The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) – which advances opportunity in the workplace by enforcing federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination – has announced the approval of its Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years 2022-2026 with implementation beginning immediately, according to a press release from the EEOC dated August 22, 2023.
The Strategic Plan serves as a framework for achieving the EEOC’s mission to prevent and remedy unlawful employment discrimination and advance equal employment opportunity for all. The Strategic Plan also sets forth its vision of fair and inclusive workplaces with equal opportunity for all. Highlights of the new Strategic Plan include the following:
- Increased focus on systemic discrimination. The Plan emphasizes expanding the EEOC’s capacity to eliminate systemic barriers to equal opportunity in the workplace, including training staff to identify and investigate systemic cases and devoting additional resources to systemic enforcement.
- Improved monitoring of conciliation agreements to ensure workplaces are free from discrimination after the EEOC makes a finding of discrimination.
- Enhanced intake services to potential charging parties, respondents, and representatives. Under the Plan, the EEOC will focus on improving and expanding access to intake services, increasing the availability of intake interview appointments, and improving overall service to the public.
- Leverage technology and innovative outreach strategies to expand the agency’s reach to diverse populations; vulnerable communities; and small, new, and disadvantaged or underserved employers.
- Promote promising practices that employers can adopt to prevent discrimination in the workplace.
“The new Strategic Plan reflects our thoughtful assessment of the agency’s mission, goals, and objectives in light of current conditions and what we expect in the next few years,” said EEOC Chair Charlotte A. Burrows. “I am grateful for the hard work of our staff across the agency who assisted in developing this plan and look forward to its successful implementation.”
The EEOC advances opportunity in the workplace by enforcing federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination because of a person’s race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, gender identity, and sexual orientation), national origin, age (40 or older), disability, or genetic information. To learn more about the EEOC, please visit www.eeoc.gov.
ClearStar is a leading global Human Resources technology company specializing in background checks, drug testing, and occupational health screening. ClearStar offers pre-employment screening that complies with the EEOC guidance on the use of arrest and conviction records by employers. To learn more about ClearStar, please contact us today.
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Thomas Ahearn - Digital Content Editor
Thomas Ahearn is a Digital Content Editor at ClearStar, a leading Human Resources (HR) technology company specializing in background checks, drug testing, and occupational health screening. He writes about a variety of topics in the background screening industry including Artificial Intelligence (AI), "Ban the Box," class action lawsuits, credit reports, criminal records, drug testing, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), Form I-9, identity theft, privacy, social media screening, and workplace violence.
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