FEMA Workforce: Additional Actions Needed to Help Prevent and Respond to Discrimination and Harassment
Fast Facts
A report, based on a 2019 survey, estimated that 29% of FEMA employees experienced workplace discrimination or harassment in the prior year. FEMA has been taking action to address this.
FEMA's efforts incorporated many but not all of the practices recommended by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. For example, FEMA provides annual mandatory anti-harassment training to employees, but the training doesn't fully explain how to file a complaint. And the training gives examples of misconduct that can occur in an office setting but not in field locations—where many FEMA employees work.
Our recommendations address these and other issues.
Highlights
What GAO Found
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)—a component of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)—has taken action since fiscal year 2019 to prevent and respond to discrimination and harassment. FEMA created an office to investigate harassment allegations and developed response policies. FEMA also issued its Culture Improvement Action Plan, which includes anti-harassment and anti-discrimination training and communication campaigns.
In April 2022, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) found that FEMA did not meet 13 requirements in its equal employment opportunity program. FEMA officials said they are taking steps to address these deficiencies and plan to provide EEOC a required compliance report outlining its efforts and progress to address these deficiencies in October 2022.
Further, the EEOC has issued recommended practices for preventing harassment, and FEMA has met most of these practices. For example:
Extent to Which the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Met Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC) Recommended Practices, July 2022
| Recommendation Category |
Anti-Harassment policy |
Training | Complaint System |
Leadership and Accountability |
Total |
| Met | 12 | 13 | 9 | 6 | 40 |
| Partially Met | 1 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 14 |
| Not Met | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
Source: GAO analysis of information from FEMA compared with EEOC’s Promising Practices for Preventing Harassment. | GAO-23-105243
- DHS established the anti-harassment policy and training that apply to FEMA, but these do not fully meet recommended practices. For example, DHS’s policy does not include a statement that DHS (or the relevant component agency, such as FEMA) will provide a prompt, impartial, and thorough investigation. Policy and training that is more consistent with EEOC recommended practices could more effectively communicate key information to employees.
- FEMA’s harassment complaint system generally met recommended practices, but FEMA does not consistently notify employees who allege harassment whether the agency took or will take corrective action. FEMA policy requires managers to provide such notification, but GAO found that managers have not consistently done so. By implementing a control to ensure consistent notification from management, FEMA could better adhere to its policy and promote trust in its complaint processes.
Although FEMA has taken actions to address workplace discrimination and harassment, it has not taken steps that would enable it to determine the effectiveness of its efforts. Specifically, FEMA has not designated an individual or entity responsible for oversight nor has it established goals and measures for its cultural improvement efforts. Taking these steps could help FEMA better monitor its efforts, demonstrate results to its employees, and make any needed adjustments for improvement.
Why GAO Did This Study
Incidents of employee discrimination and harassment can detract from an agency’s mission and hamper its ability to maintain public trust if not effectively addressed. In 2020, the RAND Corporation—under a FEMA contract—estimated that 29 percent of FEMA employees experienced discrimination or harassment related to sex, or race/ethnicity, based on selfreported responses to a 2019 survey.
GAO was asked to review FEMA’s efforts to improve workplace culture. This report examines (1) actions FEMA took since fiscal year 2019 to prevent and respond to discrimination and harassment; (2) the extent to which EEOC has found that FEMA has complied with requirements; (3) the extent to which FEMA's actions have met EEOC recommended practices for preventing harassment; and (4) the extent to which FEMA is overseeing and evaluating its efforts. GAO analyzed FEMA and DHS policies and documentation, compared them with EEOC recommendations, and interviewed FEMA and EEOC officials.
Recommendations
GAO is making four recommendations to DHS and nine to FEMA. Among them, DHS should update its antiharassment policy and training. FEMA should implement a control to ensure— consistent with agency policy—those who allege harassment are notified of whether corrective action has been or will be taken, designate an entity responsible for overseeing cultural improvement efforts, and establish associated goals and measures for its efforts. DHS concurred with these recommendations.
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Homeland Security | The Secretary of Homeland Security should update DHS's Anti- Harassment Policy Statement, consistent with EEOC's Promising Practices for Preventing Harassment, to ensure it includes:
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DHS concurred with this recommendation. In July 2024, DHS issued an updated policy statement that is generally consistent with EEOC's Promising Practices for Preventing Harassment. We consider the updated policy to be responsive to our recommendation.
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| Department of Homeland Security | The Secretary of Homeland Security should update mandatory antiharassment training consistent with EEOC's Promising Practices for Preventing Harassment, to ensure it includes:
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DHS concurred with this recommendation. In July 2024, DHS rolled out updated anti-harassment training for all employees to complete by September 30, 2024. The training includes examples that are tailored to the DHS workplace/workforce, explanations of the information that may be requested during an investigation, and a listing of component-specific contacts for any questions. We consider the updated training to be responsive to our recommendation.
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| Department of Homeland Security | The Secretary of Homeland Security should provide an opportunity for employees to evaluate its anti-harassment training on a reoccurring basis. (Recommendation 3) |
DHS concurred with this recommendation. As of July 2023, officials from DHS's Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties said they expect to implement the ability for employees to provide training feedback by September 30, 2024. In July 2024, DHS rolled out updated anti-harassment training to its new DHS Learning Management System, according to officials. We reviewed the training transcript, and as demonstrated in screenshots DHS provided us, this new system allows employees to provide feedback at the end of every training. We consider this feature to be responsive to our recommendation.
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| Department of Homeland Security | The Secretary of Homeland Security should ensure employee evaluations of anti-harassment trainings are regularly considered for future updates to its training. (Recommendation 4) |
DHS concurred with this recommendation. As of July 2023, in response to Recommendation 3, officials from DHS's Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties said they expect to implement the ability for employees to provide training feedback by September 30, 2024. They also noted that they have made arrangements to receive employee evaluations from the anti-harassment trainings in quarterly batches. As of August 2024, DHS officials said DHS officials said they planned to review employee evaluations of DHS;s anti-harassment training in fiscal year 2025. When we confirm specific actions DHS has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
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| Federal Emergency Management Agency | The FEMA Administrator should update the agency's anti-harassment training for supervisors to include information on (1) how to identify and mitigate risk factors specific to FEMA's workplace, (2) easy-to-understand and realistic methods for addressing harassment, (3) how to report harassment allegations up the chain of command, and (4) FEMA's confidentiality rules associated with harassment complaints. (Recommendation 5) |
DHS concurred with this recommendation. In response to our report, DHS noted that FEMA updated its Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) training courses for employees and supervisors in October 2021 and January 2022, respectively. We reviewed the training materials and determined that these courses do not address our recommendation. For example, the EEO course for supervisors mentions some risk factors that could assist supervisors in identifying harassment risks, however these factors are general rather than specific to FEMA's workplace. Further, the training explains the EEO discrimination complaint process, but does not provide information on how to report harassment allegations up the chain of command through FEMA's anti-harassment complaint processes. As of September 2024, FEMA officials said FEMA's Office of Civil Rights is developing a new mandatory training for supervisors. This training is expected to be available in 2025. We will continue monitoring FEMA's efforts to address this recommendation.
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| Federal Emergency Management Agency | The FEMA Administrator should collect data on time frames for key steps in the adjudication process. (Recommendation 6) |
DHS concurred with this recommendation. In September 2024, FEMA Labor and Employee Relations provided case tracking data that identified dates/time frames for steps in the adjudication process, such as the case received date, date of evidence review, date a discipline proposal is drafted, the date for legal review of the discipline proposal, and the date the decision was issued. Collecting these data could help the Labor and Employee Relations branch better measure how these steps affect the timeliness of adjudication.
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| Federal Emergency Management Agency | The FEMA Administrator should implement a process, using the data on time frames for key steps, to regularly assess and take action to improve the timeliness of key steps in the harassment complaint adjudication process. (Recommendation 7) |
DHS concurred with this recommendation and said it would take steps to implement it. According to FEMA officials, in February 2022, FEMA awarded a contract for a new Labor Employee Relations case management system. Officials said that this new system is undergoing internal testing, and once the system is configured and in use, FEMA will use the system to monitor processing time frames for resolution of harassment complaints. According to officials, as of May 2024, the system is in development. We will continue monitoring FEMA's efforts to address this recommendation.
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| Federal Emergency Management Agency | The FEMA Administrator should implement a control to ensure that, consistent with agency policy, when a manager or supervisor has made a determination on whether harassment has occurred, the individual who made the allegation of harassment is notified whether corrective action has been or will be taken. (Recommendation 8) |
DHS concurred with this recommendation. In July 2023, FEMA issued standard operating procedures (SOP) for its labor and employee relations (LER) staff. For allegations of harassment, the SOP outlines specific steps for LER staff to complete. Among these steps, LER staff are to assist the decision maker in notifying the complainant about whether corrective action will or will not be taken based on their complaint. FEMA developed a template of a memo to notify a complainant of this information, and the SOP requires LER staff to include a signed copy of the memo in the case file. The SOP and the accompanying template will help ensure that complainants are notified whether corrective action will or will not be taken, as is required in FEMA's anti-harassment policy.
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| Federal Emergency Management Agency | The FEMA Administrator should assess harassment risk factors in FEMA's workplace. (Recommendation 9) |
DHS concurred with this recommendation. In June 2023, FEMA identified harassment risk factors based on several internally and externally driven assessments. Specifically, FEMA identified the following harassment risk factors: (1) homogenous workforce, (2) workplaces where some employees do not conform to workplace norms, (3) cultural and language differences in the workplace, (4) coarsened social discourse outside the workplace, (5) young workforce, (6) workplaces with "high value" employees, (7) workplaces with significant power disparities, (8) workplaces that rely on customer service or client satisfaction, (9) workplaces where work is monotonous or tasks are low-intensity, (10) isolated workplaces, and (11) decentralized workplaces. We consider the identification of these risk factors-all of which the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission identifies as possible risk factors for harassment-to be responsive to our recommendation.
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| Federal Emergency Management Agency | The FEMA Administrator should take steps to mitigate the harassment risk factors in FEMA's workplace. (Recommendation 10) |
DHS concurred with this recommendation and said it would take steps to implement it. In response to another recommendation (Recommendation 9), FEMA has identified harassment risk factors. In May 2024, FEMA officials said they are collecting data related to the risk factors. Officials noted that they expect to analyze these data by the end of October 2024, and subsequently, by the end of April 2025, FEMA will assess how the findings from the data relate to the identified risk factors. We will continue to follow-up with FEMA on steps it is taking to mitigate each of the identified risk factors.
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| Federal Emergency Management Agency | The FEMA Administrator should designate an individual or entity to oversee FEMA's culture improvement efforts. (Recommendation 11) |
DHS concurred with this recommendation. In March 2023, FEMA issued its 2023-2027 Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Accessibility (DEIA) Strategic Plan. According to the plan, it serves as the continuation of efforts such as the Culture Improvement Action Plan, which outlined the culture improvement efforts that were the subject of our October 2022 report. The plan notes that a DEIA Executive Council has been formed to provide governance and oversight of the DEIA Strategic Plan, including monitoring the agency's progress against the identified goals and objectives. The DEIA Executive Council is led by the Director of FEMA's Office of Equal Rights and overseen by the Chief of Staff, who serves as the agency's DEIA designee. Other offices, including the Office of the Chief Human Capital Officer and the Office of Professional Responsibility, among others, are also members of the Council. In addition to leading the DEIA Executive Council, FEMA's Office of Equal Rights is tasked with monitoring and tracking the actions of the DEIA strategic plan throughout the year. By designating the Council as an oversight entity, FEMA has established a structure that better positions the agency to monitor its culture improvement efforts and ensure these efforts are effective across the agency.
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| Federal Emergency Management Agency | The FEMA Administrator should establish program goals and outcomebased performance measures for FEMA's culture improvement efforts. (Recommendation 12) |
DHS concurred with this recommendation. FEMA's 2023-2027 Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Accessibility (DEIA) Strategic Plan includes an Implementation Plan, which identifies goals and objectives, including some outcome-based performance measures. Many of the initial outcomes for the first year of the plan are output-based to develop structures that will support future efforts. The plan also includes outcome-based measures, but these are based on successful development of those initial structures, and thus they are planned as measures to use in future years. For example, some of the outcome-based measures rely on responses to the Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey, and the plan states that the baseline year will be Fiscal Year 2025, with success being measured as positive improvement beginning in Fiscal Year 2026. In July 2024, FEMA officials noted they expect to prepare the next update to the plan in early 2025 after completing a year of monitoring current implementation. To fully address this recommendation, FEMA will need to reach the point in its plan that it is using outcome-based measures.
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| Federal Emergency Management Agency | The FEMA Administrator should establish a plan for evaluating FEMA's culture improvement efforts using established program goals and outcome-based performance measures, and take steps to do so. (Recommendation 13) |
DHS concurred with this recommendation. FEMA's 2023-2027 Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Accessibility (DEIA) Strategic Plan outlines goals and measures. In particular, the measures include both quarterly and annual measures. According to the plan, FEMA's Office of Equal Rights is to monitor and track the actions in the plan throughout the year. In July 2024, FEMA officials noted they expect to prepare the next update to the plan in early 2025 after completing a year of monitoring current implementation. We will continue to monitor how FEMA is using the plan to evaluate its culture improvement efforts.
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