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The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is set to focus more intensely on systemic discrimination and better monitor the conciliation agreements it establishes with employers after it finds discrimination at a worksite. The agency also plans to better use technology and other strategies to reach out to vulnerable workers and underserved populations.
The new priorities are part of the EEOC’s new strategic plan, which the agency announced it adopted Tuesday.
“It emphasizes expanding the EEOC’s capacity to eliminate systemic barriers to equal opportunity in the workplace, using technology and other tools to improve our services to the public, and achieving organizational excellence with a culture of accountability, inclusivity, and accessibility,” EEOC chair Charlotte A Burrows said in a news release.
The new plan sets the agency’s overall priorities for the 2022–2026 fiscal years, and replaces the previous strategic plan adopted in 2018.
Wait, two plans? It’s a separate guiding document from the EEOC’s Strategic Enforcement Plan, a draft of which was released earlier this year, but which commissioners have not yet adopted. HR pros should familiarize themselves with both documents to stave off any potential issues as the commission looks to focus on new priorities.
HR pros should familiarize themselves with both documents to stave off any potential issues as the commission looks to focus on new priorities.
“Employers do not want to find themselves looking down the barrel of a large-scale systemic case when they first learn about a particular EEOC hot spot,” Christopher DeGroff, an attorney with Seyfarth in Chicago, told SHRM in February. “Taking the time to learn what the EEOC is focusing on gives employers an opportunity to shape training, policies and operational decisions in a way that keeps them out of the agency's crosshairs.”
Under that strategic enforcement plan, the agency would prioritize enforcement to protect vulnerable workers, including people with disabilities, people with criminal records, and members of the LGBTQ community.
The agency filed a first-of-its-kind lawsuit against a New York pizzeria earlier this year for alleged repeated discriminatory practices a trans employee faced while working for the restaurant.
The plan would also target bias in hiring when companies use AI to help in the decision-making process, something the EEOC released new guidance about in May. Employers are still on the hook if the tools they use to help make hiring decisions have underlying biases, so talk to your vendors now.