FY99 Annual Performance Plan - Revised and Final

December 17, 1998

Table of Contents

Introduction

Overview of the ESA Strategic Plan

Mission

Vision

ESA Strategic Goals

ESA Organization

Strategic Goals and the FY 1999 Budget

DOL Strategic Goal – A Secure Workforce

DOL Strategic Goal – Quality Workplaces

FY 1999 Performance Goals and Indicators

Strategy for Validation of Performance Measures and Indicators

FY 1999 Performance Goals and Indicators by DOL Strategic Goal

DOL Strategic Goal – A Secure Workforce

DOL Strategic Goal – Quality Workplaces

Cross-Cutting Programs and Issues

Achieve Compliance with the Laws, Regulations and Executive Order

Minimize the Human, Social, and Financial Cost of Work-Related Injuries

Ensure Customer Satisfaction

Management Issues

Information Technology Strategy

Financial Management Strategy

Human Resources Strategy

Conclusion

List of Acronyms

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Introduction

The Employment Standards Administration (ESA) is both an enforcement and a benefit delivery agency. ESA administers programs to implement over 100 laws enacted by Congress to protect the basic rights of workers, including minimum wage, child labor, and overtime pay standards, equal employment opportunities for employees of Federal contractors, workers' compensation benefits, as well as protecting workers' rights as union members. Nearly every worker in America is protected by laws and regulations administered by ESA programs. The approximately 3900 employees who carry out ESA's mission are located in offices throughout the country to make the ESA programs as accessible as possible to the American public.

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Overview of the ESA Strategic Plan

The Employment Standards Administration sent its six-year Strategic Plan, covering Fiscal Year 1997 to 2002, to the U.S. Congress in September 1997. The Plan states the ESA mission, vision, and strategic goals. In addition to providing the foundation for ESA activities and highlights of Fiscal Year 1997 accomplishments, the Strategic Plan is the context for the FY 1999 Annual Performance Plan.

In keeping with the laws, Executive Order, and regulations that created the ESA programs, the strategic goals established in ESA's Strategic Plan are as follows:

Achieve compliance with the laws, regulations, and Executive Order that ESA is charged with administering and enforcing;

Minimize the human, social, and financial costs of work-related injuries; and

Improve customer satisfaction.

In January 1998, in preparing the Annual Performance Plan for the Department, three strategic goals were established for the Department. The Department's goals cut across the goals set in the ESA Strategic Plan with the result of linking the many DOL agencies and programs in their related efforts to help America's workers meet the challenges they face today and in the future. ESA's work is integral to the Department's success in achieving goals in the Fiscal Year 1999 Performance Plan for the Department-

A Secure Workforce:

Promote the economic security of workers and families; and,

Quality Workplaces:

Foster quality workplaces that are safe, healthy, and fair.

In keeping with the Department's presentation, the performance goals in the ESA Annual Performance Plan are aligned with the goals in the DOL Annual Performance Plan, with references to ESA's strategic goals.

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MISSION

As an enforcement and a benefit delivery Agency, ESA is comprised of four major programs: Wage and Hour Division (WHD); Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP); Office of Workers' Compensation Programs (OWCP); and Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS).

The Wage and Hour Division enhances the welfare and protects the rights of the nation's workers through enforcement of several Acts: the Federal minimum wage, overtime pay, recordkeeping, and child labor requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act; the Family and Medical Leave Act; the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act; the Employee Polygraph Protection Act; field sanitation and housing standards in the Occupational Safety and Health Act; and, a number of employment standards and worker protections provided in 'immigration law.' Additionally, WHD administers and enforces the prevailing wage requirements of the Davis-Bacon Act and the McNamara-O'Hara Service Contract Act and other statutes applicable to Federal contracts for construction and for the provision of goods and services.

OFCCP promotes Federal contractors' compliance with Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) laws during the performance of their Federal contract. Through Executive Order 11246, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974, the Immigration and Nationality Act, and the Americans with Disabilities Act, OFCCP enforces equal opportunity standards and affirmative action for women, minorities, Vietnam era veterans, and persons with disabilities employed by the more than 200,000 contractors that participate in the Federal procurement process.

OWCP mitigates the financial burden on certain workers, or their dependents or survivors, resulting from work-related injury, disease, or death, through the provision of wage replacement and cash benefits, medical treatment, vocational rehabilitation, and other benefits. The Federal Employees' Compensation Act (FECA) program provides income and medical cost protection, and return-to-work services to civilian employees of the Federal Government injured at work, and to certain other designated groups. The Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act (LHWCA) program provides similar protection to private sector workers engaged in certain maritime and related employment. The Black Lung Benefits program provides protection to the nation's coal miners totally disabled by pneumoconiosis or to their survivors.

OLMS encourages internal union democracy, financial integrity and protection of certain rights of union members in administering and enforcing provisions of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA) and related laws. In addition to resolving union member complaints concerning union officer elections, union trusteeships, and other matters pertaining to safeguards for union democracy, the LMRDA program administers statutory safeguards for union funds and assets and makes reports required of labor unions and others available for public disclosure. The Division of Statutory Programs advances appropriate arrangements to protect the rights of affected mass transit workers when federal funds are used to acquire, improve, or operate a transit system. These statutory requirements are set forth in section 5333(b) of Title 49 U.S. Code (formerly section 13(c) of the Federal Transit Act).

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VISION

ESA will work smarter and harder to protect the rights of American workers and to assist employers in complying with the various laws administered by the agency.

WHD will maximize its impact on compliance through a comprehensive enforcement program, leveraging its resources and serving as a catalyst for action by others to promote compliance. WHD's vision includes a diverse workforce that has a high degree of professionalism, is creative and innovative, and focuses on its customers and is responsive to their needs, and is effective, highly motivated and committed to improving the effectiveness and efficiency of the Federal government.

OFCCP will be a premier civil rights enforcement agency whose primary focus will be on advancing employment opportunities generated by Federal dollars on an equitable and fair basis to all eligible and qualified individuals, through an aggressive, yet balanced approach to enforcing the law within its jurisdiction.

The OWCP will provide individuals who experience work-related injuries the best and most cost-effective assistance and services possible. As the country's largest self-insured employer, the Federal government is uniquely situated to find the best ways to take care of people affected by workplace injuries, and OWCP can be a laboratory for excellence in the field of workers' compensation. It takes pride in its return to work success, swift benefit delivery, cost-effective and people-oriented administration, and low friction costs and non-adversarial procedures for adjudicating and managing claims.

OWCP's programs will make high-quality and timely adjudication and benefit delivery the norm. Upgraded technologies, "paperless" claims and benefit processing, alternative approaches to cost reduction and service improvement, and superior customer service will define OWCP as its programs move into the 21st century.

The OLMS will enhance effective program performance by emphasizing quality in program administration and customer service. OLMS will continually review and redesign enforcement programs, cooperate with other agencies as appropriate, consult with stakeholders, and develop partnerships with unions to further statutory compliance. OLMS will make effective and prudent use of allocated resources and new technologies to advance its statutory mission.

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ESA STRATEGIC GOALS

The ESA Strategic Plan submitted to Congress in September 1997, states ESA's three strategic goals:

1. Achieve compliance with the laws, regulations, and Executive Order that ESA is charged with administering and enforcing;
2. Minimize the human, social, and financial cost of work-related injuries; and
3. Ensure customer satisfaction.

This Annual Performance Plan realigns ESA's performance goals to comport with the consolidated Departmental strategic goals identified in the DOL annual performance plan. Because the performance goals from the ESA goals serve more than one of the Secretary of Labor's key priorities, ESA will also modify its future strategic plans to mirror the cross-cutting Secretarial priorities. A description follows of the alignment of ESA's performance goals with the Department's Goals.

DOL Strategic Goal-"A Secure Workforce: Promote the economic security of workers and families" has two outcome goals that are supported by ESA:

• Increase compliance with worker protection laws includes the labor standards laws and regulations and union integrity standards enforced by ESA;
• Protect worker benefits is supported by ESA as it provides timely, effective intervention for injured Federal employees to enable them to recover to the full extent possible. ESA also manages benefit funds from which employee benefits are paid ensuring the funding will be available as intended for eligible employees.

DOL Strategic Goal-"Quality Workplaces: Foster quality workplaces that are safe healthy and fair" has one outcome goal supported by ESA:

• To foster equal opportunity workplaces is supported by ESA's goal of increasing compliance of Federal contractors with the equal opportunity and non-discrimination provisions of their Federal contracts.

ESA's FY 1999 Annual Performance Plan includes Customer Satisfaction goals that support each of the DOL outcome goals.

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ESA ORGANIZATION

The Employment Standards Administration is the largest agency in the Department of Labor. ESA is organized into four major components: the Wage and Hour Division, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, the Office of Workers' Compensation Programs, and the Office of Labor-Management Standards. ESA is headed by an Assistant Secretary and each program is headed by a Deputy Assistant Secretary or, in the case of the Wage and Hour Division, an Administrator. ESA's program staff are located in regional, district, area, and field offices throughout the country to ensure that the enforcement and benefit delivery programs are accessible to the American public.

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Strategic Goals and the FY 1999 Budget

The FY 1999 budget of the Employment Standards Administration directly supports two of the Department's strategic goals: A Secure Workforce, and Quality Workplaces. Based on final FY 1999 appropriations, the discussion which follows aligns ESA's budgeted resources with the Department's strategic goals, describing the processes and resources to be used in Fiscal Year 1999 in advancing these goals and highlighting ESA's new initiatives.

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DOL STRATEGIC GOAL -- A SECURE WORKFORCE

In support of the Department's Secure Workforce strategic goal, ESA promotes the economic security of workers and families. ESA is committed to protecting workers' hours, wages, and other conditions when on the job; ensuring the fiscal integrity of the workers' compensation benefit funds it administers; assisting injured Federal workers to expeditiously receive the care and assistance needed to return to work; and, enforcing the financial and democratic integrity of the labor unions which represent workers. Employer compliance with labor standards is both promoted and enforced by the Wage and Hour Division. The financial integrity of three benefit funds is the responsibility of the Office of Workers' Compensation Programs. The financial and democratic integrity of labor unions which represent workers is monitored by the Office of Labor-Management Standards. Benefits for certain transportation workers are protected by ESA programs.

Approximately $276.1 million, including $8.7 million for new initiatives, is budgeted for the promotion of the economic security of workers and families in FY 1999. In addition, $20.3 million from Fair Share funds in the FECA Special Benefit Account is allocated to this goal. The major new FY 1999 initiatives associated with this goal are described below:

FY 1999 Wage and Hour Division

• The FY 1999 budget focuses additional resources on protection of children in the workforce by doubling the current level of effort with select initiatives. As part of the President's Child Labor Initiative, additional funding will be focused on Child Labor in Agriculture, targeting additional resources to increase compliance with child labor and other labor standards particularly in agriculture. With these resources, the Wage and Hour Division will double its FY 1997 level of effort, specifically targeting those crops and regions where data and experience suggest the prevalence of child labor violations ($3 million and 36 FTE).
• Funding is provided for a Child Labor Hazardous Order Initiative to rewrite the Orders, which pertain to child safety in the workplace, to reflect current technologies, hazards and other workplace factors ($1 million).

FY 1999 Office of Workers' Compensation Programs:

When a worker covered by Office of Workers' Compensation Program mandates becomes disabled by work-related injury or illness, the program is pledged, when possible, to return that worker to gainful employment as quickly as is medically appropriate, and meanwhile, to assist with income replacement benefits, medical treatment, and rehabilitation services. OWCP also has a fiduciary responsibility to contain costs and enhance the security and integrity of its benefit funds. Significant improvements in claims processing, case management, customer service, ADP and communications technology, lowering administrative costs, and achieving stable or declining benefit costs have characterized OWCP programs in recent years and the FY 1999 budget extends OWCP's ability to continue in these achievements. It should be noted that none of these initiatives are increased costs to General Revenues, rather each Special or Trust fund will bear the costs for improved financial integrity.

FY 1999 FECA Program Initiatives:

• Expand resources for the Periodic Roll Management Project of the Office of Workers' Compensation Programs by 58 employees and $3.2 million. This project is designed to reduce the costs of the Federal government's workers' compensation program by re-evaluating long-term disability cases. The Project has been very successful in resolving injuries and identifying potential for return-to-work in long-term disability cases, producing $246 million in compensation benefit savings since 1992. The entire project (which totals $6.7 million) is funded from the fair share collections in the Special Benefits account rather than General Revenue. In FY 1998, the existing project of 62 staff and $3.5 million was funded with General Revenues. With the expansion of the PRM project, the total estimated savings in benefit payments by the Federal government from FY 1992 through FY 2002 will be approximately $672 million.
• Strengthen FECA benefit cost controls with commercial software and additional staff to screen medical bills prior to payment to identify duplication and abusive billing practices by medical providers, and evaluate and address questionable billings ($1.1 million and 20 FTE).
• Continue the process of moving towards a "paperless" FECA office through purchase and installation of document imaging hardware and software, additional storage capacity, and upgrade of local and wide area networks ($4.7 million).
• Improve government-wide financial reporting by development of a new FECA future liability model to calculate Federal agencies' future liability for workers' compensation as required by the CFO Act and to measure FECA performance against industry-wide benchmarks ($500,000).

• Enhance fund control and financial audits of the Longshore Special Fund by automating reporting and strengthening the audit process. Underreporting can be reduced thereby resulting in more equitable assessments for the employers/carriers that finance the fund ($912,000).

• ˇ The Black Lung Benefits Program will migrate its automated system from the current mainframe platform to client server architecture, thereby resolving year 2000 compliance issues ($3.3 million).

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DOL STRATEGIC GOAL -- QUALITY WORKPLACES

ESA is committed to fostering workplaces that allow equal opportunities for all employees paid with Federal contracting funds, including women, minorities, the disabled, and veterans. Nearly a quarter of the civilian workforce-about 26 million workers-is employed by Federal contractors or subcontractors.

The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs enforces the laws that require Federal contractors to take affirmative action to promote an equal employment opportunity workplace, and not discriminate. The laws are designed to advance equal employment opportunities generated by Federal taxpayers' dollars so to not perpetuate employment discrimination on the basis of race, gender, national origin, religion, color, disability or status as a covered veteran. ESA's FY 1999 budget contains $68.1 million.

• To support the Administration's efforts to increase compliance with and strengthen enforcement of civil rights laws, OFCCP will continue the enhanced three-pronged Fair Enforcement Strategy which includes revised requirements for the Affirmative Action Plan, full implementation of the Affirmative Action Program Summary Report, and enhanced tiered compliance review enforcement. The technical assistance strategy includes guides and seminars nationwide for Federal contractors and others, to ensure that Federal contractors and Federal contracting officers are fully aware of contractors' responsibilities.
• Major efforts will also continue to eliminate the "glass ceiling" for women and minorities through Corporate Management Reviews. These reviews identify artificial and attitudinal barriers that prevent women and minorities from advancing to mid- and upper-level management and executive positions in major corporations and bring the affirmative action and discrimination issues to the attention of the highest levels in corporate America.
• OFCCP will continue to encourage Federal contractors to develop and increase the use of outreach and training opportunities for minorities, women, veterans and individuals with disabilities, and will coordinate reviews among its regions for multi-establishment corporations to prevent excessive burden on any one Federal contractor.

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FY 1999 Performance Goals and Indicators

This section presents ESA's FY 1999 performance goals and indicators organized by the DOL Strategic Goals.

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Strategy for Validation of Performance Measures and Indicators

ESA continues to develop measurement systems to track performance against the goals and objectives in the Strategic and Annual Performance Plans, and will ensure that the measures meet appropriate statistical requirements (i.e., the measures are reliable and valid).

In addition, the Office of Inspector General will conduct audits under the Chief Financial Officer's Act and the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) to verify measured values of actual performance by all agencies of the Department. 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 regional, area, and field offices to ensure the integrity and completeness of reported data.

Finally, a number of the program strategies within each of the goals include the direct delivery of services to ESA's customers -- the American public. Thus, the quality of ESA employees' interaction with their customers is an important element in measuring program success. As a result, the evaluation of ESA programs will focus not only on performance results data, but will also address how well customers' needs are being met. The reliability, responsiveness, and the soundness of technical assistance provided will be measured, for example, as ESA employees process and pay claims for workers' compensation programs, respond to worker complaints, assist employers in meeting workplace standards, issue "plain English" regulations, or provide technical assistance. Customer service measures are included in ESA performance goals.

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FY 1999 Performance Goals and Indicators by DOL Strategic Goal

This section presents ESA's FY 1999 performance goals and indicators. For each strategic goal, the section highlights the following:

• DOL Outcome Goal -- The outcomes to be achieved by the Department relative to the Strategic Goal.
• FY 1999 ESA Performance Goal -- The specific targets relative to the outcome goal which will be accomplished in FY 1999. Each budget activity supporting the Performance Goal is identified.
• Indicator -- The measures that will be used to assess progress towards performance goal accomplishment.
• Source of Data -- The measurement system(s) that will be used to collect performance indicator data.
• Baseline -- The baseline year and baseline level against which progress will be evaluated.
• Comment -- Issues related to goal accomplishment, measurement systems, and strategies that provide a context or description of the performance goal or indicator. The relationship of the Performance Goal to the goals in the ESA Strategic Plan (September 1997) is identified.

Following the listing of performance goals for each outcome goal, the Performance Plan provides a summary of the means and strategies that will be used by ESA in achieving the outcome and performance goals. Means and strategies for both sustained efforts and new initiatives are identified.

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DOL STRATEGIC GOAL -- A SECURE WORKFORCE

ESA Programs support the Department of Labor's key priorities for this strategic goal which include achieving increased compliance with minimum wage and overtime requirements; and, enabling working Americans to be economically secure if they suffer workplace injuries. ESA's FY 1999 Performance Goals and strategies that support the following Departmental outcome goals

• Increase compliance with worker protection laws
• Protect worker benefits

are presented below.

• I.4Goal I.4 was eliminated because the indicator is ambiguous. The result of receiving fewer complaints concerning union officer elections, while possibly an indication that more union officer elections are being conducted democratically in accordance with LMRDA standards, could also be an indication that union members are not exercising their right to file union officer election complaints under the LMRDA.

ESA's Means and Strategies to Increase Compliance with Worker Protection Laws:

Sustained Efforts in FY 1999:

• ESA will continue its initiatives to increase the effectiveness of its enforcement efforts and improve compliance with labor standards through the targeting of enforcement initiatives alongside compliance assistance through education and outreach specifically to low wage industries.
• ESA will establish baselines through investigation-based compliance surveys; evaluate the effectiveness of various forms of intervention; and develop partnerships to leverage and catalyze action by others to promote corporate-wide compliance.
• ESA will conduct audits and criminal investigations to enforce Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA) standards for union financial integrity. ESA will also investigate complaints concerning union officer elections, supervise remedial union officer elections, and secure reports required from unions and others under the LMRDA and make them available for public disclosure. Electronic improvements to the submission and disclosure of the union financial reports, forms LM 2, 3, and 4, will be developed.
• ESA will continue to expand partnerships with international unions to promote voluntary compliance by affiliates and to direct compliance assistance to all union officials. It will also develop and provide outreach to union members to promote the objectives of the LMRDA. A program of compliance assistance contacts will be continued that targets unions scheduled to elect officers in FY 1999 whose previous election was investigated by the agency. A program of contacts at the field office level to promote timely reporting by unions with receipts of more than $200,000 that were delinquent in the prior year will also be continued.

Significant New or Enhanced Efforts in FY 1999:

• ESA will increase the rate of compliance with fair labor standards laws and regulations in targeted industries and implement industry compliance surveys and other cost-effective methodologies to establish baseline performance levels and to measure the change in compliance rates in a statistically valid manner. It will also conduct compliance surveys to establish baselines in the meat packing, lettuce, landscaping and home health care industries.
• As part of the President's child labor initiative, ESA will increase its focus on increasing compliance with child labor and other labor standards in agriculture, and will when necessary take action in the courts to enforce compliance. Additional resources will enable Wage and Hour to double its FY 1997 level of effort, while specifically targeting those crops and regions where the data and experience suggest the prevalence of child labor violations.
• ESA will continue to provide information to employers and workers currently covered by the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) concerning the rights and responsibilities established by the Act and to resolve FMLA complaints. In addition, ESA will expand its education and outreach programs to inform individuals and employers newly-covered by any expansion of the FMLA of its provisions.
• ESA will continue to provide information to employers and workers currently covered by the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) concerning the rights and responsibilities established by the Act and to resolve FMLA complaints. In addition, ESA will expand its education and outreach programs to inform individuals and employers newly-covered by any expansion of the FMLA of its provisions.
• ESA will reduce the rate of recidivism in targeted industries for fair labor standards violations and implement industry compliance surveys and other cost-effective methodologies to measure the change in recidivism and the relationship between recidivism and the type of interventions used.
• ESA will strengthen processes for assessment and collection of backwages owed to employees by firms found not in compliance with labor standards, including the redesign of the information systems supporting this area.
• ESA will develop and initiate computer-based improvements to the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA) reporting and disclosure processes, including a system for electronic submission of the LM 2, 3, and 4 union financial reports and a computer database of information from these reports that is accessible through the Internet.
• ESA will initiate a new "self-audit" program for local unions with less than $50,000 in annual receipts and will develop a computer-based program for agency use in auditing union reports to enhance the detection of reporting deficiencies and potential embezzlement leads.

Sustained Efforts in FY 1999:

• ESA will reengineer the Davis-Bacon wage survey/determination system and determine source(s) for wage data. ESA is also establishing baselines to evaluate the results of the reengineering effort in areas such as: response time on calls and letters, customer satisfaction, valid complaints of the wage determination rates of the four types of construction covered by the Davis-Bacon Act.
• ESA will reduce compensation and medical expenditures, and improve management of the FECA compensation fund. ESA will implement technology upgrades in all of its benefit programs to improve service, reduce costs of providing benefits and customer burdens, and meet year 2000 conversions requirements.
• ESA will continue the Quality Case Management Program in which new injury cases receive early intervention from nurses allowing case management to begin at a point when it can be much more effective. Working with all Federal employing agencies, ESA will promote light duty and other new job opportunities for returning workers to work, and speed the flow of information to improve the quality of case handling.
• ESA promotes a secure workforce by making its Federal Employees' Compensation Program a model for workers' compensation programs. FECA's non-adversarial structure allows ESA to work in partnership with employee unions and Federal agencies to achieve better outcomes. FECA has developed new disability management strategies, such as Quality Case Management and Periodic Roll Management, emphasizing early return to work as a winning outcome for both workers and employers.
• ESA will improve the timeliness and quality of responses to inquiries, including increasing the proportion of customer inquiries receiving information immediately via electronic means (Interactive Voice Response and Agency Query System).
• ESA will continue building new and improved ADP tools to support the timeliness and quality of Federal employee compensation case handling, case management, and return to work.
• ESA's Longshore and Black Lung programs contribute directly to a secure workforce by ensuring the provision of accurate and timely compensation to persons affected by workplace injuries and, in the case of Longshore, operate a second injury fund which promotes rehiring of disabled workers by mitigating potential costs to employers.
• The proposed revised Black Lung regulations have been published and extensive comments are being reviewed. After new regulations are finalized, staff training in cooperation with the Office of the Solicitor will follow.
• ESA will issue employee benefit protection certifications in a streamlined manner to ensure the timely release of federal transit grant funds by the Department of Transportation (DOT).
• ESA will use the results of customer surveys and information received during technical assistance and outreach seminars to identify and correct any timeliness and accuracy deficiencies.

Significant New or Enhanced Efforts in FY 1999:

• ESA will expand the Periodic Roll Management project to cover all remaining unreviewed FECA cases; develop an improved model for forecasting FECA benefit costs, as required by the Chief Financial Officer Act of 1990 for financial statement disclosure; and develop a paperless system using imaging and electronic data interchange (EDI) technology for FECA claims and benefit delivery processes. ESA will implement fee schedules for pharmacy and inpatient hospital services under FECA (assuming regulatory authority is established). Commercial software will be installed to screen incoming medical bills for duplicate charges and abusive billing practices, and FECA staff will conduct special reviews to evaluate and resolve questionable medical billings prior to payment authorization.
• ESA will develop, install, and test next-generation software to reduce the incidence of Longshore Special Fund annual assessment under-reporting through the conversion of manual compilation of employee/carrier Reports of Payments (LS-513) and Reports of Injury Experience (LS-274) to an electronic verification process, thereby reducing paperwork burden and increasing the accuracy of the data. This conversion will enhance the fiscal integrity of the fund by ensuring adequate and equitable assessments. ESA will also use trained and experienced staff auditors to review incoming data and produce better and more timely potential assessment underreporting information, for targeting audits.
• The Black Lung program will convert its mainframe COBOL medical bill payment/case management information system to client-server architecture and simultaneously achieve Year 2000 compliance.
• ESA will begin to update child labor hazardous orders, which are regulations that prescribe protections for children from hazardous occupations, to reflect current technologies, hazards, and other workplace factors.
• ESA will initiate a comprehensive effort to rewrite its regulations in plain language and conduct impact studies required by the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act, the Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980, and the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996.
• ESA will invest $4.7 million in new document imaging hardware and software and network upgrades to expand development of a paperless system to improve benefit delivery and customer service, and reduce costs.
• ESA will take the lead in working in partnership with all Federal employing agencies to speed new injury reporting so that earlier case management can begin, improve the flow of information to improve the quality of case handling, and promote light duty and other new job opportunities for returning workers to work.

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DOL STRATEGIC GOAL -- QUALITY WORKPLACES

ESA Programs support the Department of Labor's key priorities for this strategic goal which include increasing the representation, advancement, and promotion of women, people of color, veterans, and the disabled in jobs. ESA's FY 1999 Performance Goals and strategies that support the following Departmental outcome goal

• Foster equal opportunity workplaces

are presented below.

Quality Workplaces: Foster quality workplaces that are safe, healthy, and fair

DOL Outcome Goal Foster Equal Opportunity Workplaces

Sustained Efforts in FY 1999:

• ESA will fully implement a tiered compliance evaluation strategy that increases the number of contacts with Federal contractors, and allows the flexibility to tailor reviews to indicated problems without conducting a full investigation in every case. ESA will implement its re-engineered compliance evaluation processes, and provide technical assistance, including grass-roots seminars and technical assistance training sessions for on-going contractors as well as new and small contractors that may not have the expertise to develop Affirmative Action Program Plans.
• ESA will conduct grass roots seminars and technical assistance training sessions for organizations, employers, minority youth, veteran service organizations, disability rights organizations, and allied groups to disseminate publications, guidebooks, studies, and Internet communications on key issues.
• ESA will continue promotion of best practices in affirmative action and anti-discrimination programs by acknowledging "high roaders" with the Exemplary Voluntary Efforts (EVE) Award, the Opportunity 2000 Award and the Exemplary Public Interest Contribution (EPIC) Award.

Significant New or Enhanced Efforts in FY 1999:

• As part of the President's civil rights initiative, ESA will increase the coverage of the Federal contractor universe by instituting a flexible review process that allows many more contractors to be contacted regarding their compliance with the EEO and non-discrimination provisions of their Federal contracts.
• ESA will implement a compliance assistance strategy, including development of guides for Federal contractors to conduct self-analyses of personnel activities to identify and resolve problem areas.
• ESA will continue developing systems to collect, analyze and disseminate information on the Affirmative Action Plan (AAP) Summary Report electronically; automate the management information system; permit online filing and reporting by contractors and complainants; and establish network connections for all of OFCCP's field offices.

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Cross-Cutting Programs and Issues

The accomplishment of the performance goals outlined in ESA's FY 1999 Annual Performance Plan requires coordination and integration of programs and activities not only within ESA but also among other DOL, Federal government, and State and local government agencies. ESA's coordinated efforts are centered around the Department's Strategic Goal 2: A Secure Workforce and Strategic Goal 3: Quality Workplaces. In accomplishing these goals ESA will:

Achieve compliance with the laws, regulations, and Executive Order that ESA is charged with administering and enforcing;

Minimize the human, social, and financial cost of work-related injuries; and

Improve customer satisfaction.

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Achieve Compliance with the Laws, Regulations and Executive Order that ESA is Charged with Administering and Enforcing

In addition to the various labor standards statutes which ESA's Wage and Hour Division (WHD) is responsible for enforcing, WHD also enforces the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standards relating to field sanitation and temporary labor camps. OSHA collaborates by enforcing the whistleblower provisions of the seven environmental statutes previously enforced by WHD. Terms of a Memorandum of Understanding between ESA's WHD and OFCCP provide for information exchange and effective enforcement of the Family and Medical and Leave Act. Cooperative efforts exist between ETA, OSHA, Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), the Department of Defense, the General Services Administration (GSA), the Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Pension and Welfare Benefit Administration and others. Examples of these cooperative efforts include partnerships with ETA relating to migrant and seasonal labor issues, and close cooperation with DOD and the GSA with respect to applicable wage determinations for government contract services.

MOUs exist between ESA/OFCCP and the Department's Employment and Training Administration, Bureau of Apprenticeship and Training (BAT) and Job Corps. In addition, ESA/OFCCP partners through inter-agency agreements with EEOC, HUD, Department of Justice/Office of Special Counsel, the INS, the Veterans Employment and Training Service, DOT/Federal Highway Administration, and the Department of Education (DoEd). Coordinated efforts of the various inter-agency agreements range from assuring compliance with Executive Order 11246, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act of 1994, to increasing equal employment opportunities for women and minorities in skilled trades.

ESA/OLMS maintains liaison with other law enforcement agencies to share information and to promote effective inter-agency cooperation. In LMRDA criminal enforcement matters cooperation may extend, as appropriate, to participation in joint investigations with other agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Internal Revenue Service, Pension Welfare Benefits Administration, and the DOL Office of Inspector General. The OLMS Division of Statutory Programs enables the timely release of Federal transit grants by the Department of Transportation by certifying protective arrangements for transit employees within established time frames.

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Minimize the Human, Social, and Financial Cost of Work-Related Injuries

Examples of partnership activities with other agencies are the current efforts to encourage timelier submission of Federal injury reports and claims thereby enabling ESA/OWCP to intervene earlier to provide case management and medical oversight, and get workers ready to go back to work. Under agreements with various DOL agencies, OWCP sponsors a Return-to-Work program involving agency coordinators and OWCP claims and nursing staff. Direct electronic submission of forms, and information accessible through Internet technology promote these objectives.

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Ensure Customer Satisfaction

ESA maintains partnerships with other DOL, Federal, State and local agencies, contractors, complainants, labor unions, community groups, and other organizations through information sharing and joint enforcement efforts.

Under the terms of an MOU with the Social Security Administration (SSA), ESA/OWCP has undertaken administration of SSA's Black Lung Part B program. By consolidating administration of the two Black Lung benefit programs, OWCP will provide improved customer services in this area at a lower overall cost.

ESA/OLMS will implement new computer applications to modernize the Labor-Management Reporting Disclosure Act (LMRDA) reporting and public disclosure processes. This is a continuation of the initiative begun in FY 1998 to advance the development of systems for the electronic filing of LMRDA reports and for enhanced public disclosure through Internet access.

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Management Issues

ESA's Annual Performance Plan establishes a management framework for linking the program, administrative and management operations of the agency's four major programs.

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INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY STRATEGY

The Employment Standards Administration's future ADP environment will require expansion and growth with minimal disruption and alteration to existing systems. Whenever practical, ESA programs will share ADP resources and systems to increase efficiency and minimize costs. Expanded ADP services and access will be driven by the demands of both external and internal ESA customers. As technology offers more comprehensive, more cost effective and faster access to data and services, ESA's customers will expect the same level of technologic sophistication offered by other private and public sector enterprises.

ESA requested additional resources in the FY 1999 budget to provide effective support for information technology and resources. Following is a description of ESA's new information technology initiatives:

• ESA's FY 1999 budget includes $4.7 million to expand the document and new case file imaging pilots through purchase and installation of hardware and software and network upgrades, enabling additional steps toward "paperless" operations. The budget also includes $1.1 million to purchase commercial software, 20 FTE to screen FECA medical bills for improper coding, duplication and other abuses, as well as funding to enhance audits of employer and self-insurer reporting for the Longshore Special Fund.
• An ongoing project to reengineer the entire FECA business process and to redesign the automated systems which support it, will continue with a target for implementation of the redesigned applications software in FY 2000.
• ESA will expand electronic receipt and transmission of data to more Federal agencies and make on-line access to claims records, case law, and other relevant claims processing and adjudication information system-wide a reality.
• The Black Lung program will convert its mainframe COBOL medical bill payment/case management information system to client-server architecture and simultaneously achieve year 2000 compliance.

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ESA is participating with the Department's Office of Chief Financial Officer in a work group effort to implement the accounting provisions of GPRA and FFMIA. The group has set goals and timeframes to meet the various financial standards requirements. For example, one goal of the group is to expand the use of the current Department-wide accounting system to provide managerial cost accounting information in addition to the current financial accounting products in accordance with the requirements set forth in FASAB's "Managerial Cost Accounting" standard number 4. Additionally, this work group will assist ESA management to focus the strategic and performance planning process on the Performance Report: a cost per output/outcome or per program analysis of performance. ESA will continue to be an active participant, meeting the goals/objectives, strategies, and performance measures set in conjunction with the Department, as the Department moves toward compliance with all applicable accounting financial system standards.

ESA is planning a long term staff commitment to the effective integration of cost accounting with performance and budgetary reporting. ESA will continue to invest in training program and administrative staff in the requirements of GPRA and full cost performance reporting to ensure that the cost accounting data and related performance reporting is complete, reliable, comparable, and relevant to program managers, Congress and the public at large.

To address financial issues related to medical bill payment, benefit payment controls, and measurement of government future liability for worker's compensation, ESA's FY 1999 budget includes:

• $1.1 million to purchase new commercial software to screen incoming medical bills for duplicate charges and/or abusive billing practices and 20 FTE to evaluate and resolve questionable billings identified by the system prior to payment, evaluate medical service utilization, and achieve expedited recovery of overpayments (OWCP)
• $500,000 for an econometric study which will accurately project future OWCP/FECA benefits costs for Federal government-wide financial statements required under the CFO Act, provide the framework to measure Federal agencies' success in improving safety and reducing disability costs, and compare the FECA program's outcomes with industry benchmarks.
• $912,000 and 2 FTE to audit incoming data and produce better and more timely potential Longshore Special Fund assessment underreporting information (OWCP/LS).

Implementation of full costing will require staff and funding to modify existing program management information systems, and to ensure that complete and reliable program activity data will be properly aligned with cost elements.

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HUMAN RESOURCES STRATEGY

The Employment Standards Administration will continue to enhance the agency's enforcement capabilities by increasing compliance assistance in specified targeted industries, successfully implementing newly enacted legislation, and providing timely high quality services to the public. Efforts to consolidate regional and field offices, reduce levels of management, establish a better alignment of staff, and increase the proficiency and productivity of staff within available resources will continue. ESA's FY 1999 budget includes additional resources to provide effective support for the agency's financial management and information technology systems which collect and compile data for all program operations and to make improvements in the service delivery and benefit programs.

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Conclusion

ESA's FY 1999 Annual Performance Plan sends the American public a clear message of the purpose and mission of the organization and represents a commitment to the achievement of both ESA's and the Department's Strategic Goals. The Plan presents the programs, activities, and achievements that ESA will strive to accomplish in FY 1999, the means by which its performance will be evaluated, and the standards to which it will be held accountable by Congress and the American public.

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List of Acronyms

AAP Affirmative Action Plan

ADA Americans with Disabilities Act

ADP Automated Data Processing

AQS Agency Query System

BAT Bureau of Apprenticeship and Training

BCDS Backwage Collection and Disbursement System

BL Black Lung

BLDTF Black Lung Disability Trust Fund

BLS Bureau of Labor Statistics

CFO Chief Financial Officer

CFR Code of Federal Regulations

CMP Civil Money Penalties

COBOL Common Oriented Business Operating Language

CTIS Case Tracking Information System

DLHWC Division of Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation

DOD Department of Defense

DOEd Department of Education

DOL Department of Labor

DOT Department of Transportation

EDI Electronic Data Interchange

EEO Equal Employment Opportunity

EEOC Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

EFT Electronic Fund Transfer

EPIC Exemplary Public Interest Contribution

ESA Employment Standards Administration

ETA Employment and Training Administration

EVE Exemplary Voluntary Effort

FASAB Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board

FECA Federal Employees' Compensation Act

FFMIA Federal Financial Management Improvement Act

FLSA Fair Labor Standards Act

FMLA Family and Medical Leave Act

FTE Full Time Equivalent

GSA General Services Administration

GPRA Government Performance and Results Act

HUD Housing and Urban Development

INS Immigration and Naturalization Service

IRS Internal Revenue Service

IVR Interactive Voice Response

LHWCA Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act

LMRDA Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act

LS Longshore

MOU Memorandum of Understanding

OFCCP Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs

OIG Office of Inspector General

OLMS Office of Labor-Management Standards

OSC Office of Special Counsel

OSHA Occupational Safety and Health Administration

OWCP Office of Workers' Compensation Programs

P&F Program and Financing

PRM Periodic Roll Management

PWBA Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration

QCM Quality Case Management

SIC Standard Industrial Classification

SSA Social Security Administration

TBD To Be Determined

USDA United States Department of Agriculture

VETS Veterans Employment and Training Service

VEVRAA Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act

WHMIS Wage Hour Management Information System

WHD Wage and Hour Division

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