PBGC highlights commitment to improving language access on anniversary of Executive Order 13166

WASHINGTON, D.C. — As the federal government marks the 24th anniversary of the executive order requiring agencies to provide language services to individuals with limited English proficiency (LEP), the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) is using the milestone to highlight how it has improved customer support in this key area.

“PBGC remains committed to providing excellent customer service to the workers, retirees and beneficiaries we serve,” said PBGC’s Acting Director Ann Y. Orr. “An important part of achieving that goal is eliminating language barriers so that our customers are able to receive important information about their hard-earned pension benefits.”

Since the executive order was signed on Aug. 11, 2000, PBGC has achieved the following:

• Having Spanish-speaking, customer service representatives answering calls in Spanish in PBGC’s Customer Contact Center.
• Using a telephone interpretation service that provides on-the-spot interpreters in 150 languages to serve customers who have limited English proficiency in a language other than Spanish.
• Offering a Spanish website, and adding webpages translated in 24 languages besides Spanish.
• Translating customers’ correspondence — birth, death and marriage certificates, and power of attorney documents — sent in foreign languages using the agency’s in-house translation services, as well as contracted support services.
• Training PBGC employees on matters related to language access and having established best practices and the use of resources to better serve customers with limited English proficiency. 

In the coming year, PBGC will continue to work with its partners on the Federal Language Access Working Group, led by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division to fulfill the promise of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Executive Order 13166 to prevent discrimination and ensure equal treatment under the law.