The US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC) today forwarded to the Federal Register its final rule updating the agency’s conciliation procedures. The final rule has been cleared by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and sent to the Federal Register for publication. Previously approved by the Commission on January 7th by a vote of 3-2, the final rule brings greater transparency and consistency to the conciliation process and helps ensure that the Commission meets its statutory obligations regarding conciliation. Under Section 706 of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, Congress instructed that after the Commission finds reasonable cause for any charge, “the Commission shall endeavor to eliminate any such alleged unlawful employment practice by informal methods of conference, conciliation, and persuasion.” In 2015, the Supreme Court addressed the Commission’s conciliation requirements in Mach Mining, LLC v. EEOC, 575 U.S. 480 (2015), noting that conciliation plays an important role in achieving Congress’s goal of ending employment discrimination.
Despite EEOC’s efforts to promote voluntary resolutions, the agency’s conciliation efforts resolve less than half of the charges where the evidence supports a finding of discrimination. Through this final rule, the Commission outlines its responsibilities in the conciliation process to fulfill its Congressional mandate and to increase the effectiveness of its efforts to achieve cooperation and voluntary compliance. An unofficial version of the final rule is available here: https://www.eeoc.gov/regulations/final-rule-update-commissions-conciliation-procedures. The final rule becomes effective 30 days after publication in the Federal Register.
