Federal Labor Relations Authority

Plain Writing Act Compliance Report

July 13, 2011

 

I.              Senior Agency Official for Plain Writing:

a.       Senior Agency Official responsible for Plain Writing:

   Sarah Whittle Spooner, Counsel for Regulatory and External Affairs

b.          Plain Language coordinators within the agency:

Gina Grippando, Chief, Office of Case Intake and Publication (Authority Component)

Donna DiTullio, Attorney (FSIP component)

Richard Zorn, Assistant General Counsel for Appeals (OGC component)

 

II.    Explain what specific types of agency communications have you released by making them available in a format that is consistent with the Plain Writing guidelines.

 

 

Type of communications of document or posting. List how this is made available to the public	Who is the intended user and approximate number of potential users	What has changed by using Plain Writing
Press Releases	Federal agency employees, managers and union representatives	Effective communication
OGC Guidances, any other letters directed to customers, e.g., letters regarding the status of cases filed with the Office of the General Counsel	Federal agency employees, managers and union representatives	Staff is sensitized to the need to communicate plainly to the public

 

III.           Inform agency staff of Plain Writing Act’s (Act) requirements:

a.          Information on the Act is posted on both of the FLRA’s intranet and internet sites.

b.          The Plain Language Committee published  a series of Plain Language Tips in the FLRA’s In Session (newsletter) each Friday throughout June.  These Tips covered the Act’s requirements and plain writing suggestions to consider when drafting documents for the public.

IV.          Training

a.    Agency provided the following trainings:

Type of Training	Number of employees trained	Date
Live presentation by Bruce Corsino, FAA Plain Language Program Manager,	60	July 6, 2011
Online training – July 6, 2011 training was videorecorded and is available on FLRA intranet	Ongoing	Ongoing

 

 

V.            Ongoing compliance/sustaining change

a.        Compliance issues should be sent to Sarah Whittle Spooner at engagetheflra@flra.gov

b.        FLRA component coordinators are responsible for documenting and reporting use of plain writing in agency communications

c.        Each FLRA component (the Authority, FSIP, and OGC) is responsible   for developing a plain language clearance process for documents

 

VI.            Agency’s plain writing website:

a.    Website address:  http://www.flra.gov/plain_language

b.    Contact us at:  engagetheflra@flra.gov

c.    Implementation of the Act

                                        i.    Press Releases

                                        ii.    FLRA components will develop a list of documents covered by the Act and a timeline for implementation

   iii.  OMB implementation guidance on the Plain Writing Act of 2010

 

VII.         Customer Satisfaction Evaluation after Experiencing Plain Writing Communications

The public is invited to give us feedback on the FLRA’s Plain Language Initiative and implementation through use of enagetheflra@flra.gov.  We will report on such feedback in future compliance reports.