New EEOC Rule Gives Employers Greater Input Into Guidance
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has finalized a new regulation that will impact how the agency issues, amends, and seeks input on its guidance to employers. Under the new rule, any newly-released EEOC guidance must make clear that the guidance is non-binding on employers and will be accompanied by several disclaimers.
The disclaimers will include, for example, language that explains that the guidance will “not have the force and effect of law” or that it is intended “only to provide clarity to the public regarding existing requirements under the law or commission policies.”
The final rule also give the public 30 days to comment on every “proposed significant guidance document” and it sets forth a procedure by which the public can petition the EEOC for the issuance, amendment, or repeal of a guidance.