• EEOC Seeks Input on Strategic Enforcement Plan

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The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has released for public comment a draft of its Strategic Enforcement Plan. The agency lists the following as its “Nationwide Priorities”: 1. Eliminating Systemic Barriers in Recruitment and Hiring. The EEOC will target class-based intentional hiring discrimination and facially neutral hiring practices that adversely impact particular groups. 2. Protecting Immigrant, Migrant and Other Vulnerable Workers. The EEOC will target disparate pay, job segregation, harassment, trafficking and discriminatory language policies affecting these vulnerable workers who may be unaware of their rights under the equal employment laws, or reluctant or unable to exercise them. 3. Addressing Emerging Issues. The EEOC will continue its efforts to address emerging employment issues in the nation's workforce. Given EEOC's research, data collection and receipt of charges and complaints in the private, public and federal sectors, the agency is well-suited to identify emerging trends and potential discriminatory practices 4. Preserving Access to the Legal System. The EEOC will also target policies and practices intended to discourage or prohibit individuals from exercising their rights under employment discrimination statutes, or which impede the EEOC's investigative or enforcement efforts. These policies or practices include retaliatory actions; overly broad waivers; settlement provisions that prohibit filing charges with EEOC or providing information in EEOC or other legal proceedings; and failure to retain records required by EEOC regulations. 5. Combating Harassment. For many years, the EEOC has focused administrative and enforcement efforts to curtail workplace harassment on the basis of race, color, sex, ethnicity, age, disability and religion. Nevertheless, these practices - often the most pernicious and direct - persist. ”Comments must be submitted by 5:00 pm ET on September 18, 2012 at strategic.plan@eeoc.gov or received by mail at Executive Officer, Office of the Executive Secretariat, U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 131 M Street, NE, Washington, D.C. 20507. The Commission plans to vote on the draft plan at the end of this fiscal year.” Source: EEOC

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