EEOC could see changes under new presidential administration

On Behalf of | Jun 14, 2017 | Employment Discrimination |

Many of our readers likely saw the news a few weeks ago about President Trump submitting his first budget to Congress. There were many different aspects of the proposed budget that were applauded or criticized. However, in general, there is quite a bit of funding cuts and administrative changes proposed.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, a federal agency that investigates employment discrimination, is one agency that might be seeing some changes, if certain parts of President Trump’s proposed budget are enacted into law. The biggest change for the EEOC, according to one recent report, would be to merge the agency with the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, which is part of the Department of Labor. The reports indicate that a total savings of $17 million could result from combining the two agencies.

However, there are some members of Congress who aren’t too thrilled with this proposal. The reports indicate that some are afraid that the change would result in more employment discrimination being overlooked. There is also some concern due to the EEOC’s current backlog of cases.

The EEOC provides a valuable service to workers throughout America who face any type of discrimination. While these proposed changes are a long way from going into effect, if the budget is passed, workers in Minnesota need to be thinking about their legal options if they face employment discrimination. They may have other options besides relying upon the EEOC to conduct an investigation, and discrimination needs to be confronted in whatever form it takes.

Source: wxow.com, “Labor secretary defends merging anti-discrimination agencies,” Laurie Kellman, June 7, 2017