NT Lakis Managing Partner Rae Vann testified this week before a congressional subcommittee on the topic of “The Need for More Responsible Regulatory and Enforcement Policies at the EEOC.” Ms. Vann was invited to testify on behalf of the Equal Employment Advisory Council (EEAC) by the Subcommittee on Workforce Protections of the House of Representatives Committee on Education and the Workforce. She presented EEAC’s views on the current enforcement activities and priorities of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), and how the agency’s current approach negatively impacts its core mission to address and correct workplace discrimination.
The hearing focused on three important topics involving the EEOC, each of which Ms. Vann addressed in her testimony and during the question and answer session with subcommittee members: (1) the EEOC’s growing individual charge backlog; (2) the benefits of EEOC-sponsored mediation as a charge resolution tool; and (3) the significant added burdens and questionable utility of the agency’s revisions to the EEO-1 Report, scheduled to go into effect next year.
With respect to the EEO-1 changes and in support of rescinding the EEO-1’s new compensation data component, Ms. Vann advised the subcommittee that the added burden to employers in collecting and reporting summary pay data is unlikely to produce any meaningful benefit from an enforcement standpoint, as the newly required data will be of no real help in identifying unlawful or improper pay practices. She also offered a number of recommendations aimed at refocusing the EEOC on its core enforcement responsibilities.
Members of EEAC can read more here.