Most people think of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission as a sort of workplace sheriff, swooping in when an employee complains about discrimination at a company.
That's because, when the EEOC investigates an employer or charges it with discrimination, it's usually big news that can get even bigger if the case winds up in court, bolstered by the EEOC's findings.
Increasingly, however, employers and executives who run company personnel departments are reaching out to the federal agency to take preventive measures.
The Atlanta regional office of the EEOC presented about 200 training and outreach programs last year — some to private companies with specific issues to address and others to groups of professionals seeking updates on the changing regulations in employment law. Some presentations that address general workplace-discrimination issues are free, while training customized for a particular company can cost $700 or more.
John Fitzgerald, deputy director of the Atlanta EEOC district office, prepares to give an update on legal requirements at the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce. He said the programs are designed to reduce discrimination complaints.
About 60 personnel executives gathered recently at the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce to listen as John Fitzgerald, deputy director of the Atlanta EEOC district office, provided both a general overview of his agency and a specific update on some of the paperwork changes that personnel departments face in 2007.
Fitzgerald told the group that the Atlanta and Savannah EEOC offices logged a combined 5,000 complaints last year.
"So anything we can do to reduce those charges would be welcome," Fitzgerald said. "And you're the frontline people."
For nearly two hours, Fitzgerald walked the group through some steps needed to stay on the right side of employment law.
Some of the new wrinkles:
• Once a person is hired, a form must be filled out to indicate that employee's race. Unlike in previous years, the form calls for Hispanic and Latino applicants to be identified but no race to be assigned.
• It isn't as easy to define an "applicant" as you might think. Employers must keep track of people who identify themselves by race. But in the age of the Internet, thousands of people might e-mail résumés with no real intent or qualification for a specific job. Generally, Fitzgerald said, someone is an applicant if an employer has acted to fill a position and the candidate has expressed an interest in the specific job.
The talk was a bit arcane for a layperson, but the person who arranged for the presentation said the EEOC training drew a healthy response from the chamber's Human Resources Management Group.
"We are so thankful that we have these resources out there so we can stay in compliance," said Vicki West-Younkins, chairwoman of the group. "It's a service that's invaluable."
Terrie Dandy, outreach manager for the EEOC's Atlanta office, said most of the requests she gets for training come from employers who are taking preventive action, instead of waiting until they have problems. Other times, she said, a company has been the subject of a complaint that was dismissed, but managers want to address the issue anyway.
The majority of requests for on-site training at private companies deal with sexual harassment in the workplace, Dandy said.
"People come into the workplace without knowing what the law is," she said. "Employers need to let employees know — through a handbook or other ways — what is inappropriate in the workplace."
Most sexual harassment complaints involve unwanted romantic attention, Dandy said. When someone is persistent after his or her approaches have been rejected, there may be cause for a violation.
But other behavior seems so obviously a problem that it's surprising someone would need a handbook to find out it's inappropriate for the office.
"We've seen some pretty egregious examples of violations," Dandy said. "Egregious as in e-mailing pornography in the workplace. One young lady has been practically sexually assaulted on the job."
The EEOC trainers are quick to point out that they can't tell employers whom to hire. But they can advise how to hire.
Generally, managers can make themselves less vulnerable to discrimination complaints if they treat everyone the same and document how they do that. For example, Fitzgerald said at the chamber, job descriptions should use specific criteria such as "four-year Ivy League degree required" instead of "good college degree required."
And, he said, keeping good records of employment practices and history can come in handy if a company ever faces a discrimination complaint. Many smaller businesses are exempt from the record-keeping, but larger ones must maintain EEOC paperwork that paints a historical picture of hiring practices.
Fitzgerald said that, if paperwork shows that the employer has made an effort to recruit women and minorities into a variety of jobs, its record can be a ready defense if a worker complains of discrimination.
"The EEOC has broad powers to request information," Fitzgerald said. "If a charge is filed against you, as an employer, you want me to go away as quickly as possible."