Under the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission laws and regulations, what are Fair Employment Practice Agencies? Here’s my point of view.
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THE UNITED STATES EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION
The United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (hereinafter, “EEOC”) is an independent federal agency, headquartered in Washington, D.C., that maintains 53 field offices serving the entire country. It’s charged with “enforcing federal laws that make it illegal to discriminate against a job applicant or an employee because of the person’s race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, transgender status, and sexual orientation), national origin, age (40 or older), disability or genetic information.” See Official EEOC Website, https://www.eeoc.gov/overview (last accessed 11/2/22).
The EEOC “laws apply to all types of work situations, including hiring, firing, promotions, harassment, training, wages, and benefits”; those same laws also cover most labor unions and employment agencies. See id.
DEFINITION OF EMPLOYER
Generally, employers with at least 15 employees (20 employees in age discrimination cases) are subject to EEOC laws, however there are a few exceptions. For example, the EEOC is responsible for enforcing, inter alia, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (hereinafter, “Title VII”); under Title VIIs definition of employer, not all are subject to its reach. The relevant provision states as follows:
(b) The term “employer” means a person engaged in an industry affecting commerce who has fifteen or more employees for each working day in each of twenty or more calendar weeks in the current or preceding calendar year, and any agent of such a person, but such term does not include[:]
(1) the United States, a corporation wholly owned by the Government of the United States, an Indian tribe, or any department or agency of the District of Columbia subject by statute to procedures of the competitive service (as defined in section 2102 of title 5), or
(2) a bona fide private membership club (other than a labor organization) which is exempt from taxation under section 501(c) of title 26, except that during the first year after March 24, 1972, persons having fewer than twenty-five employees (and their agents) shall not be considered employers.
42 U.S.C. § 2000e(b)(Definitions) (NOTE: the EEOC also enforces other laws beyond Title VII; the preceding was only one example) (emphasis added).
FAIR EMPLOYMENT PRACTICES AGENCIES (FEPAs)
The term Fair Employment Practices Agency or FEPA is a term coined by the EEOC. They are state and local government agencies charged with enforcing their own jurisdictional laws prohibiting discrimination; and their laws are similar to those enforced by the EEOC. However, it’s important to note:
In some cases, these agencies enforce laws that offer greater protection to workers, such as protection from discrimination because you are married or unmarried, have children or because of your sexual orientation. There also may be different deadlines for filing a charge, different standards for determining whether you are protected by these laws, and different types of relief available to victims of discrimination.
See Official EEOC Website, https://www.eeoc.gov/fair-employment-practices-agencies-fepas-and-dual-filing (last accessed 11/2/22).
READ MORE RELATED ARTICLES
» Read our article entitled: EEOC: The Notice of Right to Sue.
» Visit the EEOCs website to read more about FEPAs, Dual Filing, and how to file an EEOC charge of discrimination.
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