About EEOC's Digital Charge System

Each year, more than 150,000 individuals contact EEOC with inquiries about discrimination and EEOC receives about 90,000 charges per year, making its charge system the agency's most common interaction with the public. To improve customer service, ease the administrative burden on staff, and reduce the use of paper submissions and files, the EEOC is developing online applications for use by the public. The first application for the private sector charge system is Phase I of a Digital Charge System, which was piloted beginning in May 2015 in eleven EEOC offices (Charlotte, Greensboro, Greenville, Norfolk, Raleigh, Richmond and San Francisco, followed by Denver, Phoenix, Detroit and Indianapolis.

As of January 1, 2016, all of EEOC's 53 offices have implemented Phase I of the Digital Charge System.

Key Benefits to the Public and to EEOC of a Digital Charge System

• Increases responsiveness to our customers by allowing them to upload and download documents, to communicate online with EEOC, and to provide more detailed info available thru online resources and links to eeoc.gov;
• Streamlines the enforcement system with dates triggering messages, reminders and action steps;
• Saves resources, including staff time, paper and money using digital documents and communications rather than copying, mailing, phone calls;
• Provides improved management of workflow, and increased accountability and coordination;
• Protects integrity, security, and storage of documents in online system.

Phase I of the Digital Charge System

The first phase of this system allows employers against whom a charge of employment discrimination has been filed to interact online with the EEOC thru a Respondent Portal. The application notifies the respondent by email that a charge has been filed, and through a secure online portal (EEOC Respondent Portal), allows the respondent to:

• View and download the charge;
• Review an invitation to mediate and respond to it;
• Submit a Position Statement and attachments to EEOC;
• Submit a response to a Request for Information to EEOC; and
• Provide/verify respondent contact information, including the designation of a legal representative.

Phase II in 2016

In 2016, EEOC plans to expand the Digital Charge System to add a secure portal for individuals who file a charge of employment discrimination, and to enhance the communications and documents transmitted through the system for both charging parties and respondents.