Human Resources and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission - Research Paper Example

? Human Resources & Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Introduction The United s Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) began functioning on 2nd July, 1965. It was created by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, 1964 (Strategic Plan for fiscal year 2012-2016, 2013). EEOC enforces federal laws to stop discrimination against an employee or job applicant due to the person's age (40 or more), “color, race, religion, national origin, sex (including pregnancy), disability and genetic information” (About EEOC, 2013). It also states that if any person complained or put forth a charge of discrimination or took part in an investigation or lawsuit regarding employment discrimination, then to discriminate against such a person, would be illegal. Hence it is an integral part of the Human Resources Management in United States. It is headquartered in Washington DC (About EEOC, 2013). EEOC’s Vision is: “Justice and Equality in the Workplace” EEOC’s Mission is to: Stop and Remedy Unlawful Employment Discrimination (About EEOC, 2013) EEOC laws are applicable for almost all employers who have employee strength of minimum fifteen employees. In case of age discrimination, the firm should be of minimum twenty employees. EEOC laws also cover most employment agencies and labor unions. Hiring, firing, training, promotion, wages, benefits, harassment and all other work situations are covered by the EEOC laws. (About EEOC, 2013) The U.S. EEOC is a bipartisan Commission. The President appoints all of its five members. They are the Chair, Vice Chair and the three Commissioners (The Commission, 2013). The President also appoints EEOC's General Counsel (Strategic Plan for fiscal year 2012-2016, 2013). EEOC has a specific strategic plan and the three values that underlie the plan are: Commitment to Justice: The Commission has been entrusted by the Congress, with the duty of enforcing non-discrimination laws of employment for the nation. Accountability: EEOC is accountable to the nation, just like any other federal agency. Integrity: The Commission has to be objective in nature while investigating charges and adjudicating cases. Every person it serves or interacts with during work and every member of the EEOC workforce has to be respected and treated with good manners and professionalism. (Strategic Plan for fiscal year 2012-2016, 2013) Role of EEOC EEOC has the right to investigate any sort of discrimination charges against employers, duly covered by the EEOC law. Their investigation has to be fair and accurate in order to assess the allegations. If it is found that discrimination has taken place, EEOC will first try to settle the allegation. If they are unable to sort it out they have the right to file a lawsuit for the same. However, EEOC does not file lawsuits in every case of discrimination (About EEOC, 2013). EEOC also believes in “prevention is better than cure” that is, it tries to prevent discrimination through various awareness and technical assistance programs, before it occurs. Federal agencies are guided by EEOC on every aspect of equal employment opportunity program. Affirmative employment programs of federal agencies’ are being regularly monitored and evaluated by EEOC (About EEOC, 2013) The company distributes informative and educational materials and provides training, guidance and assistance to all stakeholders, including administrative judges who conduct EEOC lawsuits. (About EEOC, 2013) Laws Enforced by EEOC (listed in the sequence EEOC got authority): Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII), as amended. The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA), as amended The Equal Pay Act of 1963 (EPA), as amended Section 501 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended - prohibits employment discrimination against federal employees and applicants with disabilities. Title I and Title V of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), as amended. The Genetic Information Non-Discrimination Act of 2008 (GINA). (Strategic Plan for fiscal year 2012-2016, 2013) Some recent law-suits: “Pace Solano to Pay $130,000 to Settle EEOC Disability Discrimination Lawsuit”. “Disability Service Provider Refused to Hire Applicant Because of Partial Hand Paralysis, Federal Agency Charged” (Newsroom, 2013) According to the EEOC's lawsuit, during the pre-employment physical exam, when Katrina Holly revealed that she suffered from fractional paralysis in her left hand, VALLEJO, Calif. – Solano County disability services provider - Pace Solano took back their offer of an instructor’s post which they given to her. Holly completed all tests successfully. Occupational health provider of Pace Solano itself clear Holly to do the job but still denied to hire Holly because of her paralyzed hand. Holly was encouraged to apply for the job by a Pace Solano employee. Holly said "I was really without any clue about what to do when I came to know that my job offer was withdrawn simply because of my hand" (Newsroom, 2013). "I am grateful to the EEOC for advocating for workers like me to have the opportunity to prove what we can do, instead of being underestimated due to a disability. (Newsroom, 2013)" Holly will be paid $130,000 by Pace Solano. Also, the company will have to take various steps to provide training to their HR and supervisory personnel regarding anti-discrimination. It will write policies on disability discrimination. It will post a notice about the terms of the decree and will report to the EEOC, periodically, about hiring and training (Newsroom, 2013). "When a county disability services provider commits obvious disability discrimination, that shows the crying need for the ADA and for the EEOC to enforce it," said EEOC Regional Attorney William Tamayo. "And enforcing the ADA continues to be a priority at the EEOC. Disability does not mean inability, and employers who make that mistake and reject qualified applicants run the risk of an enforcement lawsuit by the EEOC." (Newsroom, 2013) “Fannin County, Georgia Sued by EEOC For Age Discrimination.” “County Road Department Workers Older Than 60 Years Old Targeted During Layoffs” (Newsroom, 2013) Fannin County dishonored federal law, according to EOCC. It fired employees older than sixty and preferred to hold on to younger employees. EEOC complained that eleven employees were selected for the layoff, among them seven were older than 60 and four were younger than 60. The complaint also says that within a few months of the layoff incident, Fannin County re-hired three of the younger employees but it did not re-hire any of the employees older than sixty. These allegations violate the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA). The Act states that employers cannot act differently against employees who are 40 years or more in age. The first attempt of EEOC first was to reach a pre-litigation agreement with the help of its conciliation process. After failing in that, it has filed suit. "An employer cannot terminate an employee just on the age ground," said Robert Dawkins, regional attorney for the EEOC's Atlanta District Office. "Here, the facts clearly indicated that Fannin County targeted employees who were 60 years or more in age when it selected employees for a layoff. The EEOC will fight for the rights of older workers, as we are doing in this suit." (Newsroom, 2013) Financial Statements Balance sheet as of September 30, 2012 and 2011 2012 2011 ASSETS Fund balance with Treasury $ 2,352,771 $3,206,507 Accounts receivable (net of allowance) $247,364 $309,920 Advances and prepaid expenses $47,944 $46,569 TOTAL ASSETS $ 2,648,079 $3,562,996 LIABILITIES Accounts payable $38,246 $158,960 Deferred revenue $117,163 $70,605 TOTAL LIABILITIES $155,409 $229,565 NET POSITION Cumulative results of operations $2,492,669 $3,333,431 TOTAL LIABILITIES AND NET POSITION $ 2,648,078 $3,562,996 (Financial Statements, 2013) Statement of Net Cost for the period   2012 2011 Program Costs $4,266,062 $4,256,816 Revenue $3,425,300 $4,364,962 Net Cost (Revenue) $ 840,762 $(108,146) Earned Revenue The EEOC services are chargeable. These services are provided to the public, to other federal agencies and also to some local and state agencies, as requested. The following chart does not include intra-agency transactions. The Commission has also generated some reimbursable revenue from other federal agencies through agreements to provide on-site workforce. Revenue earned by the Commission as of September 30, 2012 and 2011 was as follows: FY 2012 FY 2011 Reimbursable revenue $169,645 $72,000 Fees from services $3,425,300 $4,364,962 Total Revenue $3,594,945 $4,436,962 (Financial Statements, 2013) EEOC Budget Request Summary for Strategic Law Enforcement (Dollars in thousands*) FY 2012 FY 2013 FY 2014( Request) (Actual) (CR) Private Sector Enforcement $314,400 $316,331 $325,381 Administrative Charge Resolution 187,700 188,972 194,935 Mediation 25,090 25,260 26,057 Litigation 72,110 72,599 74,889 State and Local 29,500 29,500 29,500 Federal Sector Enforcement 40,000 40,272 41,542 Hearings 22,716 22,871 23,591 Appeals 12,090 12,172 12,556 Mediation 579 583 602 Oversight 4,615 4,646 4,793 Total $354,400 $356,603 $366,923 (Budget and Performance, 2013) EEOC is a large organization with wide scope of work. It deals with broad spectrum of private and public participants. Thus, with respect to its amount of work, it is seen from that the budget demand has not been very high over the three fiscal years (Budget and Performance, 2013). EEOC Budget Fiscal Year 2012- Fiscal year 2014 (Dollars in thousands*) FY 2012 FY 2013 FY 2014 (Actual) (CR) (Request) Outreach (Non-fee based) $5,600 $5,600 $6,000 Total< $5,600 $5,600 $6,000 The above table shows that the budget demand has increased by only $400 over the fiscal year 2013 (Budget and Performance, 2013). Conclusion From the above statements it is clear that EEOC has been trying to do well with full commitment to fulfill its purpose. However, just as its internal factors, EEOC’s performance depends a lot on the external factors. External factors like upcoming budget, changes in the demography of the country, court judgments, new laws and advancement in technology will influence its work. (Strategic Plan for fiscal year 2012-2016, 2013) Budgetary Factors: The Strategic Plan of EEOC demands no significant increase in funding for fiscal years 2013 - 2016. So, decrease in budget, though will not hamper the work flow much, yet, it will decide how smoothly the work runs for EEOC. (Strategic Plan for fiscal year 2012-2016, 2013) Demographic Factors: Demographic factors like migration patterns, educational levels, aging, size of the population, etc. will necessarily influence the work of EEOC. For example, areas having large immigrants often face national origin discrimination. . EEOC there has to develop expertise discrimination against immigrants. As those populations move in other places, other offices will do the same. Moreover, with shifting populations, the agency might have to re-evaluate its office size and locations (Strategic Plan for fiscal year 2012-2016, 2013) Legal Factors: Legal changes have a strong impact on all federal agencies. EEOC is not an exception. EEOC might have to update guidance and its regulations with the Supreme Court’s interpretation of the laws laid by EEOC. These rulings may impact the priorities of EEOC. Moreover, new laws if passed will require substantial time, for their implementation. (Strategic Plan for fiscal year 2012-2016, 2013) Technological Factors: Technology will influence how well EEOC can start interacting with its customers. Face book, Twitter, etc were not that popular social networking sites when the last Strategic Plan was written. Hence more of such improvisations in technology will affect the performance of EEOC, in terms of reaching to and addressing the issues of people (Strategic Plan for fiscal year 2012-2016, 2013). Just as any other organization faces initial resistance from various directions, EEOC also had to struggle a lot to establish its purpose in the nation. EEOC’s rules were often not taken seriously by the line managers (Delton, 2007). With pure dedication and hard work, EEOC has been able to integrate its values in American businesses, in terms of Human relations. However, EEOC, just as any other organization, has enough scope of improvement in implementing its rules and these improvements are expected to gradually re-build the human relations in the various work places, in a much better way, as time passes (Adams, 1973). EEOC’s training programs are a vital part in combating employment discrimination against individuals. EEOC is improving on its training procedures and processes, so that it can reach to the people in need, more quickly and address their issues more effectively, right at the roots. So, apart from EEOC, each and every other person in the nation also needs to come forward with confidence and honesty to help EEOC establish its purpose. The private and public organizations also need to cooperate much more efficiently with EEOC, for the benefit of all. References Adams, A. (1973). Evaluating The Success of the EEOC Compliance Process, Monthly Labor Review, 96(5), 1, retrieved on October 21, 2013 from: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41839899 About EEOC (2013), EEOC, U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, retrieved on October 21, 2013 from: http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/ Budget and performance,(2013), EEOC, U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, retrieved on October 21, 2013 from: http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/plan/index.cfm Delton, J. (2007). Before the EEOC: How Management Integrated the Workplace, The Business History Review, 81(2), 295, retrieved on October 21, 2013 from: http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/25097339 Financial Statements (2013), EEOC, U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, retrieved on October 21, 2013 from: http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/plan/2012par.cfm FY 2014 Congressional Budget Justification [Previous years], (2013) EEOC U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, retrieved on October 21, 2013 from : http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/plan/2014budget.cfm#0.1.0.2__Toc351727651 Strategic Plan for fiscal year 2012-2016,(2013) EEOC, U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, retrieved on October 21, 2013 from: http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/plan/strategic_plan_12to16.cfm Read More