Equal Employment Opportunity Commission: Trends and Priorities

This article discusses the current trends in complaints filed at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the agency's priorities for the next five years. It highlights the importance of the EEOC in creating an inclusive workplace for the U.S. society.

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Human Resource Management
Name
Institution

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Introduction
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is a federal government’s
agency created by the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The EEOC’s role is to interpret as well as
enforce the federal laws that prohibit discrimination. Aimed at attaining these goals, the agency
holds hearings, dispense equal employment laws to all federal government’s employees, and
provides regulations for interpreting the law, including litigating discrimination cases.
The current trends in complaints being filled at the EEOC help define the direction to be
taken by the agency in the next five years ("Top 5 Litigation Trends For The EEOC," n.d.). Such
trends comprise of disability discrimination. Over the last three years, there are many disability
discrimination cases being filed at the EEOC specifically because the lawsuits brought under the
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) account to almost one-third of all the agency’s lawsuits.
The other trend is retaliation lawsuits which form a significant portion of the agency’s legal
proceedings. The other current trends complaints filled at the EEOC are pregnancy
discrimination, transgender discrimination, and sexual harassment.
The EOCC offers the employees several opportunities to resolve discrimination charges.
The voluntary processes are used to resolve the claims: first, the agency has expanded its
mediation program. The program is voluntary, free, confidential, and quick. The other process is
settlement whereby the agency’s investigators work with the parties to attain a satisfactory
settlement ("Resolving a Charge," n.d.). In addition, conciliation is the other process EEOC
applies to solve the claims informally. The parties are first notified by letter that the

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investigations establish the existence of “reasonable cause” of the existence of discrimination.
The parties are later invited to engage in a reconciliation discussion.
EEOC has identified six substantive areas of priorities for the financial year 2017-2021
("Strategic Enforcement Plan FY 2017 - 2021," n.d.). The first priority is eliminating recruitment
and hiring barriers. Particularly, the EEOC aims at focusing on the class-based hiring and
recruitment practices that discriminate against, religious groups, race, women, and people with
disabilities, older workers, and ethnic. The other priority is protecting vulnerable employees that
comprise of the immigrant and the migrant employees, as well as the underserved communities
from discrimination. Third, the agency aims at addressing selected developing and immerging
trends in workplace practices, labor force demographics, as well as the law. The other priorities
are ensuring equal pay protection for every employee, preventing systematic harassment, and
preserving access to the legal system.
The EEOC priorities are for the U.S. society because they aim to combat as well as
prevent employment discrimination. Applying the strategic EEOC’s law enforcement authorities
will remedy and stop discrimination practices, offers relief to victims of discrimination,
including ensuring that the enforcement authorities are fairly exercised and efficiently according
to the circumstance of each charge (Mello, 2014). Additionally, the priorities will promote an
inclusive workplace.
Conclusion
The EEOC is a federal government’s agency created by the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and
its role is to interpret as well as enforce the federal laws that prohibit discrimination. An example

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of a current trend is disability discrimination. The EEOC’s are essential because they aim at
creating an inclusive workplace for the U.S society.

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References
Mello, J. A. (2014). Strategic human resource management. Nelson Education.
Resolving a Charge. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.eeoc.gov/employers/resolving.cfm
Strategic Enforcement Plan FY 2017 - 2021. (n.d.). Retrieved from
https://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/plan/sep-2017.cfm
Top 5 Litigation Trends For The EEOC. (n.d.). Retrieved from
https://www.business.com/articles/all-the-rage-the-top-5-litigation-trends-for-the-eeoc/