Daily EEO News You Can Use- February 8, 2021

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT:
This is Lisa Broadway, Creator and Host of EEOC Micro-Learning Moments, and outreach initiative brought to you by the EEOC’s Office of Federal Operations, Federal Sector Programs, Training and Outreach Division with today’s News You Can Use:

Preventing employment discrimination from occurring is preferable to trying to deal with the consequences of discrimination. EEOC is committed to providing training and technical assistance as well as outreach and educational programs to help employers, employees and stakeholder groups understand and prevent discrimination. We believe that discrimination can be averted if employers and their employees know their legal rights and responsibilities. As part of this commitment the EEOC offers a robust no-cost outreach and education program that can help realize your goal creating a model workplace.

EEOC's no cost outreach program provides valuable information about the EEOC’s mission, the employment discrimination laws enforced by the EEOC, the national focus and priorities under the EEOC’s Strategic Plan and Strategic Enforcement Plan (SEP), and the process for filing a charge or complaint of discrimination .. 

EEOC provides outreach on topics such as harassment (sexual and non-sexual), barriers to recruitment and hiring, immigrant worker-related employment topics, gender stereotyping, retaliation, pregnancy, disability, reasonable accommodation, equal pay, and many other topics that fall under the laws enforced by the EEOC.

In addition to being available to provide outreach on-site to your staff, in person or virtually.  EEOC representatives are available on a limited basis to staff information booths at events, make presentations, and participate in meetings, conferences, and seminars with employee and employer groups, professional associations, educational institutions, non-profit entities, community organizations and other members of the general public.

We are here to serve you and our Outreach and Education Coordinators want to hear from you!

Contact us today to discuss how we can meet your EEO education needs through our no-cost outreach program.

The email address and phone number for your local Outreach and Education Coordinator can be found at www.eeoc.gov/eeoc-outreach-program-coordinators.  That’s www.eeoc.gov/eeoc-outreach-program-coordinators

This is Lisa Broadway and this has been your Daily EEO News You Can Use for February 9, 2021.

Episode Transcript:
This is Lisa Broadway, Creator and Host of EEOC Micro-Learning Moments, and outreach initiative brought to you by the EEOC’s Office of Federal Operations, Federal Sector Programs, Training and Outreach Division with today’s News You Can Use:

The law requires an employer to post a notice describing the Federal laws prohibiting job discrimination based on race, color, sex, national origin, religion, age, equal pay, disability or genetic information.

The "EEO is the Law" poster, prepared by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), summarizes these laws and explains how an employee or applicant can file a complaint if they believe they have been the victim of discrimination. The EEO is the Law Poster is available in English, Spanish, Arabic, and Chinese.

These posters should be placed in a conspicuous location in the workplace where notices to applicants and employees are customarily posted.  In addition to posting hardcopies of the poster, employers are encouraged to post the electronic notice on their internal web sites in a conspicuous location.  In most cases, electronic posting supplements physical posting but does not itself fulfill the employer's basic obligation to physically post the required information in its workplaces.  In some situations, such as when employees telework and do not visit the employer's workplace on a regular basis, electronic posting may be required in addition to physical posting.

The law also requires that notices of Federal laws prohibiting job discrimination be made available in a location that is accessible to applicants and employees with disabilities that limit mobility.

Printed notices should also be made available in an accessible format, as needed, to persons with disabilities that limit the ability to see or read. Notices can be recorded on an audio file, provided in an electronic format that can be utilized by screen-reading technology or read to applicants or employees with disabilities that limit seeing or reading ability.  

Copies of the  EEO IS the Law poster in English, Spanish, Arabic, and Chinese, as well as a screen-readable electronic format is available at www.eeoc.gov/employers/eeo-law-poster.  

Or you may simply vist our website eeoc.gov and type in the search box located at the upper righthand corner of the website EEO POSTER

If you are unable to print copies of the poster from our website you may select the option to have up to 5 copies of the poster mailed to you at no-cost.

This is Lisa Broadway and this has been your February 8, 2021 “EEOC Micro-Learning Moments News You Can Use”. 

Transcript:

Hello and welcome, this is Lisa Broadway, creator and host of EEOC Micro-Learning Moments a podcast brought to you by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s Office of Federal Operations that brings you EEO news you can use.  The Office of Federal Operations looks forward to bringing you episodes weekly that keep you informed of your rights as an employee, and your obligations as an employer, under the laws enforced by the EEOC.  Please sure to click subscribe to be alerted of new podcast uploads and follow the EEOC Office of Federal Operations on Twitter at EEOC_OFO.  

This is a short segment on a topic that often generates additional discussion in our EEO trainings- "Confidentiality In The Federal Sector EEO Process".  Listen to this podcast to hear directly from the EEOC's own subject matter expert,  U,S, EEOC Chief Mediator Victor Voloshin on this topic and to learn more about the federal sector ADR process visiit our website at https://www.eeoc.gov/federal/adr/federal-adr.cfm.

This short podcasts offers a definition of workplace reasonable accommodation and discusses the interactive process.  For more information on the laws enforced by the U.S. EEOC visit our website at https://www.eeoc.gov/discrimination-type

This episode highlights some of the most important things that employees and employers should know about telework as a reasonable accommodation.  Further information on this topic is available at:  https://www.eeoc.gov/facts/telework.html.  If you would like to receive training for your agency on this, or any other EEO topic, please complete the following survey and a member of our Training and Outreach Division will contact you to discuss how we can best meet your training needs: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/K96KL5Y

During this episode of EEOC Micro-Learning Moments, U.S. EEOC Chief Mediator Victor Voloshin will provide information on designing an effective ADR program.  

All agencies are required to have an alternative dispute resolution (ADR) program. EEOC has certain requirements that all agencies must follow when developing ADR programs. The most important ADR program requirement is fairness. Generally, an ADR program is fair if it is voluntary, confidential, enforceable by the parties (if an agreement is reached), and led by a neutral person, like a mediator, who has no personal interest in the dispute.

Most agencies use mediation in their ADR programs. Mediation is an informal meeting between the parties that is conducted by a neutral mediator. A mediator is trained to help people who have disagreements talk to each other. The mediator does not declde who is right or wrong or issue a decision. Instead, the mediator helps the parties work out their own solutions to their dispute.

There are real advantages to participating in ADR.  ADR offers both you and the agency the opportunity for a fast and informal settlement of the dispute. Rather than leaving the decision to a third party, such as an Administrative Judge, ADR gives you the opportunity to reach an agreement that works for both you and the agency.

Questions in follow up to this episode regarding EEOC requirements for ADR programs may be emailed directly to Victor Voloshin at Victor.Voloshin@eeoc.gov.