The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, or EEOC, is a government body responsible for enforcing laws that make it illegal to discriminate against a job applicant or employee for a multitude of reasons. These reasons include a person’s race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, age (40 or older), disability or genetic information.
A New Focus on Eliminating Hiring Barriers
Erin Horton of Mintz Levin – Employment Matters reported last week that in the EEOC’s Strategic Enforcement Plan FY 2013-2016, the number one priority is Eliminating Barriers in Recruitment and Hiring. On the heels of this, staffing firm Sedona Staffing has settled a lawsuit for $920,000 for a series of discrimination charges related to hiring and recruitment.
So what does this mean for your staffing and recruitment firm? It’s another solid reason to pay attention to groups with barriers to employment and reap the benefits. In turn, with the growth of the contingent labor force—and thus the subsequent growth of the staffing industry—the EEOC will pay specific attention to staffing firms. A tenet of the EEOC’s priority to eliminate barriers in recruitment and hiring is focusing on racial, ethnic and religious groups, older workers, women, and people with disabilities. These groups on the whole represent individuals with a variety of barriers to employment, which are unfortunately overlooked and leave millions of dollars on the table each year for businesses across the country.
The Bottom Line
Ensuring that you are eliminating hiring barriers and have a diverse workforce is vital to keeping your business vibrant. And the EEOC is watching to make sure you stay in check along the way.
