11/14/2016 EEOC HOT TOPICS. Laws Enforced by EEOC

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1 EEOC HOT TOPICS Laws Enforced by EEOC Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 Equal Pay Act of 1963 Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (federal sector) Civil Rights Act of 1991 Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (GINA) Americans with Disabilities Amendments Act of 2008 (ADAAA) Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of

2 Prohibit Discrimination Based On Race Sex Religion National Origin Color Age Disability Genetic Information Strategic Enforcement Plan A Targeted Approach Focused attention on priorities where government efforts can have strategic impact An Integrated Approach Collaboration, coordination and consistency Accountability Taking ownership to achieve results given existing resources 2

3 EEOC Strategic Enforcement Plan (SEP) Nationwide Priorities : 1. Eliminating Barriers in Recruitment and Hiring. 2. Protecting Vulnerable Workers, Including Immigrant & Migrant Workers, and Underserved Communities from Discrimination. 3. Addressing Selected Emerging & Developing Issues 4. Ensuring Equal Pay Protection for All Workers 5. Preserving Access to the Legal System 6. Preventing Systemic Harassment SEP Priority 1 Eliminating Barriers in Recruitment and Hiring The EEOC will target class-based recruitment and hiring practices that discriminate against racial, ethnic and religious groups, older workers, women, and people with disabilities 3

4 SEP Priority I Eliminating Barriers in Recruitment and Hiring Channeling/steering of individuals into specific jobs Job segregation Restrictive application processes (including online systems inaccessible to individuals with disabilities) Screening tools that disproportionately impact workers based on their protected status Pre-employment tests Background checks impacting African Americans and Latinos Date of birth inquiries impacting older workers Medical questionnaires impacting individuals with disabilities SEP Priority 2 Protecting Vulnerable Workers, Including Immigrant & Migrant Workers, and Underserved Communities from Discrimination 4

5 SEP Priority 2 Job Segregation Harassment Trafficking Pay Retaliation These workers are often unaware of their rights or reluctant or unable to exercise them. SEP Priority 3 Addressing Selected Emerging and Developing Issues The Commission recognizes the following as emerging and developing issues; Qualification standards and inflexible leave policies that discriminated against individuals with disabilities Accommodating pregnancy-related limitations under the ADA/PDA Protecting lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and transgender (LGBT) people from discrimination based on sex Clarifying the employment relationship & application of workplace civil rights protections in light of increasing complexity of employment relationships and structures Addressing discriminatory practices against those who are Muslim or Sikh, or persons of Arab, Middle Eastern or South Asian descent, as well as persons perceived to be members of these groups, arising from backlash against them from tragic events in the US and abroad. 5

6 SEP Priority 4 Ensuring Equal Pay Protections for All Workers The EEOC will continue to focus on compensation systems and practices that discriminate based on sex. The EEOC will also focus on compensations systems and practices that discriminate based on and protected basis, included the intersection of protected bases, under any of the federal anti-discrimination statutes. EEO-1 Pay Data Collection EEOC proposed addition of pay data to EEO-1 Reports on EEOC and OFCCP will collect pay data on EEO-1 to analyze pay by race, ethnicity and gender. Pay would be reported in pay bands by each occupational group After public comment period and hearing EEOC revised the proposal to extend period from Sept to March 2018 so that employers can use W-2. 6

7 SEP Priority 5 Preserving Access to the Legal System EEOC will target policies/practices that discourage or prohibit individuals from exercising their rights under employment discrimination statutes, or which impede the EEOC's investigative or enforcement efforts. Specifically: Overly broad waivers, releases, and mandatory arbitration provisions Employers failure to maintain and retain applicant and employee data and records required by EEOC regulations, and Significant retaliatory practices that effectively dissuade others in the workplace from exercising their rights Retaliation EEOC 7

8 Retaliation On August 25, 2016 EEOC issued new enforcement guidance Provides a Q & A SEP Priority 6 Preventing Systemic Harassment Harassment is one of the most frequent complaints raised in the workplace. 30% of charges filed alleged harassment. 43% in the federal sector. 8

9 Systemic Program July 2016 review of Advancing Opportunity EEOC s Systemic Program ( ) Directly benefited more than 71,000 individuals Recovered almost $533 million Removed barriers to equality in thousands of workplaces Tripled the rate of successful systemic investigations from 21% in 2007 to 64% in 2015 Achieved a 10 year success rate of 94% for systemic lawsuits More than 80% of systemic resolutions in FY15 raised national SEP priority issues, reflecting the EEOC s strategic approach. 30,000 HARASSMENT TRENDS- EEOC 25,000 20,000 15,000 10,000 TOTAL SEXUAL RACIAL 5,000 0 FY10 FY11 FY12 FY13 FY14 FY15 9

10 Monetary Benefits (Millions) EEOC FY15 FY14 FY13 FY12 Racial Sexual ALL Harassment FY11 FY EEOC and Harassment Harassment is an issue that is included in over 30% of all the charges the EEOC receives. Select Task Force on Harassment announced in Jan Commissioners Feldblum and Lipnic co-chair 16 members from Academics, Practitioners, Labor and Law Persistent problem of workplace harassment and best practices to prevent and address harassment. Series of meetings were held and public comment obtained Issued Report 10

11 Task Force Report Workplace Harassment Remains a Persistent Problem. Workplace Harassment Too Often Goes Unreported. There Is a Compelling Business Case for Stopping and Preventing Harassment. It Starts at the Top Leadership and Accountability Are Critical. Training Must Change. New and Different Approaches to Training Should Be Explored. It s On Us. Priority Charge Handling Procedure Implemented in 1995 when agency had 112,000 charges as backlog. 3 years after PCHP, backlog reduced by over 40% 2002, backlog down to 29,000 with average processing time at 160 days. 827 investigators/received 84,000 charges Today EEOC has 1/3 fewer investigators (a little over 550), receipts are at about 90,000 and as of 9/30/16 the pending workload is over 73,000 charges and average processing time exceeds 300 days. 11

12 Digital Charge System All offices have implemented Phase 1 of the Digital Charge System. Phase 1 allows employers to interact with EEOC through a Respondent Portal. Send us your point of contact for serving charges Arkansas - lrao.intake@eeoc.gov 12

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17 Expansions to Digital Charge System EEOC plans to expand the Digital Charge System to add a secure portal for individuals who file a charge of employment discrimination, and To enhance the communications and documents transmitted through the system for both charging parties and respondents. 17

18 On-line Charge Status System Allows Charging Parties to track the progress of EEOC s investigation of a charge, including the mediation and conciliation stages. Respondents can access the system and receive the same information on the status of the charge. Provides up-to-date status on an individual charge. Includes an overview of the process that charges follow from intake to resolution. Includes contact information for EEOC staff assigned to the charge. 18

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20 CONTACT Debra Finney Outreach & Education Manager (501) office (901) cell 20