arrangements.

In addition, since the new laws affect most workers and most employers, the need for information will be significant. Information will be provided to participants and beneficiaries to enable them to better understand and exercise their rights under the laws. In addition, when possible, the staff assists the participants in recovering benefits to which they are entitled, but have been denied. Employers and practitioners are also provided information that helps them understand and comply with the laws and associated rules and regulations.

The budget request level for this activity is $20,205,000 and 145 FTE. This level of funding includes program increases totaling $2,833,000 and 6 FTE. The program increases include: $533,000 and 6 FTE for compliance guidance, interpretations and analysis activities related to the recent health laws; $950,000 to develop new sources of data on ERISA-covered employee benefit plans and to conduct research and policy analysis required to address emerging policy, legislative and operational issues; $500,000 to provide education and outreach to health benefit plan participants on the recent health laws; $500,000 as a one-time increase to conduct the second National Summit on Retirement Savings in 2001, as mandated by the Savings are Vital to Everyone’s Retirement Act of 1997; $200,000 to design, develop and disseminate critical information to dislocated workers regarding their pension and health benefits; and $150,000 to develop and print educational material on pension and health issues for distribution through 50 DOL/State partnership “one-stop” center locations.

Resources, Operations and Processes - This activity's request for FY 2001 was formulated within the context of its overall responsibilities in providing leadership, policy direction, strategic planning, and management of the pension and welfare benefits program. In addition to policy direction and leadership, attention will continue to be focused upon human resource management, financial management, debt collection, the provision of administrative support to program operations, and implementation of the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 (GPRA). Professional staff development will continue to remain a high priority and is considered critical to maintaining the professional and technical skills of EBSA's employees in the rapidly evolving pension and health care benefits industry.

Validation of Supporting Performance Measure/Indicators

EBSA will obtain its performance reporting data from automated information and case reporting systems, managers’ logs of program activities, accountability audits/reviews, and customer knowledge and satisfaction surveys. The agency will review and refine these data sources on an ongoing basis. Based upon the results of these reviews, EBSA will make adjustments or, if necessary, develop and implement alternative sources for the performance data.

In addition, the Office of Inspector General will conduct audits under the Chief Financial Officer’s Act. This strategy will include conducting, at various points during the course of the fiscal year, quality reviews of data bases that capture performance data and inspections of field offices to ensure the integrity and completeness of reported data.

In FY 2000, EBSA embarked on an initiative, in Partnership with the Department, to improve its performance measures and to address performance data validation and reliability. MRJ, a noted expert in the field of data validity and results-based management, assisted EBSA in strategic thinking. Simultaneously, MRJ worked with EBSA management in reviewing its internal data controls as a means for ensuring the most reliable and accurate data to the extent practicable. MRJ issued a report in late FY 2000 and we anticipate considering some of their recommendations in FY 2001.

Finally, in FY 2001, EBSA is participating in the National Performance Reviews’ American Customer Service Index (ACSI) to evaluate its customer service function. We anticipate results from the survey in the latter part of FY 2001.

Cross-Cutting Programs

In carrying out the Department’s ERISA and FERSA responsibilities, DOL coordinates its enforcement, policy, regulatory and public information programs with numerous Federal, state and local entities.

The Department of Labor has cross-cutting, multi-agency involvement in a number of program areas. Under ERISA,  DOL shares responsibility with the Internal Revenue Service and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation. Additionally, the broad sweep of our enforcement responsibilities requires coordination with financial institution regulatory agencies such as: Comptroller of the Currency, Federal Reserve System, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, National Credit Union Administration, Security Exchange Commission, State insurance and financial regulatory entities, as well as the FBI, OIG, U.S. Postal Service and state and local law enforcement agencies.

Further, in order to fulfil policy, research, regulatory and public education responsibilities, EBSA works with the Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Treasury, the National Economic Council, the Bureau of the Census, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Thrift Savings Board, and the Small Business Administration (SBA).

Specific examples include EBSA’s recent joint initiative with the SBA to expand pension coverage for women, minorities and small businesses; our ongoing coordination with HHS and Treasury on Health care policy and regulations; pension education initiatives, and coordinated enforcement approaches where EBSA works with Federal, state and/or local enforcement agencies.

In the international arena, EBSA provides assistance to ILAB, the World Bank, AID and foreign governments. EBSA has provided seminars and technical assistance regarding retirement security issues to visiting officials from many countries. This includes technical assistance regarding establishing private pension systems, developing policy, establishing legal structures to control the systems and creating and operating regulatory institutions.

Within DOL, the EBSA participates in a number of DOL cross-cutting programs. Specifically, in FY 2000, the new EFAST Form 5500 reports processing system will be implemented. This system will make it easier for plan officials to file electronically by on-line transmission, CD- ROM, floppy disk or tape. Further, EBSA will establish a customer service “help desk” operation to assist Form 5500 filers in properly completing the forms and in using the new filing system. We will be exploring the use of toll-free customer service phone lines to respond to participant inquiries regarding their benefits. These initiatives are a component of the DOL Improving Customer Service with Technology Cross-Cut.

In FY 2000, EBSA participated in a number of cross cutting initiatives and will continue their coordinated assistance in the following:

Innovative Enforcement - The Voluntary Compliance for Fiduciary Breaches program will provide administrative procedures to assist plan officials, including small businesses, to correct inadvertent fiduciary violations and bring plans into compliance and restore assets to plans more quickly than through traditional enforcement actions.

One-Stop and Coordinated Compliance Assistance - EBSA will provide educational materials on health and pension issues for distribution to employers and employees and work with ETA to provide further assistance, as necessary. With respect to coordinated compliance assistance, once the program is established, EBSA will participate in a DOL pilot project to bring coordinated compliance assistance on DOL Programs to various field locations.

Dislocated Workers - EBSA will place special emphasis on educating and assisting the dislocated workers and will: (1) establish and maintain liaison with the Department’s regional ETA staff to coordinate services for workers effected by plant closures or reductions in force; (2) provide technical assistance to State Bureaus of Employment Service or State Workforce development Cabinets and all unemployment insurance offices who assist dislocated workers; (3) coordinate with the regional workers Adjustment Retraining Notification Act (WARN) program; (4) work with the AFL-CIO to provide dislocated worker services; and (5) provide assistance to ETA’s one stop shop program with regard to dislocated worker services.

In FY 2001, EBSA will, as part of the Department’s Women Achieving Parity initiative, assumes a leadership role in support of a coordinated outreach effort to women on financial issues, especially those relating to a secure retirement. EBSA, via its Retirement Savings Education Campaign, will work with the Women’s Bureau and other DOL Agencies in an on- going outreach effort to educate women about retirement savings. The coordinated outreach will include finding new ways to inform women and will continue to raise the consciousness of women and the press to focus on general retirement issues as well as those unique from a woman’s perspective.

Finally, EBSA will work with the Department in structuring an overall, one-DOL, IT environment as a means for fully integrating the Department.

Workforce Planning

The Situation - Workforce planning is a critically important human resource management issue for the Federal government. Within EBSA, we face several significant challenges as we attempt to ensure that we have a diverse, highly skilled workforce now and into the future. Among the more significant issues for EBSA is high attrition, difficulty in attracting highly qualified candidates for employment, and projected high turnover of management, supervisory and professional employees due to retirement eligibility and career opportunities outside federal service for our highly skilled employees. In FY 2000, our attrition rate was 14.3%, up from 7.6% in FY 1996. EBSA’s attrition rate is among the highest in the Department of Labor. In FY 2000, we ended the year unable to utilize the equivalent of 72 positions, or 8% of our authorized personnel ceiling. The difficulty we have had in the past in fully staffing has several causes. Over the past several years, EBSA has been granted several significant staff increases (FY 98: + 70; FY 99: +55; FY 00: +59; FY 01: +27). Due to delays in receiving our final appropriation and the amount of time it requires to recruit and hire new employees, we are often not able to reach full strength until the end of the fiscal year . These increases combined with our high attrition rate on an expanding base, require us to be actively recruiting continuously. Further, there has been a significant increase in the number of targeted special emphasis hiring programs such as the Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Hispanic Serving Institutions, Tribal Colleges and Universities, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and increased focus on hiring people with disabilities. Each of these targeted initiatives requires a different set of challenges, approach and devotion of dedicated resources. At the Executive level, within the next five years, 48% of EBSA’s senior managers at grades GS-15 and above will be eligible to retire. Within ten years, 92% will be eligible to retire.

The Challenges - Workforce planning encompasses several complex human resource management activities such as recruitment, employee development, retention and succession planning. We already know that the competitive labor market and the uncompetitive Federal salary structure clearly contribute to the Federal government’s difficulty attracting and retaining the right people in the right place at the right time. While the federal salary structure and hiring policy contribute to the challenge, we must drill down further to determine what other factors, within our control, contribute to our hiring difficulties and high attrition rate and then be in a position to implement strategies to mitigate or correct these identified challenges and barriers.

Workforce Planning - EBSA’s is in the early stages of institutionalizing workforce planning. We recognize that workforce planning is a positive business practice and pays dividends in any well-managed organization. Workforce planning requires the development of recruitment strategies to ensure that EBSA has a workforce which is well prepared to address the challenges of the future. With respect to retention, we have developed an exit survey which we anticipate will provide us with additional insights into why employees leave EBSA and enable us to address those factors that are within our control. Through these efforts, we can analyze barriers to recruitment and retention of employees and, as appropriate, seek additional personnel authorities such as pay banding, special rates, and hiring flexibilities to mitigate those barriers.

Equally important to recruitment and retention, EBSA has also begun to look at succession planning to determine what we need to do to prepare the next generation of supervisors and managers. We have collected data from our managers about what skills they believe will be needed in the future to perform the work of the Agency and how employees may obtain them. From these preliminary efforts, we anticipate developing a workforce plan which includes specific strategies to ensure a skilled workforce.

Some of these strategies may include utilizing recruitment and retention bonuses, student loan agreements, as well as promoting the Department’s family friendly work policies. In addition, EBSA envisions a much more dedicated and aggressive recruitment effort by utilizing recruitment teams responsible for identifying other strategies that may improve recruitment on a region-by-region basis where creative approaches may be crafted to respond to different local situations. EBSA also is an active participant on the Department’s workforce planning task force in an effort to stay in the forefront of this human resource capital challenge.

Finally, EBSA’s employee development and training program is well-regarded. EBSA is continually assessing the needs for employee development and leveraging existing IT capabilities to do an Agency-wide survey to assess its employee development needs on a nation-wide basis. In addition, EBSA is currently revising some of its training curriculum to reflect changes in the environment and passage of significant new health legislation over the past several years.

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