Dive Brief:

• The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) wants pubic feedback on proposed enforcement guidance dealing with employer retaliation and related issues under federal employment discrimination laws, according to Insurance Journal.
• The enforcement guidance documents outline the EEOC’s interpretation of the law and seek to "promote voluntary compliance," the agency said.
• According to the article, the EEOC guidance covers topics including "a definition of retaliation, best practices, training and remedies."

Dive Insight:

The EEOC's 30-day input period concludes February 24, 2016, and the public can submit feedback by letter, email, or memoranda format. Any feedback will be posted publicly on www.regulations.gov (email addresses might be seen). The EEOC, which last updated it retaliation guidance in 1998, said it will entertain draft guidance revisions once it receives comments.

Over the years, there have been several court rulings on the issue, including rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court. According to EEOC data on the top 10 employment discrimination claims, close to 38,000 (or 43%) of all private sector workplace bias charges received in the last year were over retaliation allegations – nearly double since 1998.

In a statement, EEOC Chair Jenny R. Yang called retaliation "a persistent and widespread problem in the nation’s workplaces.” She added employees must be free to report employment discrimination law violations, calling it the "cornerstone" for effective enforcement.