EEOC Updates Strategic Enforcement Plan, Asks for Input

Author: Marta Moakley, Brightmine Legal Editor

On September 4, 2012, the EEOC released the latest draft of its Strategic Enforcement Plan for Fiscal Years 2012-2016 (SEP). The agency seeks public comments on the draft, which must be submitted by 5:00 pm ET on September 18, 2012.

The EEOC enforces a number of federal employment antidiscrimination laws, including Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 and certain sections of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. The EEOC has proposed a number of initiatives for the upcoming fiscal years, including:

An emphasis on disparate pay and discriminatory language policies in the immigrant and migrant employment sector;
A focus on systemic barriers to recruiting and hiring legally protected classes, including barriers in preemployment screening and exclusionary practices;
The continued application of sex discrimination provisions to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals; and
Attention to emerging legal issues, such as enforcement of the ADA Amendments Act and pregnancy accommodations.

The SEP details the EEOC's existing and planned enforcement priorities. In addition, the SEP contains planned collaboration efforts among different federal agencies, as well as the scheduled integration of existing resources and activities.

Employers may face increased scrutiny in their implementation of workplace policies and procedures as a result of these existing and planned enforcement priorities. HR & Compliance Center offers tools to minimize potential liability with respect to outside investigations. Specifically, the Employer Liability Concerns in Employee Management section of HR & Compliance Center's Employment Law Manual discusses various compliance strategies. In addition, this section has been updated with a link to the new draft of the SEP.

Continue to check HR & Compliance Center for the latest news on this and other key HR compliance issues.