{"id":166,"date":"2022-11-07T18:03:29","date_gmt":"2022-11-07T22:03:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/classactiondefense\/?p=166"},"modified":"2022-11-07T18:03:29","modified_gmt":"2022-11-07T22:03:29","slug":"what-employers-should-know-about-the-eeocs-draft-strategic-plan-for-fy-2022-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/classactiondefense\/2022\/11\/07\/what-employers-should-know-about-the-eeocs-draft-strategic-plan-for-fy-2022-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"What Employers Should Know About The EEOC\u2019s Draft Strategic Plan For FY 2022-2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>By Gerald L. Maatman, Jr., Jennifer A. Riley, Rebecca S. Bjork, and Gregory Tsonis<\/p>\n

Duane Morris Takeaways:<\/strong> On November 4, 2022, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission released a preliminary draft of its 2022-2026 Strategic Plan<\/a>.\u00a0 A<\/em>ccording to its preliminary draft, t<\/em>he EEOC plans to focus its internal operations over the next four years to make changes that it hopes will improve its performance securing targeted injunctive relief and conducting systemic investigations, along with its use of technology to process charges and conciliate them.\u00a0 The four-year plan \u2013 which is distinct from the EEOC\u2019s strategic enforcement plan, still to be released<\/em> in the coming months<\/em> – was published in the Federal Register and is open for comment until December 4, 2022. \u00a0Even if employers do not submit comments, they would be well-advised to review the draft and final Plan once it is announced because it provides a window into the EEOC Commissioners\u2019 thinking for how the agency will use its resources to redress and deter workplace discrimination.\u00a0 <\/em>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Introduction<\/strong><\/p>\n

Every four years, the EEOC prepares a Strategic Plan that drives how it will improve its internal operations to better enforce federal anti-discrimination laws.\u00a0 The Plan for 2022-2026 that has now been published in the Federal Register is important because once it is finalized after the review and comment period expires, it will set forth specific goals along with performance metrics to measure how well those goals are being met. \u00a0The key elements of the draft Plan and why they are important are critical data points for employers.<\/p>\n

Operational Improvements And Performance Metrics Sought By The EEOC<\/strong><\/p>\n

The 2022-2026 Strategic Plan draft signals that when investigating private sector employers, the EEOC will focus its internal operations on four key areas.\u00a0 First, the EEOC will ensure that by FY 2025, \u201c90% of EEOC conciliations and litigation resolutions contain targeted, equitable relief and that level is maintained through FY 2026.\u201d\u00a0 (Draft Strategic Plan at 15.)\u00a0 The draft Plan explains the EEOC\u2019s view that such a goal likely would improve compliance with the statutes enforced by the agency nationwide.<\/p>\n

Second, between FY 2022 and 2026, the EEOC aims to continue to \u201cfavorably resolve at least 90% of enforcement lawsuits.\u201d\u00a0 (Id<\/em>. at 16.)\u00a0 On this point, the EEOC explains that because its systemic litigation program is resource intensive, this goal is important to enable the agency to use its resources in a wise and efficient manner.\u00a0 Employers who have faced systemic lawsuits are well-aware of the amount of litigation resources they can consume, both for the companies involved and the EEOC.<\/p>\n

Third, \u201cIn each year through FY 2026, the EEOC will provide training to all field staff on identifying and investigating systemic discrimination, and at least 90% of investigators and trial attorneys will participate in systemic training each year.\u201d\u00a0 (Id<\/em>.) \u00a0The draft Plan explains that the purpose of this goal is \u201cexpanding the EEOC\u2019s capacity to conduct systemic investigations, resulting in a coordinated, strategic, and effective approach to systemic enforcement.\u201d\u00a0 (Id<\/em>.)\u00a0 This likely signals that the draft Strategic Enforcement Plan will continue to emphasize and prioritize the EEOC\u2019s use of pattern or practice lawsuits to enforce the statutes over which Congress gave it authority.<\/p>\n

Fourth, \u201cthe EEOC will make significant progress toward enhanced monitoring of conciliation agreements, leading to a more robust compliance program.\u201d\u00a0 (Id<\/em>. at 17.) \u00a0The Commission\u2019s focus here is to implement \u201cstreamlined and standardized procedures, improved tracking and internal reporting mechanisms, and related training for EEOC field staff\u201d to ensure that conciliation agreements are reached and enforced.\u00a0 (Id<\/em>.).<\/p>\n

Finally, the EEOC continues to be aware that its charge intake process needs work.\u00a0 The draft Plan pledges to leverage technological advancements to \u201cenhance its intake services to potential charging parties, respondents, and representatives.\u201d\u00a0 (Id<\/em>. at 19.)<\/p>\n

Implications For Employers<\/strong><\/p>\n

The EEOC\u2019s FY 2022-2026 draft Strategic Plan is a document that provides insight into the direction the agency will take to improve how it functions.<\/p>\n

With a nod the old E.F. Hutton TV commercial, \u201cwhen the EEOC speaks, employers should listen\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Gerald L. Maatman, Jr., Jennifer A. Riley, Rebecca S. Bjork, and Gregory Tsonis Duane Morris Takeaways: On November 4, 2022, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission released a preliminary draft of its 2022-2026 Strategic Plan.\u00a0 According to its preliminary draft, the EEOC plans to focus its internal operations over the next four years to … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “What Employers Should Know About The EEOC\u2019s Draft Strategic Plan For FY 2022-2026”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":575,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[57,40,31,58,35],"ppma_author":[7,9,11,8],"class_list":["post-166","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-eeoc-litigation","tag-conciliation","tag-discrimination","tag-eeoc","tag-enforcement-lawsuit","tag-systemic"],"authors":[{"term_id":7,"user_id":575,"is_guest":0,"slug":"gmaatman","display_name":"Gerald L. Maatman, Jr.","avatar_url":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/classactiondefense\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/09\/maatmangerald-100x100.jpg","0":null,"1":"","2":"","3":"","4":"","5":"","6":"","7":"","8":""},{"term_id":9,"user_id":576,"is_guest":0,"slug":"jariley","display_name":"Jennifer A. Riley","avatar_url":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/classactiondefense\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2023\/08\/rileyjennifer-100x100.jpg","0":null,"1":"","2":"","3":"","4":"","5":"","6":"","7":"","8":""},{"term_id":11,"user_id":579,"is_guest":0,"slug":"rsbjork","display_name":"Rebecca S. Bjork","avatar_url":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/classactiondefense\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/09\/bjorkrebecca-100x100.jpg","0":null,"1":"","2":"","3":"","4":"","5":"","6":"","7":"","8":""},{"term_id":8,"user_id":577,"is_guest":0,"slug":"gtsonis","display_name":"Gregory Tsonis","avatar_url":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/classactiondefense\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/09\/tsonisgreg-100x100.jpg","0":null,"1":"","2":"","3":"","4":"","5":"","6":"","7":"","8":""}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/classactiondefense\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/classactiondefense\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/classactiondefense\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/classactiondefense\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/575"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/classactiondefense\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=166"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/classactiondefense\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/classactiondefense\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=166"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/classactiondefense\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=166"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/classactiondefense\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=166"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/classactiondefense\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=166"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}