HIRING PRACTICES – Get Ready for the EEOC’s New Strategic Enforcement Plan

written by Cathy Loudon, EVP of Horizon HR Solutions

As many of you are developing your budgets and operational strategic plans, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is doing the same.  They have recently released their priorities for 2013-2016 and will be focusing heavily on discrimination charges.

What does this mean for you as an employer?

The national priorities for the EEOC focus on five key areas that will have a direct impact on your current employment practices:

  • Priority #1:  Eliminating systemic barriers in recruiting and hiring.  Example: Excluding individuals with criminal convictions or steering individuals into specific jobs because of their status in a particular group (i.e. steering women into cocktail waitress jobs and away from bartending)
  • Priority #2:  Protecting immigrant, migrant and other vulnerable workers.  Example: Different pay for minorities and discriminatory language policies.
  • Priority #3:  Addressing emerging issues including ADA protection and LGBT protection under the sex discrimination provisions of Title VII and accommodating pregnancy.  Example: Different pay for minorities and discriminatory language policies.
  • Priority #4:  Preserving access to the legal system.  Example: Failure to retain employment, hiring and other necessary records required by EEOC regulations.
  • Priority #5:  Combating harassment.  Example: Lack of management training on preventing and responding to workplace harassment.

Your current hiring practices and supervision of staff will NOW be a significant focus for the EEOC.  As an employer, a critically important question to ask yourself is…Are you confident your practices and policies can stand up to the scrutiny of an investigation?

What can you do to increase compliance?

As an employer there are several actions you can take to reduce your exposure and risk to employment issues.  The following lists some key activities you can undertake to better ensure your reduced risks:

  1. Conduct an independent audit of your HR practices.  Audits enable you to have a detailed accounting of your employment practices and policies, as well as a plan of action for improving services.
  2. Increase your focus on ADA, LGBT and pregnancy, while improving your harassment training for management and staff. 
  3. Review your hiring processes to ensure you are using sound screening tools to assist in making the right hiring decisions.

The landscape of employment practices has become more and more challenging for small to mid-size employers.  It is always a good idea to retain some outside assistance to ensure compliance.  If you have any questions on the EEOC priorities or the activities to reduce hiring risks and minimize your employment liability, please contact:  Cathy Loudon today at (913) 897-3100 Ext. 12 or email [email protected]

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