thCAD0SFA4By William David and Laura Maechtlen 

In 2011, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) invited the public to comment on how its significant regulations could be improved by modifying, streamlining, expanding, or repealing them.  Since opening its doors for public comments, the EEOC has received 93 comments.  The EEOC summarized and responded to these comments, which are publicly available on the EEOC website. The goal is to make the agency’s regulatory programs more effective in achieving its objectives and less burdensome to the public.  Consistent with its practices in 2011, the EEOC again published a notice asserting that it welcomes public comment on a variety of regulatory review topics within the EEOC’s jurisdiction.  Specifically, the EEOC seeks public comment on the following:

  • Which regulations and/or reporting requirements should the EEOC consider for review, modification, streamlining, expansion or elimination, and why?
  • Are any EEOC regulations and/or reporting requirements outdated, ineffective, insufficient, inconsistent, redundant, duplicative or excessively burdensome?
  • Are there alternative regulatory approaches for particular EEOC regulations and/or reporting requirements that would reduce the burden on regulated entities while maintaining the same level of protection for applicants, employees, employers, employment agencies, federal agencies, and unions?  If so, please describe.

How Can Employers Have Their Voices Heard By The EEOC?

Considering the level of public feedback when the EEOC opened its regulations for public commenting in 2011 and the EEOC’s response to that feedback, employers are encouraged to submit comments if they would like to weigh in on EEOC regulations. Between now through April 20, 2015, comments or suggestions may be submitted to Public.Comments.RegulatoryReview@eeoc.gov.  Remember, the EEOC may make comments public, so please do not submit comments that include information you don’t want to make public.

Readers can also find this post on our EEOC Countdown blog here.