Audit Report on the Compliance of the Equal Employment Practices Commission with Its Charter Mandate to Audit City Agencies

Executive Summary

The Equal Employment Practices Commission (EEPC) is an independent New York City (City) commission authorized by Chapter 36 of the New York City Charter that is responsible for monitoring and evaluating the employment programs, practices, policies, and procedures of all City agencies under its jurisdiction.  The goal of the EEPC is to ensure that all City agencies maintain an effective affirmative employment program of equal opportunity for minority group members and women who are employed by or seek employment with the New York City government.

The City Charter section 831(d)(5) mandates that the EEPC “audit and evaluate” every City agency “at least once every four years” and whenever requested by the Civil Service Commission or the Human Rights Commission. Through its audits, the EEPC makes recommendations to assist City agencies in implementing and maintaining anti-discriminatory practices and to help ensure appropriate procedures for investigating discrimination complaints. The EEPC is also responsible for monitoring agencies’ compliance in implementing the EEPC’s audit recommendations. The EEPC was responsible for auditing 141 City agencies, including 59 community boards, during Calendar Years 2013 through 2016.

Audit Findings and Conclusions

The audit found that the EEPC did not audit and evaluate 27 of the 141 City agencies under its jurisdiction as required by the City Charter during Calendar Years 2013 through 2016 and that it erroneously represented that it was in a position to meet or had met its Charter mandate in its 2015 and 2016 Annual Reports, respectively.

Audit Recommendations

To address these issues, we make three recommendations, specifically, that the EEPC should:

• Strengthen its oversight procedures in the planning of audits to ensure that it complies with its City Charter mandate of auditing and evaluating each City agency every four years;
• Seek clarification from the New York City Law Department of what the EEPC’s auditing and evaluating mandate requires insofar as the opening and completion of City agency audits every four years; and
• Accurately state in its Annual Reports whether it had met the Charter mandate in auditing and evaluating each City agency’s employment practices at least once every four years.

Agency Response

In its written response, the EEPC did not explicitly agree or disagree with Recommendation #1, and it disagreed with Recommendations #2 and #3. Regarding Recommendation #1, the EEPC stated, “Since 2013, the EEPC has strengthened its oversight procedures in the planning of audits to ensure that it complies with its City Charter mandate.” Notwithstanding that strengthening, however, the EEPC omitted 33 agencies that it should have included in its annual audit plans for Calendar Years 2013 through 2016. Accordingly, the EEPC should further strengthen its oversight procedures to ensure that it properly plans the audits necessary for compliance with its City Charter mandate going forward.

In disagreeing with Recommendation #2, the EEPC contended that it needs no clarification from the New York City Law Department on what the City Charter requires in relation to the EEPC’s mandate to audit and evaluate each City agency’s employment practices, procedures, and equal employment efforts at least once every four years. However, the EEPC’s current position concerning when an EEPC audit of a given City agency is complete directly contradicts its prior written statement during the audit, as detailed in the Recommendations section of this report. In light of the inconsistency and the shortfall we found in the EEPC’s completion of mandated audits, the EEPC should seek the recommended clarification from the City’s attorneys.

In rejecting Recommendation #3, the EEPC contended that it “accurately states in its Annual Reports whether it has met the City Charter mandate in auditing and evaluating each City entity’s employment practices at least once every four (4) years.” Here again, however, the EEPC has at different times inconsistently represented the percentage of mandated audits it completed: the EEPC’s current response to our audit states that from 2013 through 2016 the EEPC completed audits at 88 percent of the agencies in its jurisdiction, but its 2016 Annual Report states, inconsistently, that the EEPC “met and exceeded the quadrennial audit mandate delineated in the Charter.”