Yesterday was “Equal Pay Day” – this is the day that the average pay for women catches up to the average pay for men from the preceding year alone.  I had no idea until I received an EEOC email update proclaiming this to be true.   For what it’s worth, apparently today is National Make Lunch Count Day, National Scrabble Day, National Peach Cobbler Day, National Thomas Jefferson Day and, my favorite, National Bookmobile Day.  All worthy causes, to be certain.  On to the EEOC’s latest administrative burden on employers.

EEOC Seeks Revisions to EEO-1 Survey.

On February 1, 2016, the EEOC proposed revisions to add wage and hour information to employers’ yearly EEO-1 report.  This is old news, of course, but as the comment period closed on April 1, 2016, and the EEOC sent me the email of what’s on its radar, I thought it might not be bad to revisit what is likely coming down the pipeline.  The EEO-1 report is required by the EEOC, pursuant to its authority in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII), and sets forth information aimed at detecting discriminatory practices.  The proposed revision is the recommendation of a 2010 Equal Pay Task Force between the EEOC, DOL and the President’s National Equal Pay Task Force.

Who Cares?

The EEO-1 survey is used by the EEOC and the OFCCP (Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs) to analyze and enforce non-discriminatory employment (such as a contractor who hires no minorities).  The EE0-1 survey must be filled out by all employers subject to Title VII with 100 or more employees (this includes corporate enterprises and/or shared ownership) and federal contractors / first-tier subcontractors subject to Executive Order 11246 (government contract over $10,000) with 50 or more employees and a prime contract or first-tier subcontract of $50,000 or more.

However, the EEOC has taken mercy – not all employers will have this additional pay and hours worked data burden (now called “Component 2” of the EEO-1).   
Continue Reading Happy (Belated) Equal Pay Day! EEOC’s Proposed Amendment to the EEO-1 – Requiring Pay Data

Bible at workEver say “bless you” after someone sneezes? Well of course, it’s rude not to, right? So I was taught… How about “wear church clothes” when someone asks you how to dress? Until recently, I have never given it a second thought. However, a unique religious discrimination charge recently had me diving into religious discrimination cases where I came upon the phrase “wear church clothes” used by an employer to an employee (who happened to be Muslim and thus did not appreciate the reference). How that case shook out is a bit of a long story, you can read it here, but it got me thinking that employers (and their supervisors) should be cautious when using phrases with good intentions, yet with historically religious connotations.

So, why am I sharing this, other than I had my own “light bulb” moment this week? On March 8, the Department of Justice announced a new inter-agency initiative, “Combating Religious Discrimination”.
Continue Reading DOJ Announces New Inter-Agency Initiative “Combating Religious Discrimination”