JOINT BASE ANDREWS, Md. –
Federal employees and applicants for civilian employment at Joint Base Andrews, Md., who file workplace complaints through the 11th Wing Equal Opportunity Office, may now see the resolution process shorten from several years to just a few months.
Complainants may elect to participate in an Equal Opportunity pilot program called the Compressed, Orderly, Rapid and Equitable Process, or CORE, in lieu of the traditional civilian EO complaint resolution process.
“In my experience, I’ve found that our traditional complaint process has, at times, discouraged potentially valid complaints from being filed because the resolution process could take up to five years for a final decision to be reached,” said Mark Roberts, 11th Wing Equal Opportunity Office equal employment specialist. “The CORE Process is a solution because it cuts processing time to four months.”
CORE shortens the resolution process, in part, by replacing the investigation and hearing phases of the traditional complaint resolution process with a Fact-Finding Conference. These two phases could last up to a year to complete, while the Fact-Finding Conference blends the investigative and adjudicative phase into just over 100 days before a Final Agency Decision is issued.
Roberts added that the Fact Finding Conference still allows the individual to question witnesses and maintain the right to file an appeal of a decision to U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s Office of Federal Operations. At any point in the CORE process, complainants may opt out and return to a comparable point in the traditional complaint resolution process
The CORE Process, approved by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, operates directly under the authority of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission via the Code of Federal Regulations. The EEOC enforces federal laws that make it illegal to discriminate against an employee or job applicant.
“The purpose of the Air Force EO Program is to enhance unit cohesiveness, military readiness and ultimately mission accomplishment,” said Master Sgt. Jermey Lawley, 11th Wing EO superintendent. “The CORE process supports this by expediting the civilian complaint process, which consequently returns the aggrieved members’ focus back on the mission. This process is a win/win for the member and the Air Force.”
The 11th Wing EOO is running the CORE Process pilot program through fiscal 2017 and 2018.
“If successful, the CORE Process may become a permanent process,” said Roberts.
To learn more about the expedited complaint resolution process known as CORE, contact the 11th Wing EO office at 240-612-6345.