2024 Annual Performance Report

January 17, 2025

How This Report is Organized

This Fiscal Year 2024 Annual Performance Report (APR) presents the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (the EEOC or Agency) program results and management challenges. The APR presents the Agency’s fiscal year 2024 information in the following sections:

• Agency and Mission Information: Provides an overview of the Agency’s organizational structure, mission, and vision.
• Performance Results: Highlights the progress made in meeting the Agency’s performance measures, which are articulated in the EEOC’s Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years 2022 through 2026, as well as accomplishments in related programs and activities.
• Other Information: Identifies major management priorities and challenges and cross-agency collaborations.
• Evidence Building: Describes findings from agency-funded evaluations and other relevant evidence-building activities.
• Appendices: Contain information on the EEOC’s organization, jurisdiction, leadership, and data verification and validation, as well as a glossary of the acronyms used in the report.

Table of Contents

A Message from the Chair

Mission, Major Programs, and Organizational Structure

Agency Overview

Statutory Structure

Organization

Performance Results

Summary of Agency Results under the Strategic Plan Performance Measures

Fiscal Year 2024 Performance Highlights

1. Monetary Recovery for Workers Subjected to Discrimination

2. Promoting Broad Compliance with Federal Workplace Anti-Discrimination Laws

3. Ensuring Prompt and Efficient Handling of Discrimination Charges and Complaints

4. Upgrading Data Collection, Analysis, and Reporting Capabilities

5. Preventing Employment Discrimination and Advancing Equal Employment Opportunities through Education and Outreach

6. Striving for Organizational Excellence through Our People, Practices, and Technology

The EEOC’s Performance Measurement Process

Detailed Results Achieved in Fiscal Year 2024 under the Strategic Plan Performance Measures

Overview of the Strategic Plan Goals, Objectives, and Performance Measures

Strategic Goal I: Combat and Prevent Employment Discrimination through the Strategic Application of the EEOC’s Law Enforcement Authorities

Strategic Goal II: Prevent Employment Discrimination and Advance Equal Employment Opportunities through Education and Outreach

Strategic Goal III: Strive for Organizational Excellence Through Our People, Practices, and Technology

Related Program Results and Activities

Administrative Enforcement

Litigation

Policy, Guidance, and Technical Assistance

Federal Sector Enforcement, Activities, and Outreach

Outreach, Education, and Prevention

Creating Fair and Inclusive Workplaces

Other Information

Major Management Challenges

Customer Service

Data and Technology Transformation and Modernization

Cross-Agency Collaborations

Data Sharing with OFCCP

Collaborating on a Website for Workers

Use of Virtual Desktop Technology

Program Evaluations

Evidence Building

Appendices

Appendix A: Organization and Laws Enforced

Appendix B: EEOC Field Offices

Appendix C: Biographies of the Chair, Vice Chair, Commissioners, and General Counsel

Appendix D: Data Verification and Validation

Appendix E: Glossary of Acronyms

Appendix F: Internet Links

Appendix G: Acknowledgments

We Welcome Your Comments

A Message from the Chair

I am pleased to present the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC) Annual Performance Report (APR) for fiscal year 2024. It has been an incredible honor to lead the agency’s dedicated employees, who work each day to advance equal employment opportunity for all working people.

This fiscal year, we celebrated the 60th anniversary of the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964, which paved the way for the creation of the EEOC. In direct response to the historic 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom where hundreds of thousands of Americans called for America to uphold its ideals of equality and justice, the Act established the EEOC with a simple mission — to prevent and remedy discrimination in our nation’s workplaces. Since then, our nation has made substantial progress toward that goal, but much work remains to fully realize the promise of equal employment opportunity. The continued need for EEOC’s efforts to eradicate employment discrimination, reflected in part by the rising number of charges it received this fiscal year, makes clear that we cannot take past progress for granted. Today, the EEOC’s role in promoting equal employment opportunity and enforcing the nation’s federal workplace anti-discrimination laws is just as necessary as it was at the pinnacle of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement. 

This year, we celebrate the 60th anniversary of the EEOC, which opened its doors a year to the day after enactment of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. As I reflect on the six decades of the agency’s incredible history, I am grateful to the many resourceful and committed EEOC employees whose contributions over the years have expanded opportunities to so many and enforced employees’ right to work free from discrimination. During the four years that I have led the Commission, the agency has risen to meet new challenges in the rapidly evolving, modern world of work. The EEOC has advocated for workers who faced discrimination related to the COVID-19 pandemic, successfully implemented a new civil rights law—the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, educated the public about the implications of artificial intelligence for workplace civil rights, and issued long-awaited guidance on harassment discrimination. As the lead federal agency that enforces laws against employment discrimination, the EEOC continues to work toward an America where all have a fair chance to work, provide for their families, and contribute to our economy. This fiscal year was no different; in fiscal year 2024, the EEOC strategically leveraged all of our tools, including education and outreach, technical assistance, and enforcement, to combat discrimination and protect employees on a broad scale.

This fiscal year, the agency secured almost $700 million in monetary relief for about 21,000 victims of employment discrimination—the highest monetary recovery in its recent history—including more than $469 million for individuals in private sector and state and local government workplaces through mediation, conciliation, and settlements, and more than $190 million for federal workers. The EEOC also filed 111 new lawsuits on behalf of victims of workplace discrimination. Once again, the agency demonstrated that the EEOC’s work yields a high return on investment for the American people, recovering substantially more in monetary benefits for victims of discrimination than our $455 million budget.

As Chair of the EEOC, my overarching goal has been to ensure that the EEOC has the resources it needs to meet this moment and advance its mission, which is critical to our nation’s future. Most importantly, I have focused on the strategic use of the agency’s resources to ensure that the EEOC can vigorously enforce the law and effectively address increasing demand for the agency’s services, even in the face of budgetary challenges. This included ensuring that the Commission adopted a Strategic Enforcement Plan and a Strategic Plan to provide the agency with clear direction in prioritizing the many demands for its expertise. These two documents will guide the agency’s work in the years to come, which will be critical because, as detailed below, charges of discrimination filed with the EEOC, as well as calls and emails to the agency’s contact center, continued to increase significantly in fiscal year 2024 compared with the most recent prior fiscal years. The EEOC received 88,531 new charges of discrimination in fiscal year 2024 alone, reflecting a more than 9% increase over the number of charges filed in fiscal year 2023. The EEOC also handled more than 553,000 calls from the public through the agency contact center, an almost 6% increase from fiscal year 2023, and 90,000 emails, an increase of almost 5% from fiscal year 2023. The EEOC effectively managed this growing demand, ending the fiscal year with 52,080 charges pending —only a slight increase from the 51,100 charges pending at the close of fiscal year 2023.

During my tenure as Chair, we have continued to focus on systemic enforcement, and the agency secured record-breaking returns for the American people. Systemic enforcement is central to the effort to advance equal employment opportunity, because systemic discrimination creates barriers to opportunity that cause widespread harm to workers, employers, and our economy. Crucially, this year, the EEOC resolved 16 systemic cases, obtaining $23.9 million, a 104% increase over fiscal year 2023, for 4,074 victims of systemic discrimination and significant equitable relief. Furthermore, the EEOC’s litigation program achieved a remarkable 100% success rate in its systemic case resolutions in fiscal year 2024.

While enforcement is a cornerstone of our mission, we recognize that combatting systemic discrimination can come by way of outreach and education. Over these past few years, we have conducted outreach, education, training, and technical assistance and adopted innovative approaches to our outreach. This included both our traditional work but also through new initiatives like the OutREACH to Vulnerable Workers and Underserved Communities (REACH) begun in fiscal year 2024, the Hiring Initiative to Reimagine Equity (HIRE), an interagency initiative to combat retaliation with the Department of Labor and the National Labor Relations Board, and the AI and Algorithmic Fairness Initiative.

This fiscal year alone, the EEOC educated more than 268,000 individuals nationwide about employment discrimination and their workplace rights and responsibilities. The agency prioritized outreach and education programs to reach vulnerable workers and underserved communities, including immigrant and farmworker communities as well as other communities where individuals are reluctant to come forward to complain about employment discrimination, hosting almost 1,100 events for these groups and reaching more than 127,000 individuals. The EEOC also engaged in extensive outreach and education efforts to inform the public about rights and responsibilities under the PWFA, including through webinars, training, infographics, videos, other educational materials, and appearances on nationally syndicated and local radio stations in Spanish and English that reached almost 46 million listeners.

The EEOC’s experience in enforcing federal laws against employment discrimination makes clear that we cannot take these protections for granted. The agency’s steadfast service to its mission over the past 60 years has helped bring America closer to its goal of ensuring that all workers can work free from bias, segregation, harassment, retaliation, and other forms of discrimination.

This report provides Congress and the American people an overview of the EEOC’s important work during the past fiscal year.  I am grateful for the privilege to contribute to the Commission’s vitally important work and remain confident that this remarkable agency, born of the strong national commitment to civil rights, will continue to advance the promise of equal justice for all.

Charlotte A. Burrows
Chair
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

January 17, 2025

Mission, Major Programs, and Organizational Structure

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s Annual Performance Report (APR) provides performance results that enable the President, Congress, and the public to assess the EEOC’s accomplishments for each fiscal year (October 1 through September 30). This report provides an overview of programs, accomplishments, and challenges for fiscal year 2024. The report is prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular No. A-11, Annual Performance Planning and Reporting Requirements.

• EEOC’s Mission: Prevent and remedy unlawful employment discrimination and advance equal employment opportunity for all.
• EEOC’s Vision: Fair and inclusive workplaces with equal opportunity for all.

Agency Overview

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII) created the EEOC to enforce protections against employment discrimination on the bases of race, color, religion, sex, and national origin. Congress subsequently vested the EEOC with responsibility to enforce the Equal Pay Act of 1963 (EPA), the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA), Sections 501 and 505 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Titles I and V of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), the Government Employee Rights Act of 1991 (GERA), Title II of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (GINA), and the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act of 2022 (PWFA). In addition, in 1972, Congress further expanded the agency’s responsibilities by providing federal government employees the protections of Title VII and providing the EEOC with independent litigation authority against private employers.

Statutory Structure

The EEOC is led by six Senate-confirmed presidential appointees – five Commissioners (including the Chair and Vice Chair) who serve staggered five-year terms and the General Counsel. No more than three Commissioners (including the Chair and Vice Chair) may be from the same political party. The Chair is responsible for the administration and implementation of policy, the agency’s enforcement program, financial management, and day-to-day operations of the Commission. The five Commissioners participate equally in the development and approval of Commission policies, issue charges of discrimination where appropriate, and authorize the filing of lawsuits. The General Counsel supports the Commission and provides direction, coordination, and supervision to the EEOC’s litigation program.

* Commissioner Sonderling’s term expired on July 1, 2024. He remained in hold-over status until August 30, 2024.

Organization

The EEOC accomplishes its mission through component offices that administer various programs. For more information about specific EEOC offices, please see Appendix A.

These programs are carried out through a network of 53 district, field, area, and local offices.

For more information about the EEOC Field Offices across the nation, please see Appendix B.

Performance Results

Summary of Agency Results under the Strategic Plan Performance Measures

The Government Performance and Results Modernization Act (5 U.S.C. § 306, as amended), requires federal agencies to prepare a Strategic Plan every four years. The Commission approved the Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years 2022-2026 (Strategic Plan) on August 16, 2023. The EEOC’s Strategic Plan established a national framework to achieve the agency’s mission. To that end, and detailed later in this report, the EEOC has committed to pursuing the strategic goals, objectives, and measures set forth in the Strategic Plan. The EEOC achieved the following results in fiscal year 2024:

EEOC FY 2024 Performance Summary
Measures	15 Total	Identifier
Targets Met or Exceeded	12
Targets Partially Met*	3
Targets Not Met	0

*Targets Partially Met: A rating assigned to target results where (1) at least half of the activities targeted for completion were completed, or (2) the EEOC was unable to assess the results because full year data was not yet available.

Fiscal Year 2024 Performance Highlights

The EEOC’s Strategic Plan establishes a framework for achieving the EEOC’s mission and vision. Below are some of our performance highlights in achieving the agency’s strategic goals for fiscal year 2024.

1.  Monetary Recovery for Workers Subjected to Discrimination

Through administrative enforcement and litigation, the EEOC recovered almost $700 million for nearly 21,000 victims of discrimination in private, state and local government, and federal workplaces:

• Over $469.6 million for 13,516 victims of employment discrimination in the private sector and state and local government workplaces through mediation, conciliation, and settlements during the administrative process.
• More than $190 million for 3,041 federal employees and applicants.
• Over $40 million for 4,304 individuals as a direct result of litigation resolutions.

2.  Promoting Broad Compliance with Federal Workplace Anti-Discrimination Laws

In addition to obtaining monetary recoveries for workers subjected to discrimination, the EEOC promoted broad compliance with federal workplace anti-discrimination laws through:

• Successfully managing the public’s increased demand for services, including:
  • 88,531 new discrimination charges, an increase of 9.2% compared to fiscal year 2023;
  • 553,000 calls to the agency contact center, an almost 6% increase from fiscal year 2023; and
  • 90,000 emails, an increase of almost 5% from fiscal year 2023.
• Filing 111 merits lawsuits, including:
  • 76 suits on behalf of individual victims of discrimination;
  • 22 non-systemic suits with multiple victims; and
  • 13 systemic suits involving multiple victims or discriminatory policies;
• Resolving 132 merits lawsuits, a more than 33% increase over fiscal year 2023, and achieving a successful outcome in 128 (97%) of all suit resolutions;
• Continuing to build on our successful mediation program, including:
  • Successfully resolving 8,543 private sector mediations, a more than 14% increase from fiscal year 2023, and obtaining $243.2 million in benefits for charging parties, a 20.8% increase over fiscal year 2023, and
  • Conducting 147 federal sector mediations resulting in almost $4.2 million for federal employees and applicants;
• Resolving 6,679 federal sector hearing requests and securing approximately $181.4 million in relief for federal applicants and employees through the EEOC’s hearings program;
• Resolving 3,162 federal sector appeals, including:
  • 1,500 appeals addressing the merits of employees’ discrimination claims, with 79 findings of discrimination in fiscal year 2024;
  • Securing more than $8.5 million in monetary relief for federal employees and applicants as ordered in the EEOC’s federal sector appellate decisions; and
  • Issuing 107 federal sector decisions implicating one or more Commission priorities, including numerous decisions addressing equal pay or other wage discrimination issues.
• Continuing to implement the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA), which became effective in fiscal year 2023, including through:
• Publishing the final rule implementing the PWFA in the Federal Register (89 FR 29096 (Apr. 19, 2024));
• Releasing user-friendly resources about the PWFA, including a Summary of Key Provisions of EEOC’s Final Rule to Implement the PWFA, What You Should Know About the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, infographics, a worker-focused webinar, and a resource document for small businesses on pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions accommodations; and
• Filing 5 lawsuits to enforce the PWFA.

3.  Ensuring Prompt and Efficient Handling of Discrimination Charges and Complaints

The EEOC also successfully addressed the public’s increased demand for agency services despite budgetary challenges, including by:

• Managing the increased inventory of discrimination charges against private sector and state or local government employers that resulted from a 9.2% increase in new charges filed with the agency in fiscal year 2024 compared to fiscal year 2023. The number of pending charges at the end of fiscal year 2024 was 52,080, a slight increase from the 51,100 pending charges at the end of fiscal year 2023.
• Receiving 7,097 new federal sector hearings requests and effectively managing this demand from the public, with 6,009 cases pending at the end of the fiscal year.
• Resolving 1,789 federal sector appeals that were or would have been more than 450 days old at the end of the fiscal year.

4.  Upgrading Data Collection, Analysis, and Reporting Capabilities

The agency continued to upgrade its data collection, analysis, and reporting capabilities to advance the EEOC’s mission by, for example:

• Implementing improvements to the agency’s web-based resources for data and analytics, including gov/data and EEOC Explore, and enhancing access to the EEOC’s publicly available data through easy-to-explore datasets, dashboards, and data visualizations.
• Making available a data dashboard featuring the historic, first-time collection of 2017 and 2018 pay data reported by about 70,000 private employers and certain federal contractors with 100 or more employees each year, representing over 100 million workers. The dashboard contains a unique collection of aggregated employer-level workforce demographic and pay data, reported by pay band.
• Following the fiscal year 2023 signing of an interagency agreement with the U.S. Census Bureau to use the Census Bureau’s Federal Statistical Research Data Center (FSRDC) network to securely host EEOC data, working with Census to provide qualified researchers with access to data, including workforce demographic data and charge data, to provide the agency and the public with a richer understanding of compliance with workplace civil rights laws.

5.  Preventing Employment Discrimination and Advancing Equal Employment Opportunities through Education and Outreach

In addition, the EEOC worked to prevent employment discrimination and advance equal employment opportunities through its outreach and education efforts, including:

• Launching the Enhancing OutREACH to Vulnerable Workers and Underserved Communities (REACH) initiative to expand the agency’s outreach efforts to vulnerable workers and underserved communities by making the EEOC accessible to all members of the public and ensuring employees know their rights, while specifically targeting the country’s most vulnerable workers and those living in areas of the country most geographically removed from an EEOC office, including conducting 23 REACH initiative events with workers and advocates across the country.
• Conducting 3,278 in-person and virtual no cost outreach and fee-based training events for 268,864 individuals nationwide to provide information about employment discrimination and their rights and responsibilities in the workplace.
• Educating the public about the PWFA through extensive outreach that included webinars, trainings, infographics, videos, written materials, and appearances on nationally syndicated and local radio stations in Spanish and English that reached almost 46 million listeners. 
• Improving access to EEOC resources for people whose primary language is not English or who have limited proficiency in reading or accessing digital resources, including:
  • Increasing resources for language services to provide interpretation and translation services in over 200 languages during intake, investigations, mediations, and outreach; and
  • Translating key agency documents into Arabic, Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), Haitian Creole, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Tagalog, Thai, and Vietnamese.
• Releasing resources to enhance the public’s understanding of equal employment opportunity laws and their rights and responsibilities under those laws, including digital media products such as videos and infographics, resulting in the EEOC’s website having more than 12 million users and over 30 million page views.
• Launching social media campaigns to raise awareness of EEO rights and responsibilities, including campaigns focused on the PWFA, harassment prevention, and combatting pay discrimination.
• Publishing new and updated guidance and technical assistance documents to assist EEOC stakeholders, including:
  • A final Enforcement Guidance on Harassment in the Workplace, which provides a single unified agency resource on EEOC-enforced workplace harassment law. The new guidance updates, consolidates, and replaces five EEOC guidance documents and reflects the agency’s consideration of over 38,000 public comments on the proposed guidance. Along with the final guidance, the agency issued several educational resources including:
    • Summary of Key Provisions: EEOC Enforcement Guidance on Harassment in the Workplace;
    • Small Business Fact Sheet: Harassment in the Workplace;
    • Questions and Answers for Employees: Harassment at Work; and
  • Promising Practices for Preventing Harassment in the Construction Industry, which highlights key recommendations industry leaders can take to combat harassment in construction. The document supports the EEOC’s Strategic Enforcement Plan (SEP) for fiscal years 2024-2028, which includes a focus on combatting systemic harassment and eliminating barriers in recruitment and hiring.
• Publishing seven reports on significant issues and government-wide trends in the federal sector:
  • Retaining Persons with Disabilities in the Federal Workforce;
  • Effectiveness of Alternative Dispute Resolution in the Federal Sector;
  • The Impact of Telework on Personal Assistance Services;
  • Promising Practices for Using Schedule A to Recruit, Hire, Advance, and Retain Persons with Disabilities;
  • Hispanic Women and Latinas in the Federal Sector;
  • African American Women in the Federal Sector; and
  • American Indian and Alaska Native Women in the Federal Sector.

6.  Striving for Organizational Excellence through Our People, Practices, and Technology

The EEOC also continued to strive for organizational excellence with a focus on people, information technology, infrastructure enhancement, and financial stewardship. The agency’s efforts to promote organizational excellence through our people, practices, and technology included:

• Partnering with the Department of Interior’s Multi-Agency Senior Executive Service (SES) Candidate Development Program to provide a succession management resource that selects and trains aspiring senior leaders. 
• Working to recruit and retain staff despite budgetary limitations, filling 56 new positions and ending the fiscal year with 2,170 employees on board, and using special hiring flexibilities, including HBCU recruitment initiatives, military spouse non-competitive hiring, partnering with the U.S. Peace Corps to obtain applicants, and Schedule A appointments for persons with disabilities, to recruit candidates to meet overall office needs and expand opportunities to join the federal workforce, contributing to the agency’s long-term retention efforts.
• Modernizing agency data collections and data dissemination activity to align with the Federal Data Lifecycle Framework and ensure legal compliance.

The EEOC’s Performance Measurement Process

The Government Performance and Results Modernization Act of 2010 (5 U.S.C. § 306, as amended) requires executive departments, government corporations, and independent agencies to develop and post a Strategic Plan on their public websites every four fiscal years. The implementing guidance in Circular No. A-11 from OMB instructs agencies on the necessary elements required in an agency’s strategic plan and the requirements to publish a new strategic plan with the beginning of each new term of an administration. The EEOC’s Strategic Plan established 3 overarching strategic goals and 15 performance measures to gauge the agency’s progress in meeting these goals. The EEOC conducts periodic performance measure reviews to evaluate the agency’s progress.

The EEOC reports on performance measures each year. In the agency’s Annual Performance Plan (APP), issued as part of OMB’s budget request, the EEOC identifies the level of planned performance to achieve in the fiscal year, along with performance goals and key milestones that align with the EEOC’s Strategic Plan and agency priorities. In the agency’s Annual Performance Report, the EEOC reports on progress achieving the goals and objectives in the agency’s Strategic Plan and APP, along with performance and program results achieved for the previous fiscal year.

Detailed Results Achieved in Fiscal Year 2024 under the Strategic Plan Performance Measures

Overview of the Strategic Plan Goals, Objectives, and Performance Measures

In accordance with the Government Performance and Results Modernization Act of 2010, the Commission approved the EEOC’s Strategic Plan on August 16, 2023. To do so, the agency engaged in a comprehensive assessment of its programs and priorities. As stated above, under this Strategic Plan, the EEOC focuses on three strategic goals to achieve its critical mission to prevent and remedy unlawful employment discrimination and advance equal employment opportunity, and to pursue its vision of fair and inclusive workplaces with equal opportunity for all.

• Strategic Goal I, to combat and prevent employment discrimination through the strategic application of the EEOC’s law enforcement authorities, reflects the EEOC’s primary mission of preventing and remedying unlawful employment discrimination and advancing equal employment opportunity for all through: 1) the administrative (investigation and conciliation) and litigation enforcement mechanisms applicable to private employers, labor organizations, employment agencies, and state and local government employers, that Congress entrusted to the EEOC; and 2) the adjudicatory and oversight mechanisms for federal employers that Congress entrusted to the EEOC.

There are two related strategic objectives and seven performance measures for Strategic Goal I.

• Strategic Goal II, to prevent employment discrimination and advance equal employment opportunities through education and outreach, reflects the EEOC’s obligation to deter employment discrimination before it occurs. Educational and outreach programs, projects, and events are also cost-effective law enforcement tools because they promote understanding of the law and voluntary compliance. All parties benefit when the workplace is free of discrimination, and everyone has access to equal employment opportunity.

There are two related strategic objectives and four performance measures for Strategic Goal II.

• Strategic Goal III, to strive for organizational excellence through our people, practices, and technology, seeks to improve management functions with a focus on people, service to the public, information technology, infrastructure enhancement, and accountable financial stewardship. These areas are cross-cutting and require integration and coordination to promote organizational excellence from internal and external perspectives. 

There are two related strategic objectives and four performance measures for Strategic Goal III.

The agency’s progress on the strategic goals, objectives, and related performance measures is discussed below.

Strategic Goal I: Combat and Prevent Employment Discrimination through the Strategic Application of the EEOC’s Law Enforcement Authorities

The agency adopted two strategic objectives to further the goal:

• Strategic Objective I.A.: The agency has a broad impact on preventing and remedying employment discrimination while providing meaningful relief for victims of discrimination; and
• Strategic Objective I.B.: The agency exercises its enforcement authority fairly, efficiently, and based on the circumstances of each charge or complaint.

The EEOC also identified and is implementing seven key strategies. The strategies for achieving Strategic Objective I.A. are:

• Strategy I.A.1: Rigorously and consistently implement the Strategic Enforcement Plan (SEP) to focus resources on the EEOC’s priorities, integrating agency responsibilities and activities.
• Strategy I.A.2: Use administrative and litigation mechanisms to identify and eradicate discriminatory policies and practices, including systemic practices.
• Strategy I.A.3: Use the EEOC’s decisions and oversight activities to eradicate discriminatory policies and practices in federal agencies.
• Strategy I.A.4: Seek effective remedies to end discriminatory practices and deter future discrimination.
• Strategy I.A.5: Seek remedies that provide meaningful relief to individual victims of discrimination.

The strategies for achieving Strategic Objective I.B. are:

• Strategy I.B.1: Rigorously and consistently implement charge management for private sector and state and local government charges, aligned with the SEP.
• Strategy I.B.2: Rigorously and consistently implement case management for federal sector hearings and appeals aligned with the SEP.

The EEOC has developed Performance Measures 1 through 7 to track the agency’s progress in pursuing these strategies.

Strategic Objective I FY 2024 Performance Summary
Measures	7 Total	Identifier
Targets Met or Exceeded	5
Targets Partially Met*	2
Targets Not Met	0

*Target(s) Partially Met: A rating assigned to target results where (1) at least half of the activities targeted for completion were completed, or (2) the EEOC was unable to assess the results because full year data was not yet available.

Performance Measure 1 for Strategic Objective I.A.: By fiscal year 2025, 90% of EEOC conciliations and litigation resolutions contain targeted, equitable relief and that level is maintained through fiscal year 2026.

	FY 2023	FY 2024
Target	87-89%	88-90%
Results	98.1%	99.3%
	Target Exceeded	Target Exceeded

The EEOC negotiates resolutions of charges where the agency has determined after an investigation that there is reasonable cause to believe that unlawful employment discrimination has occurred. Because every investigation is dependent on the specific facts of each case, it is neither appropriate nor feasible to set a target for the number of reasonable cause determinations the agency makes. However, it is appropriate to set a goal for the type of relief that should be sought once reasonable cause has been found.

Performance Measure 1 encourages the EEOC to seek relief that goes beyond monetary damages for individual victims of discrimination. While it is vital that the EEOC seeks meaningful relief for individuals, the Commission’s ultimate goal must be to protect all employees and jobseekers from unlawful discrimination.

The fiscal year 2024 target for Performance Measure 1 was for at least 88%-90% of the EEOC’s conciliations and litigation resolutions to contain targeted, equitable relief. Targeted, equitable relief includes any non-monetary and non-generic relief that explicitly addresses the discriminatory employment practices at issue in the case, and which provides remedies to the aggrieved individuals or prevents similar violations in the future. Such relief may include, for example, customized training for supervisors and employees, development of policies and practices to deter future discrimination, and external monitoring of employer actions, as appropriate.

In fiscal year 2024, the agency far exceeded the targeted range, reporting 735 administrative and legal resolutions with targeted, equitable relief out of 740 resolutions, or 99.3%.

Performance Measure 2 for Strategic Objective I.A.: In each year through fiscal year 2026, the EEOC continues to favorably resolve at least 90% of enforcement lawsuits.

	FY 2023	FY 2024
Target	90%	90%
Results	90.8%	97%
	Target Exceeded	Target Exceeded

Performance Measure 2 encourages the EEOC’s litigation program to continue to strive for excellence by maintaining its record of successful resolutions. Successful resolutions include cases decided by favorable court order and those concluded through a consent decree or a settlement agreement. Achieving success for this measure will ensure that the EEOC continues to exercise its prosecutorial discretion responsibly, while allowing the agency to take on challenging issues and litigate complex cases, including cases of systemic discrimination. This measure is significant because achieving success in cases raising priority issues under the Strategic Enforcement Plan (SEP) is often challenging and resource-intensive, especially in cases involving emerging or developing issues and systemic cases.

The fiscal year 2024 target for Performance Measure 2 was for the agency to favorably resolve 90% of its enforcement lawsuits. As of fiscal year-end 2024, the agency had exceeded the target by favorably resolving 128 out of 132, or 97%, of its enforcement lawsuits.

Performance Measure 3 for Strategic Objective I.A.: In each year through fiscal year 2026, the EEOC increases its capacity to conduct investigations of systemic discrimination through training and other resources.

Sub-Measure 3a.: In each year through fiscal year 2026, the EEOC will provide training to all field staff on identifying and investigating systemic discrimination, and at least 90% of investigators and trial attorneys will participate in systemic training each year.

	FY 2023	FY 2024
Target	Training provided, at least 90% participation.	Training provided, at least 90% participation.
Results	Systemic training was provided to all enforcement and litigation staff in February, April, and May 2023. The agency provided training to all field staff on identifying and investigating systemic AI-related discrimination in May 2023, with an estimated 90% (at least) of investigators and trial attorneys attending. Additional training for systemic staff was conducted in December 2022, February 2023, March 2023, May 2023, July 2023, and during the fourth quarter of FY 2023.	Throughout FY 2024, EEOC provided training to all field staff on identifying and investigating systemic discrimination and 97.1% of investigators and trial attorneys participated in systemic training during the fiscal year.
	Target Exceeded	Target Exceeded

Sub-Measure 3b.: By fiscal year 2026, 90% of systemic cause investigations reviewed meet or exceed criteria established in the Quality Enforcement Practices Plan (QEP).

	FY 2023	FY 2024
Target	88.5%	89%
Results	92.5%	95.1%
	Target Exceeded	Target Exceeded

Sub-Measure 3c.: By fiscal year 2026, every District will have at least two dedicated Enforcement Unit systemic staff members.

	FY 2023	FY 2024
Target	At least two dedicated Enforcement Unit staff members by FY 2026.	At least two dedicated Enforcement Unit staff members by FY 2026.
Results	The agency continued to work toward the FY 2026 goal of at least two dedicated Enforcement Unit systemic staff members.	The agency continued to work toward the FY 2026 goal of at least two dedicated Enforcement Unit systemic staff members within budgetary limitations.
	Target Partially Met*	Target Partially Met*

*Target(s) Partially Met: A rating assigned to target results where: 1) at least half of the activities targeted for completion were completed; or 2) EEOC was unable to assess the results because a full year’s worth of data was not yet available.

Performance Measure 3 emphasizes expanding the EEOC’s capacity to conduct systemic investigations, resulting in a coordinated, strategic, and effective approach to systemic enforcement. By focusing its efforts on cases that have a broad impact on an industry, profession, company, or geographic region, the EEOC can maximize its impact on dismantling discriminatory patterns, practices, or policies. The Commission is committed to tackling systemic employment discrimination in all forms and on all bases. Eliminating systemic barriers to equal opportunity in the workplace allows the EEOC to leverage its work to achieve the greatest impact. Providing training to EEOC staff on identifying and investigating systemic cases is critical to the success of these efforts.

The EEOC has numerous tools to combat systemic discrimination and harassment, including outreach and education, technical assistance, and enforcement, and uses all of them to achieve change on a broad scale. A robust systemic program is an important part of these efforts and allows the EEOC to advance equal employment opportunity on a national, regional or industry level while helping substantial numbers of employees at the same time.

The fiscal year 2024 targets for Performance Measures 3 through 3c were to achieve at least a 90% participation rate in systemic trainings, for 90% of systemic investigations to meet or exceed the criteria established in the QEP, and for each district to have at least two dedicated systemic staff members.

Nearly every month of the fiscal year, the EEOC provided systemic trainings to investigators and trial attorneys on a variety of topics. In total, 97.1% of all investigators and trial attorneys participated in systemic training in fiscal year 2024.

The agency also reviewed systemic cases in every district and the Washington Field Office, evaluating compliance with QEP criteria. Of the investigations reviewed, 95.1% met or exceeded the criteria in fiscal year 2024. Budgetary limitations impacted the EEOC’s ability to make progress toward Strategic Plan Sub-Measure 3c. During fiscal year 2024, all districts had at least one dedicated systemic staff member. In addition, four districts had two dedicated systemic staff members. 

Performance Measure 4 for Strategic Objective I.A.: By fiscal year 2026, the EEOC will make significant progress toward enhanced monitoring of conciliation agreements, leading to a more robust compliance program.

Sub-Measure 4a.: Each year, the EEOC will report on enhancements to its compliance monitoring program for conciliation agreements.

	FY 2023	FY 2024
Target	Report issued.	Report issued.
Results	In FY 2023, the EEOC continued to review existing compliance monitoring procedures and explore potential future enhancements.	In FY 2024, the EEOC continued to review existing compliance monitoring procedures and initiated guidelines for monitoring compliance through its electronic records system.
	Target Partially Met*	Target Partially Met*

*Target(s) Partially Met: A rating assigned to target results where: 1) at least half of the activities targeted for completion were completed; or 2) EEOC was unable to assess the results because a full year’s worth of data was not yet available.

Performance Measure 4 recognizes that compliance reviews are critical to ensure parties fully comply with the EEOC’s conciliation agreements. When the EEOC finds reasonable cause to believe discrimination has occurred, the agency issues a determination and invites the parties to engage in informal efforts to resolve the charge, known as conciliation. Successful conciliation agreements routinely include relief for the aggrieved individuals as well as targeted, equitable relief that explicitly addresses the discriminatory employment practices at issue in the case and is designed to prevent similar violations in the future. Effective compliance monitoring is critical to the EEOC’s ability to ensure workplaces are free from discrimination after the EEOC makes a finding of discrimination.

With an emphasis on progress, Performance Measure 4 will lead to enhanced compliance monitoring, including streamlined and standardized procedures, improved tracking and internal reporting mechanisms, and related training for EEOC field staff. Collaboration, evaluation, and system improvements are critical to this performance measure, and reporting on enhancements will ensure meaningful progress.

The fiscal year 2024 target for Performance Sub-Measure 4a was for the agency to issue a report on enhancements to its compliance monitoring program for conciliation agreements. As detailed in the fiscal year 2024 report, the EEOC made significant progress toward enhanced compliance monitoring, leading to a robust compliance program for conciliation agreements. The agency enhanced its electronic database, the Agency Records Center (ARC), to streamline the monitoring of all successful conciliations. Beginning on October 1, 2023, successful conciliations were placed in compliance monitoring status for the duration of the monitoring period and monitored to ensure timely compliance with conciliation terms.  One hundred percent of successful fiscal year 2024 conciliations were placed in compliance monitoring.

Performance Measure 5 for Strategic Objective I.B.: By fiscal year 2026, 74% of federal agencies subject to oversight activities or compliance reviews change their employment practices based on EEOC recommendations.

	FY 2023	FY 2024
Target	71%	72%
Results	80.3%	76%
	Target Exceeded	Target Exceeded

Performance Measure 5 recognizes that because the federal government is the largest employer in the United States, reducing unlawful employment discrimination in the federal sector is an integral part of combatting employment discrimination in the nation’s workplaces. Moreover, by modeling equal employment opportunity in its own workforce, the federal government provides an example for private and public employers to follow in their employment practices, which can positively impact all employees and jobseekers.

Each year, the EEOC conducts program evaluations of a sample of federal agencies, focused on an array of issues relevant to the agency. The evaluations are summarized, with the EEOC recommending changes in the agency’s employment practices, if needed. These recommendations include steps federal agencies can take to correct any discriminatory practice identified by the evaluation. Agencies provide the EEOC with their compliance plans in response to the reports. For the baseline year of fiscal year 2022, the EEOC reviewed the compliance plans issued in fiscal year 2020 and determined whether they were implemented successfully and, if not, what corrective action was appropriate. Based on the EEOC’s assessment of compliance, a baseline for the percent of agencies successfully changing practices was established for subsequent years.

The fiscal year 2024 target for Performance Measure 5 was for 72% of the federal agencies subject to oversight and compliance reviews to change their employment practices based on EEOC recommendations. In fiscal year 2024, the agency expanded the number of noncompliance activities tracked and created a new tracking tool for measuring success. The tracking mechanism was updated to monitor progress throughout the fiscal year and out of a total of 113 non-compliance activities tracked, the percent of agencies substantially implementing the EEOC’s recommendations was 76%.

Performance Measure 6 for Strategic Objectives I.A. and I.B.: For each year through fiscal year 2026, a significant proportion of completed investigations, conciliations, hearings, and federal appeals meet or exceed established quality criteria.

Sub-Measure 6a.: By fiscal year 2026, at least 90% of the EEOC’s charge investigations and conciliations meet or exceed criteria established in the Quality Enforcement Practices Plan.

	FY 2023	FY 2024
Target	88.5%	89%
Results	93.1%	93.4%
	Target Exceeded	Target Exceeded

Sub-Measure 6b.: Each year through fiscal year 2026, at least 90% of the EEOC’s federal sector hearings and appeals meet criteria established in the Federal Sector Quality Practices Plan.

	FY 2023	FY 2024
Target	88.5%	89%
Results	94.6%	94.5%
	Target Exceeded	Target Exceeded

Performance Measure 6 builds on the EEOC’s previous Strategic Plan with a metric focused on quality in both the private and federal sector programs. In September 2015, the Commission approved a plan for Quality Enforcement Practices for Effective Investigations and Conciliations, known as the QEP. The QEP promotes the rigorous implementation of quality investigations and conciliations with progress goals established for each year of the Strategic Plan.

In fiscal year 2016, the EEOC applied the criteria established under the QEP to a sample of investigations and conciliations to establish benchmarks and in fiscal year 2018 set a baseline for projecting future targets through fiscal year 2026. The increased goals for quality reviews in this plan will strengthen opportunities to constructively resolve cases for workers and employers through investigation and conciliation.

Performance Measure 6 also provides targets for quality work in the federal sector. The Federal Sector Quality Practices Plan (FSQP) was approved by the Commission in January 2017 and includes quality components for hearings and appeals. The FSQP also includes quality criteria for the Commission’s oversight of federal agencies when reviewing affirmative employment and barrier analysis plans, evaluating federal agency complaint processes, and offering technical assistance to federal agencies. During fiscal year 2018, using hearings and appeals file reviews and federal agency compliance reviews, the agency collected baseline data on the quality criteria set forth in the FSQP.  The agency then established benchmarks for fiscal year 2019 and subsequent years, continuing through fiscal year 2026. The fiscal year 2024 targets for Performance Measure 6 through 6b were for at least 89% of the EEOC’s charge investigations and conciliations and federal sector hearings and appeals to meet or exceed criteria established in the QEP and FSQP.

By the end of fiscal year 2024, the agency had conducted thorough reviews of closed charges to assess the quality of investigations and charge processing resolutions. Specifically, the agency reviewed 635 completed investigations as part of quality file reviews, sampling closed charges from each of EEOC’s 53 offices. The quality file reviews resulted in 93.4% of the EEOC’s charge investigations and conciliations meeting the criteria established in the QEP, exceeding the fiscal year 2024 goal of 89% for Sub-Measure 6a.

Also, during fiscal year 2024, the agency’s hearings program evaluated the quality of Administrative Judge decisions and orders, with a focus on legal analysis, accuracy, and writing ability/clarity. Based on these evaluations, an average of 98.5% of the federal sector hearings cases and an average of 90.4% of appeals successfully met the criteria established in the FSQP. The combined average of 94.5% for both federal sector programs exceeded the FSQP goal of 89% for Sub-Measure 6b.

Performance Measure 7 for Strategic Objectives I.A. and I.B.: By fiscal year 2026, EEOC will enhance its intake services to potential Charging Parties, Respondents, and Representatives.

Sub-Measure 7a.: By fiscal year 2023, the EEOC will evaluate its intake services, determine baseline levels of service, and identify technological solutions and other resources to improve and expand accessibility to those services.

	FY 2023	FY2024
Target	Evaluation completed.	** N/A
Results	The evaluation of intake functions was completed in FY2023, with emphasis on enhancing intake services and removing potential barriers to submitting inquiries, filing charges, and the agency’s processing of charges.	** N/A
	Target Met

** N/A – Not applicable for FY 2024 reporting.

Sub-Measure 7b.: From fiscal year 2024-2026, the EEOC will make yearly progress in improving availability of intake interview appointments.

	FY 2023	FY 2024
Target	Yearly progress made.	Yearly progress made.
Results	In FY 2023, progress was made in the areas of evaluation, analysis, and identification of improvement areas.	In FY 2024, the EEOC made significant progress to improve the availability of intake interview appointments, including, for example, restoring the option of in-person intake appointments and walk-in service as well as implementing E-File for Attorneys, which allows attorneys to submit charges of discrimination electronically to the EEOC.
	Target Met	Target Met

Performance Measure 7 recognizes the importance of intake to the EEOC charge filing process. Intake is the first step in the investigative process. Having completed the agency’s intake evaluation goals in fiscal year 2023, the fiscal year 2024 target for Performance Measure 7 was to make yearly progress in enhancing and improving EEOC’s intake services (Sub-Measure 7b).

In fiscal year 2024, the agency restored in-person intake appointments as an option for charging parties and offered video appointments, providing greater flexibility to charging parties.  The EEOC also initiated expanded presence goals in each district to conduct outreach and intake interviews in underserved areas of each district's jurisdiction.

The EEOC also implemented or initiated the development of technological solutions to improve intake. For example, the EEOC launched a new E-File for Attorneys (E-File) tool, which allows licensed attorneys to submit charges of discrimination directly to the EEOC on behalf of charging parties, which improved the availability of intake services to unrepresented charging parties and led to other efficiencies.

In addition, the agency continued to evaluate, analyze, and identify areas for improvement during the fiscal year, implementing pilots and other potential enhancements to the intake process. The EEOC envisions that a new and innovative intake process will reduce the length of time for service delivery, remove language barriers, and streamline the interview process.

Strategic Goal II: Prevent Employment Discrimination and Advance Equal Employment Opportunities through Education and Outreach.

The agency adopted two strategic objectives to further the goal:

• Strategic Objective II.A.: Members of the public are aware of employment discrimination laws and know their rights and responsibilities under these laws; and
• Strategic Objective II.B.: Employers, federal agencies, unions, and staffing agencies have the information and guidance necessary to advance equal employment opportunity, prevent discrimination, and effectively resolve EEO issues.

The EEOC also identified and is implementing ten key strategies. The EEOC’s strategies for achieving Strategic Objective II.A. are:

• Strategy II.A.1: Leverage technology and use innovative strategies to expand EEOC’s reach to diverse populations.
• Strategy II.A.2: Target outreach to vulnerable workers and underserved communities.

The strategies for achieving Strategic Objective II.B. are:

• Strategy II.B.1: Leverage technology and media to expand the EEOC’s reach to employers and other covered entities and to ensure broad awareness of EEOC’s litigation and other enforcement efforts, to the extent they may be made public.
• Strategy II.B.2: Promote promising practices that employers can adopt to prevent discrimination in the workplace.
• Strategy II.B.3: Target outreach to small, new, and disadvantaged/underserved employers.
• Strategy II.B.4: Foster partnerships linking federal agencies to shared EEO resources and services.

 Correlated strategies under Strategic Objective II include:

• Strategy II.A.3/II.B.5: Provide up-to-date, accessible guidance and training on the requirements of employment discrimination laws.
• Strategy II.A.4/II.B.6: Increase the knowledge of targeted audiences through focused, innovative collaborations with internal and external stakeholders.
• Strategy II.A.5/II.B.7: Provide the infrastructure needed to support the development and delivery of online outreach and education.
• Strategy II.A.6/II.B.8: Ensure support services that promote the accessible delivery of outreach and education.

The EEOC has developed Performance Measures 8 through 11 to track the agency’s progress in pursuing these strategies.

Strategic Objective II FY 2024 Performance Summary
Measures	4 Total	Identifier
Targets Met or Exceeded	4
Targets Partially Met*	0
Targets Not Met	0

*Target(s) Partially Met: A rating assigned to target results where: 1) at least half of the activities targeted for completion were completed; or 2) EEOC was unable to assess the results because a full year’s worth of data was not yet available.

Performance Measure 8 for Strategic Objectives II.A. and II.B.: By fiscal year 2026, the EEOC leverages technology, analytics, and innovative outreach strategies to provide members of the public greater access to information about their rights and responsibilities.

	FY 2023	FY 2024
Target	The agency will implement and report on at least four projects in which it has leveraged technology, analytics, and innovative outreach strategies to increase access to information to vulnerable communities consistent with the SEP.	The agency will implement and report on at least four projects in which it has leveraged technology, analytics, and innovative outreach strategies to increase access to information to vulnerable communities consistent with the SEP, as well as how the findings from FY 2023 have been utilized to increase access to information.
Results	During FY 2023, the EEOC implemented at least four projects in which it leveraged social media, videos, and translated webpages to increase access to information to vulnerable communities consistent with the SEP. Specifically, it coordinated updates and revisions to the Know Your Rights Poster, implemented social media campaigns on pregnancy, equal pay, and reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities, and added additional translated webpages.	During FY 2024, the EEOC far exceeded its goal, implementing considerably more than four projects in which it leveraged social media, videos, analytics, and innovative outreach strategies to increase access to information to vulnerable communities consistent with the SEP. Specifically, it created videos to expand the agency’s audience, launched several social media campaigns, and continued to increase language access.
	Target Exceeded	Target Exceeded

Performance Measure 8 focuses on using technology, analytics, and innovative outreach strategies to strengthen and expand the impact of the EEOC’s education and outreach activities in reaching vulnerable communities consistent with the EEOC’s SEP. This will be accomplished by using analytics and metrics to directly measure the impact of each effort to reach communities. If the effort is successful, it should be incorporated into the EEOC’s efforts moving forward. If the effort does not reach the intended audience, balancing the level of effort with the results, then the technology or strategy should be modified. By using this process, the EEOC can continue to grow and expand its ability to reach vulnerable communities with information critical to expanding equal employment opportunity.

The fiscal year 2024 target for Performance Measure 8 was for the EEOC to implement and report on at least four projects in which it has leveraged technology, analytics, and innovative outreach strategies to increase access to information to vulnerable communities consistent with the SEP, as well as how the findings from fiscal year 2023 have been used to increase access to information.

During the fiscal year, the EEOC far exceeded the 2024 goal, implementing considerably more than four projects. The agency leveraged technology and produced more and higher quality videos for distribution primarily through social media to increase the public’s access to information, including reaching vulnerable communities as defined by the SEP. Specifically, the agency distributed approximately 14 short videos that were viewed more than 30,000 times through social media platforms, launched 4 social media efforts aimed at reaching vulnerable workers, and increased language access by adding more translated pages to the agency’s website and translating key information into additional languages.

Videos created to increase access to information included:

• Videos aimed at young workers and videos in Spanish and American Sign Language. Topics included disability discrimination (mental health and Long COVID), the Equal Pay Act, the PWFA, religious discrimination, race discrimination, and sexual harassment. The social media posts garnered over 6,900 views on a variety of social media platforms. The EEOC also hosted a worker-focused webinar providing an overview of the PWFA and the new regulations that was viewed by 6,100 people either live or though the recording posted on YouTube.
• In addition, working with singer/songwriter John Legend, the EEOC released videos to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act to reach audiences that the agency might not usually reach. John Legend’s video welcome message for the EEOC’s 60th anniversary event was watched by over 2,300 people live or through the YouTube recording of the event.

The EEOC also launched several social media campaigns to reach vulnerable communities, including the following:

• PWFA – The agency continued its efforts to reach pregnant and postpartum workers and others covered under the PWFA and their employers. Content including graphics, videos, and links to webinars, highlighted the newly issued final regulations, employee rights, employer responsibilities, and examples of reasonable accommodations.
• Harassment Prevention – The 2024 harassment prevention social media campaign covered harassment based on race, religion, national origin, and sex (including gender identity and sexual orientation). The campaign provided information to job applicants and employees on how to identify and report harassment. In addition, the agency posted several anti-harassment prevention messages aimed at addressing discrimination related to a person’s religion and national origin.
• Combatting Pay Discrimination – The EEOC continued to amplify equal pay messaging during fiscal year 2024 to ensure workers, especially women and women of color, were aware of their rights. The agency posted over 25 social media messages on equal pay days raising awareness about wage gaps for different groups of women, EEOC resources to advance pay equity, and the EEOC’s new pay data dashboard. The EEOC pay data dashboard allows users to visualize and compare 2017 and 2018 pay data collected from private employers and federal contractors by race, sex, job category, industry, and geography and representing over 100 million workers.

The agency continues to increase access to information for people who speak languages other than English. The agency has posted additional information on the EEOC’s website in Spanish, created four Spanish videos (discussed above), and pitched stories to Spanish language media that reach Spanish-speaking audiences.

In addition, the agency translated key documents into Portuguese and Thai, adding two new languages to the EEOC’s website. In fiscal year 2024, translated pages have been visited almost 2.9 million times. Consistent with the SEP, by providing additional access to information to people who read and speak languages other than English and may not be proficient in English, the EEOC continues to address the needs of vulnerable workers.

Performance Measure 9 for Strategic Objectives II.A. and IIB.: By fiscal year 2026, participants in outreach, training, and technical assistance programs indicate either an improvement in an employment policy, practice, or procedure (employer representatives), or an increased knowledge of the laws the EEOC enforces (individuals) as a result of their participation.

	FY 2023	FY 2024
Target	Develop mechanism for gathering participant feedback.	Pilot the gathering of participant feedback, make necessary adjustments, and set baseline metrics for the measure.
Results	Through its Outreach Training and Engagement Division (OTED), the agency developed a mechanism for gathering participant feedback using surveys from national training participants as test populations. EEOC’s Training Institute continued to implement the feedback from all (in-person and virtual) workshops, courses, conferences, and Customer Specific Training (CSTs) for private sector, state, and local government employers, federal national courses, and federal agency training sessions, and the 26th Annual EXCEL Conference held on July 31-August 2, 2023. In addition, district offices held listening sessions with external stakeholders and stakeholder feedback provided insight into results achieved.	The EEOC’s Training Institute continued to implement participant feedback from its in-person and virtual workshops, courses, conferences, and Customer Specific Trainings from private sector, state, and local government employers, federal national courses, and federal agency training sessions, and the 27th Annual EXCEL Conference held on August 20-22, 2024. In addition, in FY 2024 the EEOC developed additional survey questions for stakeholder feedback.
	Target Met	Target Met

Under the prior Strategic Plan, the agency’s outreach and education efforts were in part measured by the number of sustained partnerships established and maintained with organizations that represented: 1) vulnerable or underserved communities, and 2) small and new businesses. The current Strategic Plan focuses on the qualitative impact of the outreach provided to the EEOC’s partners and the public. While not all participants will make a change to a policy or increase their knowledge of the laws that the EEOC enforces, this measure can provide the agency with information about common gaps in knowledge, as well as effective ways to communicate with audiences. By using this information in planning and implementing outreach efforts, the agency expects to have a positive impact on preventing discrimination and advancing equal employment opportunity.

The fiscal year 2024 target for this measure was to pilot the gathering of participant feedback, make necessary adjustments, and set baseline metrics for the measure. During the fiscal year, the agency gathered participant feedback using evaluation surveys from national training and engagement events – surveys that were approved and piloted for each course and event. The agency’s outreach and training division used the data to set baseline performance expectations for each course in addition to performance expectations for instructors. The office developed and refined the evaluations that were completed for at least 95% of all events.

Additionally, the EEOC successfully updated and improved its website surveys, which will be used in fiscal year 2025 to collect stakeholder feedback to determine whether the outreach, training, and technical assistance programs help to improve an employment practice, policy, or procedure, and to evaluate whether the information provided during the event helped to increase participants’ knowledge of the laws enforced by the EEOC.

Performance Measure 10 for Strategic Objectives II.A. and II.B.: By fiscal year 2026, the EEOC updates existing guidance and training materials, and creates new, user-friendly resource tools to address and prevent workplace discrimination.

	FY 2023	FY 2024
Target	Create cross functional group and begin review and update of at least two resources or guidance documents on priority list.	Create or review and update at least two resource or guidance documents on priority list.
Results	In FY 2023, the agency updated four EEOC technical assistance/resource documents; completed four plain language training materials and resource documents; and initiated two priority guidance documents.	In FY 2024, the agency exceeded its goal, publishing a final rulemaking with interpretive guidance that was a policy priority from the agency’s Regulatory Plan, a priority enforcement guidance document, seven plain language resource documents, and a promising practices document.
	Target Exceeded	Target Exceeded

Performance Measure 10 will ensure that the EEOC’s sub-regulatory guidance documents and resource materials are updated to use plain language. The target for fiscal year 2024 was to create or review and update at least two resource or guidance documents on the priority list. The agency’s enforcement work in the private and public sectors, its adjudicatory and oversight work in the federal sector, and its outreach and education work all depend on the availability of up-to-date and accessible materials explaining the laws that the EEOC enforces and how to comply with them. While the regulations issued by the Commission set the basic legal framework for the implementation of those laws, sub-regulatory materials provide more tangible assistance to those with rights and responsibilities under such laws. These materials may require a vote of the Commission and may include a range of guidance material, best practices, Q&A’s, website resources, outreach materials, and fact sheets.

In fiscal year 2024, the EEOC issued the following documents consistent with the agency’s priority list:

On April 29, 2024, the EEOC issued an Enforcement Guidance on Harassment in the Workplace.  On the same day, the Commission also issued three plain language resource documents on the topic of harassment: 

• A Summary of Key Provisions in the guidance;
• Questions and Answers for Employees: Harassment at Work; and
• A Small Business Fact Sheet: on Harassment in the Workplace.

Additionally, the agency issued a resource document, Promising Practices for Preventing Harassment in the Construction Industry, which highlights key recommendations industry leaders can take to combat harassment in construction. The document advances the SEP’s focus on combatting systemic harassment and eliminating barriers in recruitment and hiring, including in industries and sectors like construction where women and workers of color are underrepresented.

On April 19, 2024, the EEOC’s final regulation on the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act was published in the Federal Register. The final rule included interpretive guidance on who is covered by the law, the types of limitations and medical conditions covered by the law, how individuals can request reasonable accommodations, and numerous concrete examples. To accompany the Federal Register publication, the EEOC released user-friendly resources about the PWFA, including:

• A plain language Summary of Key Provisions of EEOC’s Final Rule to Implement the PWFA;
• What You Should Know About the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act;
• A resource document for small businesses on pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions accommodations; and 
• A Fact Sheet for Small Businesses: Pregnancy Discrimination.

Performance Measure 11 for Strategic Objective II.A.: Develop a federal government-wide network and repository to share EEO resources and leading practices that are occurring across the federal government.

	FY 2023	FY 2024
Target	Complete plan for network and repository, including stakeholder input.	Implement the network and repository.   Develop baselines and goals for FY 2025 and FY 2026 to measure the number of users and impact of the system.
Results	In FY 2023, the EEOC, through its Outreach Training and Engagement Division (OTED), created a DEIA repository outline, with content including leading practices, position descriptions, and training.   The EEOC Education Consortium (EdCon) was developed in part to provide educational materials for federal sector EEO practitioners. The repository outline will be housed on the EEOC EdCon site, and the entire website will be updated, in addition to the creation of the repository, to centralize all the EEO and EdCon specific resources.	In FY 2024, the Resource Repository housed on the EdCon website was published. The repository includes training resources, annual reports, guidance, technical assistance, and more.   Two communities of practice (CoP) were launched: the Anti-Harassment CoP and the Data Science CoP. The EdCon Mentoring Program was completed. The success of the FY 2024 Mentoring Program and further development of the EdCon site was demonstrated through activity attendance, survey results, and data analysis.   EdCon hosted 16 collaborative meetings, programs, and education and training events.
	Target Met	Target Met

Performance Measure 11 builds on the leadership and guidance the EEOC provides to federal agencies on all aspects of their EEO programs. As part of this role, the EEOC ensures federal agency compliance with federal sector regulations; provides technical assistance to federal agencies concerning EEO complaint adjudication; monitors and evaluates federal agencies’ affirmative employment programs; produces an annual report on federal sector complaint processing, appellate case processing, and compliance; produces reports on significant issues and government-wide trends in the federal sector; develops and distributes federal sector educational materials; and conducts training for stakeholders. The EEOC embraces and recognizes the value of proactive prevention. Thus, in addition to taking remedial actions when agencies fail to comply with the EEOC’s appellate orders, regulations, or directives, the EEOC continues and enhances its practice of providing technical assistance to agencies on a routine basis before problems arise.

This measure leverages the EEOC’s existing work and partnerships to develop a government-wide network and repository for EEO resources and leading practices. The goal of the new network and repository is to facilitate better communication across agencies and create a space for the sharing of practices that will positively impact equal employment opportunity in the federal workplace.

The fiscal year 2024 target for Performance Measure 11 was to implement the network and repository and develop baselines and goals for fiscal year 2025 and fiscal year 2026 to measure the number of users and impact of the system. During fiscal year 2023, the agency through its federal sector Outreach Training and Engagement Division (OTED) created a repository outline, with content including leading practices, position descriptions, and training for workforce inclusion. The EEOC expanded the repository and implemented federal sector strategic communication and social media plans to ensure EEO news was delivered to a broad federal audience during fiscal year 2024.

The EEOC Education Consortium (EdCon) was developed in part to provide educational materials for federal sector EEO practitioners. In fiscal year 2024, EdCon grew a 3,000+ member community of EEO practitioners. The EEOC launched two Communities of Practice to the EdCon community, one on Data Science and Analytics and the other on Anti-Harassment Program Managers and practitioners. To engage federal practitioners and leaders, the EEOC offered free learning opportunities, networking events, and a federal mentoring program. The success of the mentoring program and further development of the EdCon site was demonstrated through activity attendance, survey results, and data analysis.

Strategic Goal III: Strive for Organizational Excellence Through Our People, Practices, and Technology.

The agency adopted two strategic objectives to further the goal:

• Strategic Objective III.A.: The EEOC achieves a culture of accountability, inclusivity, and accessibility.
• Strategic Objective III.B.: Resources align with priorities to strengthen intake, outreach, education, enforcement, and service to the public to protect and advance civil rights in the workplace.

The EEOC also identified and is implementing eleven key strategies. The agency’s strategies for achieving Strategic Objective III.A. are:

• Strategy III.A.1: Recruit, develop, and retain talented employees.
• Strategy III.A.2: Advance performance management to maximize organizational improvement.
• Strategy III.A.3: Enhance diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in the workplace.
• Strategy III.A.4: Develop and support innovation and collaboration to advance employee engagement and morale.
• Strategy III.A.5: Promote a culture of continuous improvement.
• Strategy III.A.6: Foster constructive employee and labor management relations.
• Strategy III.A.7: Strive to be a model employer and to promote equal employment opportunity.
• Strategy III.A.8: Develop and implement a robust leadership and succession plan.

The three strategies for achieving Strategic Objective III.B. are:

• Strategy III.B.1: Expand the use of technology to better serve the public and improve productivity.
• Strategy III.B.2: Leverage the use of data, analytics, and information management to support, evaluate, and improve the agency’s programs and processes.
• Strategy III.B.3: Prioritize and actively manage available fiscal resources to best achieve the agency’s mission.

The EEOC has developed Performance Measures 12 through 15 to track the agency’s progress in pursuing these strategies.

Strategic Objective III (Management Objective) FY 2024 Performance Summary
Measures	4 Total	Identifier
Targets Met or Exceeded	3
Targets Partially Met*	1
Targets Not Met	0

*Target(s) Partially Met: A rating assigned to target results where: 1) at least half of the activities targeted for completion were completed; or 2) EEOC was unable to assess the results because a full year’s worth of data was not yet available.

Performance Measure 12 for Strategic Goal III.A.: Effectively allocate people and resources to accomplish agency mission goals, within budgetary limitations.

	FY 2023	FY 2024
Target	Maintain the EEOC’s authorized FTE levels through hiring and retention and the use of nontraditional talent pools and ensure the hiring process is accessible to underrepresented groups. Promote the EEOC as a model of diversity, equity, inclusion, workplace flexibility, accessibility, and excellence.	Increase the EEOC’s workforce based on authorized budget levels. Expand the use of hiring reform programs and appointments (e.g., Pathways Programs, Law Clerk, Schedule A, and other hiring authorities) to recruit, develop, and retain skilled workers for the agency.
Results	The agency worked to maintain the EEOC’s authorized FTE levels throughout FY 2023, while using various tools to recruit and retain talent, primarily with front-line positions: 30% veterans’ preference hiring, Pathways, College Graduate Hiring Authority, Attorney Honors Program, and other special hiring flexibilities, such as Schedule A appointments for persons with disabilities.   The agency met its authorized FTE level while focusing on filling mission-critical, front-line positions.	The agency has maintained the EEOC’s authorized FTE levels for FY 2024, utilizing hiring reform programs and appointments (e.g., Direct Hire Authority for STEM) to recruit, develop, and retain skilled workers for the agency, based on authorized budget levels.   Budgetary considerations limited the increase in FTEs for FY 2024.
	Target Met	Target Met

Performance Measure 12 focuses on recruiting, developing, and retaining a diverse and talented workforce with a goal of reaching and maintaining authorized full-time equivalent (FTE) levels by fiscal year 2026 (subject to budget availability) with an emphasis on front-line staff. This performance measure takes a holistic approach, using various workforce strategies to restore and maintain staffing levels comparable to a decade ago, recognizing that the ability to add staff is contingent on final fiscal year spending bills. The fiscal year 2024 target for Performance Measure 12 was to increase the EEOC’s workforce based on authorized budget levels and expand the use of hiring reform programs and appointments to recruit, develop, and retain skilled workers for the agency. At fiscal year-end, the agency was staffed with 2,246 FTE employees, which met the appropriated ceiling (2,347) and authorized FTE level for fiscal year 2024 (the same amount funded for fiscal year 2023), while focusing on filling mission-critical, front-line positions. Budgetary considerations limited the increase in FTE levels for the fiscal year.

Performance Measure 13 for Strategic Goal III.A. and III.B.: Feedback surveys and other mechanisms provide measures of satisfaction for EEOC stakeholder experiences.

	FY 2023	FY 2024
Target	Expand feedback surveys and other mechanisms to obtain data and to provide measures of satisfaction for additional services, such as the charge filing experience and digital services. Review the results at the end of the fiscal year to set targets for next year.	With new services baselines developed in FY 2023, set goals for improvement at the beginning of the fiscal year and review results at the end.
Results	The agency continued to conduct and expand the use of feedback surveys throughout the fiscal year, including workgroup sessions and electronic survey reviews, to support continued access to EEOC services provided to the public.	The agency continued to conduct and expand the use of feedback surveys throughout the fiscal year, including workgroup sessions and electronic survey reviews, to support continued access to EEOC services provided to the public.
	Target Met	Target Met

Performance Measure 13 focuses on obtaining feedback on services provided to the EEOC’s stakeholders. It supports Strategic Objective III.B., to align resources with agency priorities by strengthening intake, outreach, education, enforcement, and service to the public, by obtaining and evaluating feedback from the targeted audiences the Commission serves. This feedback then provides measurement of the agency's delivery of services and allows improvements to be targeted to areas identified by stakeholders. The EEOC recognizes the importance of examining the effectiveness of the Commission’s work, particularly the efficacy of intake, outreach, education, guidance, and technical assistance documents, to continuously improve the agency’s ability to serve the public and prevent and remedy discrimination.

The fiscal year 2024 target for Performance Measure 13 was for the agency to set goals for improvement at the beginning of the fiscal year, using the new services baselines developed in fiscal year 2023, and review results at the end of the fiscal year.

In fiscal year 2024, the EEOC Training Institute continued to implement feedback surveys for all in-person and virtual workshops, courses, conferences, and Customer Specific Trainings (CSTs) for private sector, state, and local government employers, federal national courses, federal agency training sessions, and the annual EXCEL Training Conference. Additional survey questions for stakeholder feedback were developed in fiscal year 2024 and will be implemented in fiscal year 2025.

The Information Intake Group (IIG) Call Center implemented after-call surveys to measure callers’ current customer service satisfaction and to establish baselines and goals. The survey results during fiscal year 2024 consistently demonstrated excellent customer service on the part of the IIG’s contact representatives. Specifically, the Customer Service Index Scores for the IIG were at 89%-91% month-over-month, with an overall fiscal year 2024 score of 90.4%. 

Additionally, the EEOC’s Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) program continued to receive remarkable feedback from its participants. In fiscal year 2024, 96.4% of charging parties (employees, job applicants) and respondents (employers) who replied to the program’s annual survey indicated that they would return to the mediation program in a future charge filed with the Commission. The above-referenced fiscal year activities support continued access to EEOC services provided to the public.

Performance Measure 14 for Strategic Goal III.B.: Build and deploy charge/case management systems for Litigation and Federal Sector program offices. Complete deployment, monitor and improve effectiveness of digital charge/case management system for program offices.

	FY 2023	FY 2024
Target	Complete the deployment of the agency’s modernized charge/case management system (ARC).   Develop baselines and measure the effectiveness of the modernized charge/case management system.	Based on the stakeholder feedback gathered in Performance Measure 13 for Strategic Objective III.A., link the modernized charge/case management system (ARC) to new and redesigned digital services for the agency’s multiple external constituencies, including for charging party attorney representatives.
Results	The agency continued its comprehensive revamp of EEOC’s digital charge/case management platform (ARC). New litigation and litigation appeals modules were deployed in ARC during fiscal year 2023. In addition, prioritizing specific enhancements and fixes was a key area of focus; necessary to complete prior to the development of baselines and measuring the effectiveness of ARC.	In FY 2024, the EEOC implemented E-File for Attorneys, which allows attorneys to submit charges of discrimination electronically to the EEOC– fully integrating data and workflow processes with ARC.
	Target Partially Met*	Target Partially Met*

*Target(s) Partially Met: A rating assigned to target results where: 1) at least half of the activities targeted for completion were completed; or 2) EEOC was unable to assess the results because a full year’s worth of data was not yet available.

Performance Measure 14 focuses on the EEOC’s progress toward completing the modernization and full utilization of the agency’s charge/case management system (ARC) and related constituent services. In fiscal year 2024, the agency implemented its first new portal, E-File for Attorneys, which allows licensed attorneys to submit charges of discrimination directly to the EEOC on behalf of charging parties. The agency also focused on development of services to support the agency’s federal sector hearings and appeals processes.

Performance Measure 15 for Strategic Objective III.B.: The budget process prioritizes funding for the EEOC’s strategic goals.

	FY 2023	FY 2024
Target	As part of an overall increase in budget development transparency, produce an annual congressional budget justification and operating plan that reflects strategic enforcement, outreach and education, and management priorities. Meet all submission deadlines.	As part of an overall increase in budget development transparency, produce an annual congressional budget justification and operating plan that reflects strategic enforcement, outreach and education, and management priorities. Meet all submission deadlines.
Results	The EEOC's FY 2024 Congressional Budget was submitted to Congress on March 13, 2023.   The EEOC's final FY 2023 Operating Plan was approved by the Chair on January 10, 2023.   The EEOC's FY 2025 Performance Budget was submitted to OMB on September 11, 2023.	The EEOC’s FY 2025 Congressional Budget was submitted to Congress on March 11, 2024.   The EEOC’s final FY 2024 Operating Plan was approved by the Chair on April 3, 2024.   The EEOC’s FY 2026 Performance Budget was submitted to OMB on September 9, 2024.
	Target Met	Target Met

By developing a strong and clear message for use in budget documents and other publications, the EEOC demonstrates the nexus between its budget requests, allocations and operating plans, and the achievement of its mission and vision. A universal understanding of how the strategic goals and objectives direct the work of the agency is necessary for success. The EEOC will achieve this common understanding in various ways, including integrating Strategic Plan objectives with performance standards and ensuring that budget submissions from each component office explain how the agency's resources implement the goals and objectives of the Strategic Plan.

The fiscal year 2024 targets for Performance Measure 15 were to meet all deadlines required to submit the EEOC’s Fiscal Year 2025 Congressional Budget Justification and the 2024 Operating Plan and prepare the EEOC’s Fiscal Year 2026 Performance (OMB) Budget that aligns resources with the Strategic Plan. These documents were all submitted in a timely manner and clearly explained how resources aligned with strategic priorities. The agency’s Fiscal Year 2025 Congressional Budget Justification was submitted to Congress on March 11, 2024. The final fiscal year 2024 Operating Plan was approved by the Chair on April 3, 2024. The Fiscal Year 2026 Performance Budget was submitted to OMB on September 9, 2024.

Related Program Results and Activities

In addition to working to address specific Performance Measures, discussed above, the EEOC also carries out other programs and engages in many other activities in support of the Strategic Plan. This section provides detailed information about these related program results and activities and, along with the Fiscal Year 2024 Agency Financial Report, also serves to address Title VII’s requirement that the EEOC, at the end of each fiscal year, “shall [. . .] report to Congress and to the President concerning the action it has taken and the moneys it has disbursed.” 42 U.S. Code § 2000e-4(e).

Administrative Enforcement

Public Inquiries to the Information Intake Group

The Information Intake Group (IIG) is the agency’s point of contact for members of the public who use the agency’s toll-free number, general information e-mail address, and direct ASL videophone service for general inquiries. In fiscal year 2024, the IIG received over 553,000 phone calls (an almost 6% increase from fiscal year 2023), more than 90,000 emails (an almost 5% increase from fiscal year 2023), and over 1,200 calls through an ASL videophone line. During fiscal year 2024, the IIG’s Interactive Voice Response provided responsive information via SMS text messaging to over 137,500 callers to the EEOC’s 1-800 number without requiring those callers to speak to an IIG contact representative. Callers to the EEOC’s toll-free number who elected to speak to a person were assisted by IIG contact representatives who use an extensive knowledge database to respond, in both English and Spanish, to these calls. The IIG also uses an interpretation service so that the EEOC can assist people in over 200 languages. In fiscal year 2024, almost 83% of calls and emails answered by the IIG contact representatives were fully resolved without requiring referral to other staff in EEOC field offices. The EEOC continues to be one of few federal agencies providing direct ASL video service for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing community.

Addressing Increased Filings of Charges of Discrimination

In fiscal year 2024, the EEOC received 248,255 inquiries in field offices, a 6.2% increase from the 233,704 inquiries received the prior fiscal year. Approximately 89% of the fiscal year 2024 inquiries were filed online using the EEOC’s Public Portal and Attorney E-file systems. The EEOC received 88,531 new charges, a 9.2% increase compared to fiscal year 2023. Despite increased charge receipts, the EEOC continued to effectively manage its charge inventory and ended the fiscal year with 52,080 pending charges, a slight increase from the 51,100 pending charges in fiscal year 2023.

In fiscal year 2024, the agency resolved 18% of charges with outcomes favorable to the charging party, also known as merit factor resolutions. In addition, the EEOC resolved a total of 87,219 charges, a more than 7% increase over fiscal year 2023, secured over $469.6 million in monetary relief for individuals during the administrative process, a 6.6% increase over fiscal year 2023, and obtained targeted, equitable relief in 99.4% of all conciliation agreements in the administrative process.

In fiscal year 2024, Commissioners signed a total of 33 Commissioner charges and the EEOC initiated 30 directed investigations.

Alternative Dispute Resolution

Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) continues to be an effective and efficient tool in resolving charges of discrimination. The EEOC’s ADR program provides an opportunity for workers and employers to convene and discuss their respective positions with a neutral mediator and attempt to resolve a discrimination charge early in the EEOC charge resolution process. The decision to mediate is completely voluntary. If both parties agree to mediate, a trained and experienced mediator conducts a confidential mediation at no cost to the parties. A successful mediation results in a written signed agreement that is enforceable in court just like any other contract. If the parties do not reach an agreement at the mediation, or if either party declines EEOC’s offer to mediate, the charge is assigned to the enforcement division to continue the charge investigation and resolution process.

In fiscal year 2024, the agency successfully resolved 8,543 of the 11,998 mediations conducted (71.2%), resulting in over $243.2 million in benefits to charging parties. Notably, mediators in the EEOC’s ADR program also successfully resolved 81 of the 147 federal sector mediations conducted, securing $4.2 million in benefits for federal employees. As noted above and discussed in more detail below, the program continues to receive overwhelmingly positive feedback from participants.

During fiscal year 2024, the EEOC also continued to focus on providing outreach to respondents to highlight the benefits of the ADR program, conducting 424 such events nationwide for employers.

Building upon the technology enhancements implemented in fiscal year 2023, the EEOC was able to timely collect electronic survey responses from its mediators and mediation participants concerning their experiences mediating charges via video platforms. The survey results indicated overwhelming satisfaction with the EEOC’s mediation program during fiscal year 2024. Participants continued to view the EEOC’s voluntary mediation program as highly effective, fair, and neutral, and expressed strong satisfaction with the process. The surveys continued to show near unanimity regarding participants’ willingness to participate in the mediation program in the future. Specifically, 96.4% of participants (99% of employers and 93% of charging parties) indicated they would be willing to participate in the EEOC’s mediation program again if they were a party to an EEOC charge.

Conciliation

The EEOC’s conciliation efforts are another vital means to promote voluntary compliance with federal employment discrimination laws. When the EEOC determines that there is reasonable cause to believe discrimination has occurred, the agency invites the parties to join the EEOC in seeking to settle the charge through an informal and confidential process known as conciliation. Conciliation is a voluntary process, and the parties must agree to the resolution. The EEOC has a statutory obligation to attempt to resolve findings of discrimination through conciliation before the agency considers the matter for litigation.

The agency is committed to resolving charges in conciliation as one of the most effective means to prevent and remedy discrimination in the workplace. In fiscal year 2024, the EEOC successfully resolved 34% of conciliations. The EEOC recovered $40 million for workers subjected to discrimination through conciliation and pre-determination settlements in fiscal year 2024.

Below are examples of notable fiscal year 2024 conciliations:

• A systemic investigation conciliated for $6.875 million after the EEOC’s investigation determined that the employer subjected a class of physicians to a mandatory retirement age, regardless of ability to do the job, in violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). In addition to monetary relief, the four-year conciliation agreement provided for recission of the unlawful policy, notification to employees of the recission, and clarification that the employer does not have any policy in which age is a factor in making employment decisions, including termination, retirement, and terms and conditions of employment. The employer also agreed to review, revise as necessary, and distribute its policies and procedures against discrimination based on age and disability, and provide training to leadership on the ADEA and ADA.
• A systemic investigation conciliated for $265,000 after the EEOC’s investigation determined that the employer, a national supermarket chain, subjected a group of 11 employees, men and women, to sexual harassment and retaliation for complaining about the harassment, in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act (Title VII). The employer also agreed to obtain an external Title VII consultant/monitor; update its policies as necessary; provide training to all personnel in the affected district on Title VII, sexual harassment, and retaliation; and update its investigation process.
• An investigation conciliated for $47,480 after the EEOC’s investigation found that the employer, which provides residential and commercial pest control services across five counties in Florida, violated the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) by denying the charging party’s request for reasonable accommodation to attend monthly medical appointments for her pregnancy and terminating her employment. The conciliation agreement provided for the appointment of an EEO coordinator, revision of the company’s employment policies to include making reasonable accommodations under the PWFA, training for management and non-management employees, and quarterly reporting of accommodations and discrimination complaints.

Litigation

Challenging Discrimination in Federal District Court

In fiscal year 2024, the EEOC’s field legal units filed 110 employment discrimination lawsuits and one lawsuit challenging the breach of a conciliation agreement (together, “merits suits”). These lawsuits include 76 suits seeking relief for individuals, 22 non-systemic suits with multiple victims, and 13 systemic suits. Of the 111 merits suits filed, 79 of the lawsuits also raised Strategic Enforcement Plan (SEP) priorities.

The fiscal year 2024 filings alleged violations covering a wide variety of bases, encompassing sex, including pregnancy (52, including the agency’s first five lawsuits filed under the PWFA); disability (48); retaliation (43); race (15); age (7); national origin (6); and religion (3). The issues raised most frequently in these suits were discharge, including constructive discharge (85); harassment (39); reasonable accommodation (33); and hiring, including referral, recall, and assignment (21). Of 48 ADA suits filed, 7 involved individuals with hearing impairments and 5 involved individuals with vision impairments. In addition, many ADA suits challenged discriminatory application of employer qualification standards or other inflexible policies, such as those requiring employees to work with no medical restrictions without consideration of possible accommodations, or those assessing points for absences related to an employee’s disability. Four Title VII lawsuits involved sexual orientation-based discrimination, and three involved discrimination based on gender identity. Two suits involved reasonable accommodation to be excused from employer vaccination requirements, including a systemic case addressing religious and disability exemptions to COVID-19 vaccination policies. Five Title VII suits raised sexual harassment claims on behalf of teenage workers. The suits represented significant geographic diversity, with case filings in parts of the country geographically removed from an EEOC office, such as South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming.

At the end of fiscal year 2024, the EEOC had 205 merits cases on its active district court docket, of which 42 (21%) were non-systemic multiple victim cases and 45 (22%) involved challenges to systemic discrimination.

In addition to the 111 merits suits, the EEOC also filed 13 actions to enforce subpoenas issued during EEOC charge investigations and 18 suits for non-compliance with mandatory federal reporting requirements (EEO-1 Component 1 workforce demographic reports) in fiscal year 2024.

Resolutions of pending litigation were especially strong in fiscal year 2024. The EEOC resolved 132 merits lawsuits in the federal district courts, a more than 33% increase over fiscal year 2023, for a total monetary recovery of over $40 million, a more than $17 million increase over fiscal year 2023. The EEOC achieved a favorable result in 97% of all district court resolutions, and a total of 4,304 individuals received monetary relief as a direct result of EEOC litigation resolutions. Favorable results include cases decided by court order and concluded through a consent decree or a settlement agreement in litigation.

Note: Monetary benefits recovered in suits filed under multiple statutes are counted separately and are not included in the tally of suits filed under any particular statute.

Addressing systemic employment discrimination on all protected bases is a top priority for the EEOC, and this year systemic litigation continued to account for a sizeable portion of the EEOC’s litigation caseload, representing 12% of all merits suits filed. The 13 systemic lawsuits filed by the EEOC in fiscal year 2024 challenge various types of systemic discrimination, including hiring claims based on sex, race, national origin, age, and disability; harassment claims based on sex and race; claims of failure to accommodate based on disability and religion; disability claims based on unlawful application of a qualification standard; discharge claims based on age, disability, race, and retaliation; and a sex-based pay claim. This past fiscal year, the EEOC resolved 16 systemic cases, obtaining just over $23.9 million, a $12.2 million increase over fiscal year 2023, for 4,074 victims of systemic discrimination and significant equitable relief. The EEOC’s litigation program achieved a remarkable 100% success rate in its systemic case resolutions in fiscal year 2024.

Selected Systemic Resolutions

• EEOC v. DHL Express (USA), Inc., No. 10-CV-06139 (N.D. Ill. Apr. 24, 2024). The EEOC alleged that a package delivery service discriminated against a class of Black delivery drivers with respect to the terms and conditions of employment, in violation of Title VII. The discrimination included assigning Black drivers more dangerous and demanding routes and more arduous dock work, and segregating drivers based on race. The consent decree provides $8.7 million to the aggrieved individuals and enjoins retaliation and segregating employees based on race or on the racial demographics of the assigned delivery areas, along with other injunctive relief.
• EEOC v. Radiant Services Corp. and BaronHR, LLC, No. 2:22-cv-06517 (C.D. Cal. Apr. 8, 2024 (BaronHr) and Aug. 6. 2024 (Radiant)). The EEOC alleged a staffing agency and a commercial laundry violated Title VII by failing to hire a class of applicants because of race (Black, Asian, and white) and/or national origin (non-Hispanic) and engaging in a pattern or practice of sex segregation, hiring men exclusively for sorting and transport positions and women exclusively for folding and ironing work. EEOC resolved its claims against BaronHR via a seven-year consent decree for $2.2 million and resolved its claims against Radiant Services in a 5-year decree for $1.1 million, both with significant injunctive relief.
• EEOC v. Sunshine Raisin Corp. d/b/a National Raisin Company; Real Time Staffing Services, LLC d/b/a Select Staffing, 1:21-cv-01424 (E.D. Cal.) (Mar. 12, 2024 (National Raisin)) (July 24, 2024 (Real Time Staffing)). In this Title VII lawsuit, the EEOC alleged that a dried fruit manufacturer and a company that provides temporary and direct placement employment services subjected three charging parties and a class of mostly monolingual Spanish-speaking female agricultural production workers to sexual harassment, as well as retaliatory discharge of a charging party after she complained, and constructive discharge of another. The harassment included groping and touching of private parts, kissing, inappropriate and unwelcome comments, requests for sex and dates, intimidation and threats, and employees’ complaints about the harasser were ignored for years. The suits were resolved by a 3-year, $2 million consent decree against National Raisin and a 3-year, $500,000 consent decree against Real Time Staffing, including injunctive relief.
•  EEOC v. National Telecommuting Institute, No. 5:23-cv-01210 (W.D. Tex. Aug. 8, 2024). In this ADA lawsuit, the EEOC alleged that a staffing agency and federal contractor that assists individuals with disabilities to find work-at-home jobs failed to provide reasonable accommodations to a class of blind and low-vision applicants, unlawfully classified individuals as disabled, and failed or refused to place blind or low-vision applicants for employment because of their disabilities. The 3-year consent decree provides $1.25 million to two charging parties and a class of 116 aggrieved individuals and enjoins defendant from refusing to provide individuals with disabilities access to defendant’s job board based on their need to use adaptive technology, segregating or classifying such applicants based on their use of assistive technology, or denying employment opportunities to such applicants because of a need for reasonable accommodation, and requires priority placement or referral to aggrieved individuals with appropriate skills and qualifications for positions available.
•  EEOC v. Didlake, No. 8:23-cv-02618 (D. Md June 28, 2024). In this ADA lawsuit, the EEOC alleged that a not-for-profit organization that connects individuals with disabilities with employment opportunities discriminated against three charging parties and a class of other deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals by failing to provide them with medical leave as a reasonable accommodation and terminated employees because of disability and in retaliation for their requests for accommodations. The lawsuit also alleged that defendant terminated employees who did not qualify for leave under the FMLA, required employees to certify that they had no restrictions when they sought to return from medical leave, and discriminated against deaf or hard-of-hearing maintenance and janitorial workers by failing to provide effective communications-related reasonable accommodations. The 5-year consent decree provides for more than $1 million to charging parties and approximately 140 aggrieved individuals, enjoins ADA discrimination, and requires revised policies, annual ADA training, reporting, and notice posting.
• EEOC v. Smart Talent, Inc., No. 2:22-cv-01102 (W.D. Wash. Aug. 6, 2024). In this Title VII case, the EEOC alleged that a staffing agency engaged in a pattern or practice of sex discrimination in hiring and job assignments, including by unlawfully honoring customers’ preferences for men for certain openings. The 3-year consent decree provides $875,000 to a class of approximately 1,060 female applicants, and injunctive relief.
• EEOC v. Lilly USA, LLC and ELI Lilly and Company, No. 1:22-1882 (S.D. Ind. Oct. 10, 2023). In this ADEA lawsuit, the EEOC alleged that a pharmaceutical company engaged in a nationwide pattern or practice of refusing to hire individuals 40 and older for the position of pharmaceutical sales representative because of age when it announced a goal of 40% “early career hiring” as part of an effort to increase the number of millennials in the company’s workforce, and its managers nationwide altered their hiring practices in favor of younger candidates for sales representative positions. The 2½-year consent decree provides for $2,400,000 to 1,980 aggrieved individuals and injunctive relief.
• EEOC v. Factor One Source Pharmacy, LLC,Case No. 1:24-cv-01572-RMR (D. Colo. June 14, 2024). In this lawsuit brought under both the ADA and GINA, the EEOC alleged that a pharmacy providing specialized pharmacy services to patients requiring complex medications violated the ADA and GINA when it inquired about employee disabilities and genetic information (family medical history) and pressured employees to use its pharmacy services for themselves and their family members, terminating those who would not comply. The consent decree provides for $515,000 and injunctive relief.

Other Selected District Court Resolutions

• EEOC v. J.A. Croson LLC, No. 5:22-cv-00435 (M.D. Fla. Aug. 26, 2024). In this Title VII lawsuit, the EEOC alleged that a plumbing and HVAC subcontractor subjected a class of Black and Hispanic employees to a hostile work environment based on race and national origin in violation of Title VII, alleging company supervisors routinely used the n-word slur and referred to Black and Hispanic employees in derogatory terms based on race and national origin. The company also disproportionately assigned Black and Hispanic workers manual labor that did not count as work credit for its apprenticeship program, and retaliated against the two charging parties who complained. The 3-year consent decree provides $1.6 million to 17 employees and injunctive relief.
• EEOC v. TA Dedicated, Inc. d/b/a Transport America and TForce TL Holdings USA, Inc., No. 1:23-cv-1802 (N.D. Ohio Apr. 26, 2024). In this Title VII lawsuit, the EEOC alleged that a trucking company subjected two employees, both gay men working as mechanics, to a hostile work environment based on sexual orientation and retaliated against them. The harassment included routine use of slurs, unwelcome sexual innuendo, derogatory comments about gay people, physical violence, and unwanted touching. The 3-year consent decree provides $460,000 and injunctive relief that includes required reporting and annual training.
• EEOC v. Medsurant Holdings, LLC, Medsurant LLC, and Medsurant Operating, LLC, No. 3:23-cv-00501 (M.D. Tenn. Jan. 18, 2024). In this EPA and Title VII lawsuit, the EEOC alleged that a nationwide provider of medical monitoring services to hospitals and surgeons unlawfully paid a female employee less than her similarly situated male colleagues, and subjected her to retaliatory discipline when she complained about the wage disparity, leading to constructive discharge. The 3-year consent decree provides $80,000 to charging party, enjoins engaging in sex discrimination, including in the payment of wages, and retaliation, and other injunctive relief, including a fair compensation policy which will include provisions that employees are not prohibited from discussing their compensation and provide a process for requesting equity pay adjustments.
• EEOC v. Hank’s Furniture, Inc., No. 3:23-cv-24533 (N.D. Fla. July 18, 2024). In this Title VII lawsuit, the EEOC alleged that a nationwide furniture retailer failed to provide charging party with a religious accommodation to be excused from its COVID-19 vaccination requirement absent undue hardship. The retailer ignored charging party’s accommodation requests, tried to pressure her into obtaining the vaccine, and disputed the validity of her sincerely held religious beliefs before discharging her for refusing to comply. The 3-year consent decree provides $110,000 and injunctive relief, including a requirement for the employer to revise its policies to include procedures for requesting religious accommodation.
• EEOC v. Triple Canopy, Inc., No. 1:23-cv-01500 (D.D.C. Dec. 26, 2023). In this Title VII lawsuit, the EEOC alleged that a security guard company unlawfully denied accommodation of charging party’s sincerely held Pantheist Christian religious practice of not shaving his beard, and then retaliated against him for filing an EEOC charge and constructively discharged him. Charging party, who is not a member of a formal religious denomination and does not attend regular services, submitted his own written description of his religious beliefs and a statement from a friend who was aware of the duration and content of his religious beliefs. The employer denied the request, citing charging party’s inability to provide corroboration of his sincerely held religious belief from a “certified or documented religious leader.” The 3-year consent decree provides $110,759 and injunctive relief.
• EEOC v. Walgreens, Co., No. 1:22-cv-05357 (W.D. La. Mar. 15, 2024). The EEOC alleged that a pharmacy and retailer violated the ADA and Title VII when it refused to accommodate charging party, a pregnant customer sales associate who experienced bleeding at work and asked the store manager for unscheduled emergency leave to seek medical attention. The 2-year consent decree provides for $205,000 to charging party and injunctive relief.
• EEOC v. Accessible Physical Therapy Services, LLC, No. 8:23-cv-02281 (D. Md. Mar. 12, 2024). The EEOC alleged defendant rescinded a job offer to charging party, an occupational therapist, due to her pregnancy the day after she disclosed it and requested information about pregnancy leave policies. The 3-year consent decree provides for $70,000 and enjoins pregnancy discrimination.
• EEOC v. TCI of Alabama, LLC, No. 23-cv-1200 (N.D. Ala. May 16, 2024). The EEOC alleged an Alabama recycling, removal, disposal, and repair company violated Title VII when it terminated a management employee for his participation in an internal investigation regarding an EEOC charge and his refusal to recant his statement, despite repeated pressure by defendant’s president. The 3-year consent decree includes monetary damages of $90,000 and injunctive relief.

Notably, the EEOC also prevailed at an ADA jury trial in fiscal year 2024 in EEOC v. McLane Company, No. 5:20-cv-1528 (N.D.N.Y. Feb. 9, 2024). In this lawsuit, the EEOC alleged a supply chain services company failed to interview and refused to hire charging party, who is deaf, because of her disability, which it became aware of when she returned the employer’s call about her applications for two warehouse positions by using a Telecommunications Relay Service (TRS), which uses an operator to facilitate telephone calls between people with hearing or speech disabilities and others. The jury awarded charging party $25,000 for lost wages and benefits, $150,000 in non-pecuniary compensatory damages, and $1.5 million in punitive damages. In a post-trial ruling, the court reduced the combined compensatory and punitive damages to the statutory cap of $300,000 and awarded over $8,000 as additional compensation for the negative tax consequences of receiving lump sum backpay. The court also ordered extensive injunctive relief, including requiring two hours of live ADA training for all of defendant’s human resource and supervisory employees that will specifically cover the various ways hearing impaired individuals may communicate with defendant, including via TRS, or with the use of sign language interpreters, and that will include a mock TRS call and guidance on how to respond when such a call is received. The court also ordered that for two years defendant will report semi-annually to the EEOC regarding any complaints of disability discrimination by employees or applicants.

During fiscal year 2024, the EEOC did not file any lawsuits based on a Commissioner charge or directed investigation.

The EEOC’s Fiscal Year 2024 Office of General Counsel (OGC) Annual Report provides additional detailed information about the agency’s efforts to enforce federal anti-discrimination laws.

Appellate and Amicus Briefs

In addition to its nationwide litigation program at the district court level, the EEOC maintains an active appellate program. In fiscal year 2024, the EEOC filed three briefs on appeal in Commission cases as well as 39 amicus briefs in the federal appellate and district courts. Examples include:

• An amicus brief filed in Mobley v. Workday, Inc. (N.D. Cal.), arguing that a software developer/vendor may be liable under the EEO laws if its artificial intelligence or algorithmic tools unlawfully screen out certain groups of applicants, resulting in a ruling that the agency theory may apply as a basis for rendering such entities liable;
• An amicus brief filed in Shanks v. Int’l Union of Bricklayers (D.C. Cir.), arguing against dismissal of a claim under Title VII that a union’s vaccination mandate had a disparate impact on Black employees, where statistics showed that employees who didn't travel for work — a category that consisted of nearly 90% of the company’s Black employees — were given less time to comply with the vaccine mandate and less information about the shots, and as a result, five of the six employees who were punished for not complying, and all three of those who were fired, were Black; and
• Amicus briefs filed in multiple circuits addressing the implications of the Supreme Court’s decision in Muldrow v. City of St. Louis (2024).

Examples of notable appellate decisions obtained include:

• EEOC v. Wal-Mart Stores East, L.P, 114 F.4th 777 (7th Cir. 2024). In this ADA case, the EEOC challenged Walmart’s decision to fire an employee with Down syndrome who had worked successfully at Walmart for fifteen years and relied on a fixed schedule that allowed her to take the same bus each day and get home for dinner at the same time each night. Walmart unilaterally changed this schedule and then fired her due to the resulting attendance infractions despite her repeated requests to return to her prior schedule. The Seventh Circuit affirmed the jury’s verdict and damages awards in EEOC’s favor ($150,000 in compensatory damages and $125 million in punitive damages, reduced to $150,000 to conform to the statutory cap), and remanded for reconsideration of the EEOC’s requests for injunctive relief to prevent a recurrence, noting that “it was Wal-Mart’s burden to establish that its discriminatory conduct is unlikely to recur, rather than the EEOC’s burden to show the opposite.”
• EEOC v. Center One, LLC, Nos. 22-2943 & 22-2944, 2024 WL 379956 (3d Cir. Feb. 1, 2024). In this Title VII religious discrimination case, the district court had granted summary judgment to Center One on the claim of refusal to accommodate Demetrius Ford’s religious practice. Ford’s Messianic Jewish faith required that he abstain from work on high holy days, which Center One then marked as unexcused absences. The district court had also found it reasonable that Center One insisted on official clergy verification of Ford’s religious practice, which he had been unable to provide. On appeal, the EEOC argued that a reasonable jury could find Center One constructively discharged Ford when it forced him to choose between observing his faith and keeping his job and that the district court erred when it found Center One’s insistence on official verification of his religious practice was reasonable. The Third Circuit agreed with the EEOC on constructive discharge, holding that “[t]he doctrine of constructive discharge does not require an employee who is seeking religious accommodation to either violate the tenets of his faith or suffer the indignity and emotional discomfort of awaiting his inevitable termination.” Quoting the EEOC’s counsel at oral argument, the court said that “the whole point of the constructive discharge theory[] is [that] an employee doesn’t have to wait around to actually be fired” but instead “can preserve their dignity and, in Mr. Ford’s case, honor his faith and avoid the mark of a termination on his record by resigning.” The court also noted that Center One’s insistence on official clergy verification was at odds with the EEOC’s religious discrimination guidance, as well as Third Circuit precedent.

Policy, Guidance, and Technical Assistance

The EEOC works with hundreds of thousands of employees and employers every year to provide a variety of resources on their legal rights and responsibilities under federal anti-discrimination laws. In fiscal year 2024, the EEOC updated or published several comprehensive resources and conducted outreach to the public in furtherance of its priorities, including protecting workers affected by pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions; preventing and remedying workplace harassment; addressing technology-related employment discrimination; and protecting vulnerable workers, including individuals with Long COVID and individuals with developmental or intellectual disabilities.

The EEOC continued to implement the PWFA, which became effective in fiscal year 2023. The PWFA provides workers with limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions the right to reasonable accommodations, absent undue hardship to the employer. The EEOC addressed over 99,000 comments provided by the public in response to the agency’s proposed regulation to implement the PWFA and published the final rule implementing the PWFA in the Federal Register (89 FR 29096 (Apr. 19, 2024)). The final rule included an Interpretive Guidance with plain language explanations of key PWFA terms and 78 fact-based examples showing how the regulation would operate in practice. The EEOC also prepared user-friendly PWFA resource documents, trainings, and videos, including an update of the technical assistance document, What You Should Know About the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act.

The EEOC also prioritized preventing and combatting workplace harassment. The EEOC published a proposed Enforcement Guidance on Harassment in the Workplace and addressed over 38,000 comments provided by the public before publishing the final Guidance, which provides a single unified resource about the law of workplace harassment under all of the federal employment discrimination laws and updates, consolidates, and replaces five EEOC guidance documents. The EEOC prepared plain language technical assistance and resource documents for stakeholders, including a Summary of Key Provisions: EEOC Enforcement Guidance on Harassment in the Workplace; Small Business Fact Sheet: Harassment in the Workplace; and Questions and Answers for Employees: Harassment at Work. The EEOC conducted public outreach to assist stakeholders in understanding and applying the final Guidance.

The EEOC provided high-quality, easy to understand education and outreach in the private, state and local, and federal sectors in response to the ongoing effects of COVID-19. The agency updated terminology and links in its What You Should Know about COVID-19 and the ADA, the Rehabilitation Act, and Other EEO Laws and participated in the Interagency Long COVID Coordination Council.

Another priority of the EEOC during fiscal year 2024 was to educate the public and policymakers on the impact that AI and other automated decision-making systems have on workers’ civil rights and the laws enforced by the EEOC. For example, EEOC staff testified at the “Federal Agency and Industry Practitioner Hearing on Artificial Intelligence” conducted by the U.S. Access Board.

The EEOC took the following regulatory actions in fiscal year 2024:

Federal Sector Enforcement, Activities, and Outreach

Enforcing Equal Employment Opportunity Laws in the Federal Government

The EEOC has adjudicatory responsibilities in the federal EEO complaints process. This involves hearings before administrative judges on complaints of discrimination by federal employees or applicants, as well as adjudication of appeals from federal agency final decisions on employment discrimination complaints. Strengthening the agency’s ability to effectively combat employment discrimination in the federal government was also a priority for the agency during fiscal year 2024.

The federal sector hearings program continued focusing on strategies to increase efficiency to manage the inventory of hearing requests and resolved 6,679 hearing requests, securing more than $181.4 million in benefits for federal workers. Notably, this relief included over $90 million in settlements of significant class action cases. The hearings program also focused on resolving older cases in the inventory and used case management strategies to balance field inventories through the resolution of older cases and the continued resolution of incoming cases. Resolutions resulted in a 96.6% reduction of pending cases that were between 600 and 999 days old, with only 15 of these cases remaining at the end of fiscal year 2024, and a 94.3% reduction of pending cases that were over 1,000 days old, with only 6 cases remaining at the end of the fiscal year. The focus on aged cases also resulted in a 9.9% reduction in the average hearings case age by the end of fiscal year 2024, as compared to the beginning of fiscal year 2024.

To maintain quality while also managing the inventory of federal hearings cases, the agency continued to use metrics, which were originally implemented in fiscal year 2019, to assess and measure quality. Additionally, the EEOC’s Public Portal continued to yield efficiencies in case processing in the federal sector because complainants can use the Public Portal to submit their hearing requests, upload documents, view the status of their complaints, and file appeals. The EEOC’s Public Portal also allows federal sector complainants to indicate their interest in alternative dispute resolution to resolve their complaints.

The EEOC’s federal sector appellate program adjudicates appeals from federal agency final decisions on employment discrimination complaints, including those following a decision by an EEOC administrative judge, and ensures agency compliance with orders issued on those appeals. The EEOC also adjudicates appeals from decisions made in federal collective bargaining agreement grievances alleging employment discrimination, reviews decisions by the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) addressing allegations of discrimination, and actions originating under Section 304 of the Government Employees Rights Act of 1991 (GERA). The appeals process is governed by EEOC regulations at 29 C.F.R. Parts 1614 and 1603 and Management Directive 110 (MD-110). In addition to protecting the rights of individual federal complainants, the EEOC’s appellate decisions serve to educate federal sector complainants, agencies, and the public and private sectors about the law, guide agencies in their efforts to become model workplaces, and advance the public interest in eradicating discrimination in federal employment.

The EEOC ensures that its federal appellate adjudicatory functions are fair to all parties and that the decisions issued apply relevant law and precedent to the unique facts presented in each individual case. At the same time, the EEOC recognizes its responsibility to effectively manage the appellate inventory to ensure that decisions are issued as expeditiously as possible.

In fiscal year 2024, the EEOC’s federal sector appellate program focused its resources on resolving the oldest appeals, as well as those that vindicate employees’ legal rights and/or preserve their access to the EEO complaint process. Using these approaches, the EEOC resolved 3,162 appeals in fiscal year 2024, including 1,789 appeals that were, or would have been, more than 450 days old at the end of the fiscal year. The EEOC docketed 4,232 new federal sector appeals. The EEOC resolved 1,402 appeals within 180 days of their receipt, addressing its growing inventory. Many of these resolutions were initial appeals from agency procedural dismissals that terminated complainants’ participation in the EEO process. The EEOC’s federal sector appellate program attorneys reversed nearly 35% of those procedural dismissals and ordered the agency to continue processing the EEO complaint. The EEOC’s federal sector appellate program has focused on quickly addressing appeals involving procedural dismissals of complaints, which is critical to effectively preserving access to the EEO complaint process.

During fiscal year 2024, the EEOC’s federal sector appellate program developed an Appeals Management Plan (Plan), which details program goals and methods to achieve those goals to produce optimal quality in the program’s appellate work. The Plan includes multiple work processes for the specialized handling of complex, unique, and/or priority issues, and also recognizes the continued need to maintain a more traditional processing method. 

While the EEOC’s federal sector appellate program continued to focus on the quality of the appellate decisions, as part of the Plan, it developed standards and procedures to provide more uniformity in style and format, including using standard sections and improving accessibility. These enhancements have improved clarity in the issues presented, the applicable standards of review, the relevant laws and regulations, and the factual presentations. Also, they have enhanced the educational value of the appellate decisions and increased stakeholder satisfaction with the appellate review process.

Continued Emphasis on Outreach and Education in the Federal Sector

Outreach, engagement, and education in the federal sector are important to the EEOC’s efforts to promote broad compliance with federal workplace anti-discrimination laws. In fiscal year 2024, the EEOC continued to increase its robust education and outreach efforts by offering webinars, free awareness presentations, and fee-based training opportunities in the federal sector. It also leveraged technology to strengthen and expand the impact of these activities to reach digital audiences. The EEOC delivered over 575 federal sector outreach, engagement, and training events. Training courses were provided to 10,357 recipients and provided more than 80,000 federal sector employees and EEO professionals with information about employment discrimination and their rights and responsibilities in the workplace.

In fiscal year 2024, the EEOC, through its EdCon, grew to a 3,000+ member community of EEO and DEIA practitioners. To engage federal practitioners and leaders, the EEOC offered free learning opportunities, networking events, and a federal mentoring program. The EEOC also launched two Communities of Practice to the EdCon community, one on Data Science and Analytics and the other on Anti-Harassment Program Managers and practitioners. The EEOC also implemented federal sector strategic communication and social media plans to ensure EEO news was delivered to a broad federal demographic.

In fiscal year 2024, the EEOC received well over 100 requests from federal partners for no-cost outreach. Outreach presentations focused on varied topics and were delivered in several ways, including single presentations, panel discussions, and workshops. To promote increased access and cost-saving, seminar events were recorded and then shared on EEOC’s federal sector YouTube channel to allow easy access to those unable to attend the session live. EEOC staff delivered 14 no-cost webinars to the federal community on various current and novel EEO and DEIA issues. Also, the EEOC conducted 54 national learning opportunities that reached 1,554 federal learners and led 455 CST courses that reached 8,803 federal employees.

The EEOC continued collaborating with other federal agencies to form strategic partnerships and engage in outreach activities for the federal sector. For example:

• The EEOC manages an interagency consortium, Federal Exchange of Employment and Disability (FEED), with DOL and OPM. Through FEED, the EEOC conducted quarterly events for Federal sector disability practitioners to identify promising practices and explore opportunities for improvement. One such meeting addressed OMB M-24-08 “Strengthening Digital Accessibility and the Management of Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act.”
• The EEOC hosted an annual meeting with agency general counsels across the federal government. This meeting was attended by over 200 individuals and served as a gateway to strengthen outreach and communication between the EEOC and agency counsel who regularly represent the federal government during the EEO process.
• Recognizing that smaller agencies have limited resources and different challenges than larger agencies, the EEOC continued to meet with the Small Agency Council to address the unique needs of small federal agencies.
• The EEOC Chair served as co-Vice Chair of the administration’s Chief Diversity Officer Executive Council to assist implementation of Executive Order 14035: Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) in the Federal Workforce. With the White House Domestic Policy Council (DPC), OMB, and OPM, the EEOC conducted government-wide outreach, collaborated on developing government-wide resources, hosted weekly office hours, and provided learning sessions to assist in agencies’ implementation of the Executive Order.
• The EEOC participated in a variety of White House disability-related initiatives, including the Disability Data Inter-Agency Working Group’s development of a Federal Evidence Agenda on Disability Equity and the Interagency Policy Committee’s Digital Accessibility Subcommittee.
• The EEOC, DPC, and OPM conducted presentations to CDOs, agencies, unions and Employee Resource Groups regarding Antisemitism and Islamophobia consistent with the National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism and activities to counter Islamophobia.
• The Federal Inter-Agency Holocaust Remembrance Program, with support of many EEOC employees, occurred on May 8, 2024, at the Department of State with approximately 8,500 live views and 150 live attendees.

Providing Strong Leadership and Oversight for Federal Agencies

As discussed under Performance Measure 11, the EEOC provides leadership and guidance to federal agencies on all aspects of their EEO programs. In addition to taking remedial actions when agencies fail to comply with the EEOC’s appellate orders, regulations, or directives, the EEOC also works to provide technical assistance to agencies on a routine basis before problems arise. For fiscal year 2024, the EEOC aimed to conduct 60 technical assistance visits with agencies and issue a feedback letter within 180 days of each visit. The EEOC staff conducted 69 technical assistance visits with federal agencies and timely issued 97% of the 67 feedback letters to federal agencies.

In fiscal year 2023, the EEOC engaged with the U.S. Office of Personnel Management Human Resources Solutions to develop competency models and conduct competency gap analyses for the GS-0260 EEO Specialists. As a result, in fiscal year 2024, the EEOC implemented several learning opportunities for EEO Specialists to bridge the gap to enhance professional development and stakeholder outcomes.

The EEOC also continued its efforts to ensure that agencies have a compliant anti-harassment policy, building upon the baseline that was established in fiscal year 2018, when only 48% of agencies had compliant policies. During technical assistance visits, the EEOC staff discussed with agencies the status of their anti-harassment policies and later sent written feedback letters with detailed recommendations. In fiscal year 2022, 78.82% of the 203 agencies that received EEOC feedback had compliant anti-harassment policies, which increased to 80.30% in fiscal year 2023, and 80.79% in fiscal year 2024.

The EEOC also continued working toward the goal that 90% of federal agencies have compliant reasonable accommodation procedures, building upon the baseline that was established in fiscal year 2018, when only 16% of agencies had fully compliant procedures. To meet this goal, EEOC staff discussed the status of the procedures with agencies during technical assistance meetings and provided written feedback to agencies, upon request. At the conclusion of fiscal year 2024, as the result of EEOC’s efforts, 89.05% of the 201 agencies that received EEOC feedback had compliant reasonable accommodation procedures, a slight decrease from the percentage of agencies with compliant reasonable accommodation procedures at the conclusion of the previous fiscal year. 

In fiscal year 2024, the EEOC published seven reports on significant issues and government-wide trends in the federal sector:

• Retaining Persons with Disabilities in the Federal Workforce;
• Effectiveness of Alternative Dispute Resolution in the Federal Sector;
• The Impact of Telework on Personal Assistance Services;
• The Promising Practices for Using Schedule A to Recruit, Hire, Advance, and Retain Persons with Disabilities;
• Hispanic Women and Latinas in the Federal Sector;
• African American Women in the Federal Sector; and
• American Indian and Alaska Native Women in the Federal Sector.

The EEOC also published quarterly issues of the Digest of EEO Law, which contains summaries of important EEOC decisions and articles on topics of interest for the federal EEO community. These resources are published on the EEOC’s website, so all interested parties have access to the summaries and links to the full decisions.

In honor of the 20th anniversary of Management Directive 715, the EEOC hosted a public event with those involved in its passage, conducted a special EEO Directors Meeting, and published an article all focusing on the past, present, and future effectiveness of the Directive.

The EEOC’s federal sector program continued to administer the GERA hearing and appeals process through contracted federal administrative law judges (ALJs) at the hearing level. GERA protects certain employees and applicants chosen or appointed by state and local officials. In the high-profile case of Brock v. Fulton County, EEOC Charge No. 410-2021-02604 (Jan. 12, 2024), the ALJ found the Fulton County Commissioner had engaged in sex discrimination and awarded Mr. Brock close to $1 million in remedial relief.

Outreach, Education, and Prevention

Prioritizing Private Sector Outreach

Outreach and education are essential tools for the EEOC as it works to promote inclusive workplaces and prevent employment discrimination before it occurs. In fiscal year 2024, the EEOC conducted 2,908 no-cost outreach events for 253,976 individuals nationwide, providing information about the laws enforced by the EEOC.

In January 2024, the EEOC launched the REACH initiative "Enhancing OutREACH to Vulnerable Workers and Underserved Communities” to expand the agency’s outreach efforts to vulnerable workers and underserved communities. The initiative aims to advance equal opportunity for all by making the EEOC accessible to all members of the public and ensuring employees know their rights, while specifically targeting the country’s most vulnerable workers and those living in areas of the country most geographically removed from an EEOC office. During fiscal year 2024, the agency held 23 REACH initiative events with workers and advocates across the country, including in-person listening sessions with advocates and workers as well as site visits to pre-apprenticeship programs, worker centers, and community-based organizations across the country, including in California, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Maine, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, Ohio, Texas, West Virginia, and on Tribal lands. 

In fiscal year 2024, the EEOC conducted targeted outreach to ensure meaningful access to EEOC services. For example, English and Spanish radio media tours were used to amplify knowledge of the PWFA in rural communities, communities with limited English proficiency or low literacy skills, and with individuals who may be unable to attend in-person outreach events due to limited resources or time to travel during work hours. Significantly, in a single month of airtime, the EEOC reached over 41 million English listeners and over 4.8 million Spanish listeners through this effort. Additionally, the EEOC posted short PWFA videos on EEOC social media platforms in both English and Spanish, which in total were viewed over 2,000 times on YouTube and received over 5,600 impressions on social media. The agency also translated PWFA education materials into Arabic, Chinese (simplified and traditional), Haitian Creole, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Tagalog, Thai, and Vietnamese for the EEOC website. The EEOC released an animation video on the “Ways to File a Charge,” which is available in six different languages and reached over 10,000 viewers in fiscal year 2024.

In addition, EEOC field offices continued to partner with the Mexican Embassy to support Labor Rights Week and the initiative of the Government of Mexico to increase awareness and inform the Mexican and Latino communities about their fundamental labor rights. Events were held in English and Spanish and included “Know Your Rights” and “EEOC Overview” presentations; panel discussions on employment discrimination issues related to national origin, harassment, the EEOC’s anti-discrimination employment laws, and how to file a charge of employment discrimination; and informational fairs with EEOC handouts, brochures, and other materials about the EEOC. The EEOC field offices also engage in outreach activities with consulates for other countries throughout the fiscal year to provide information on immigrant rights, human and labor trafficking, and other topics.

The EEOC integrated requirements in Executive Order 13985: Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government (EO 13985) into our partnership and outreach strategy to reduce employment barriers for underserved communities. EEOC district offices worked together hosting regional listening sessions and identified partners that extended the agency’s reach into underserved communities. During these sessions, the EEOC increased awareness of the agency’s strategic priorities, provided up-to-date guidance, and shared upcoming training opportunities. 

The EEOC conducted 152 outreach events involving systemic race discrimination reaching 11,935 individuals and 162 race and color outreach events reaching 16,766 individuals. In support of the interagency working group for the White House Initiative on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders (WHIAANHPI), the EEOC conducted 69 events reaching 4,084 individuals.

Through targeted outreach, the EEOC also reached communities with low literacy skills, hosting 145 events and reaching 10,943 individuals. Additionally, the EEOC held 251 listening sessions on a variety of topics across the country, keeping the agency informed of emerging issues and trends in employment discrimination, reaching 17,532 individuals.

During fiscal year 2024, the EEOC continued to build upon its efforts to advance the aims of Executive Order 14041: White House Initiative on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity Through Historically Black Colleges and Universities (EO 14041) by broadening its engagement, partnership, and collaboration with federal, state, local, and Tribal partners to better support historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). For example, the EEOC utilized the strategic plan it developed focusing on five goals to enhance communication and collaboration with HBCUs. The strategic plan identifies areas of progress made toward achieving these goals and highlights continued efforts to recruit HBCU students and graduates. The EEOC engages in outreach to HBCUs through several initiatives, such as the EEOC’s Youth@Work program, technical assistance/engagement workshops, and fostering collaborative relationships with HBCUs at the annual Equal Justice Works Career Conference. The EEOC conducted 32 outreach events to HBCUs that reached 3,158 individuals.

The EEOC also engaged in outreach to combat discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. In support of the White House Gender Policy Council and multiple executive orders, including Executive Order 13988: Preventing and Combating Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity or Sexual Orientation (EO 13988); EO 13985; and Executive Order 14075: Advancing Equality for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Intersex Individuals (EO 14075), the EEOC conducted 246 LGBTQI+ outreach events, reaching 27,250 individuals.

During fiscal year 2024, the EEOC participated in the Interagency Policy Committee to Counter Antisemitism, Islamophobia, and Related Forms of Discrimination and Bias, which resulted in the National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism and the recently released National Strategy to Counter Islamophobia and Anti-Arab Hate. The EEOC conducted 124 events addressing religious discrimination, reaching 9,424 individuals. The EEOC held 115 events addressing antisemitism and Islamophobia, reaching 20,141 individuals.

In fiscal year 2024, the EEOC also focused outreach and education on priorities identified in the agency’s Strategic Enforcement Plan for Fiscal Years 2024-2028 (SEP). The agency conducted the following targeted outreach events to achieve the SEP objectives:

* Events that covered more than one SEP Priority Category are included under each applicable category.

The EEOC also completely redesigned a portion of its website, creating an EEOC Legal Resources page that provides more organized current, comprehensive legal resources for the public, including the full text of over 37 laws in accessible formats. The agency also improved access to its guidance and regulations, incorporating user-friendly organizational features and improved descriptions. In addition, the EEOC created a new landing page for workers with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their employers.

Outreach Targeted to Small, New, and Disadvantaged Businesses

In fiscal year 2024, the EEOC continued to prioritize outreach, education, and technical assistance to small, new, and disadvantaged businesses. Given their size and limited resources, these businesses are often less able to take advantage of commercial training programs and less likely to have in-house human resources professionals to assist them with compliance. In fiscal year 2024, the EEOC held 26 partnership events focused on small businesses, reaching almost 1,000 attendees. In addition, the EEOC continued to educate management lawyer groups and employers, especially small businesses and new businesses, about the EEOC’s mediation program, conducting 424 events nationwide.  

The EEOC’s outreach to small, new, and disadvantaged businesses included providing access to on-demand interpreters and document translation services in over 200 languages.

The EEOC continued to promote its public website containing the online Small Business Resource Center, a comprehensive resource providing small businesses tools to understand the federal anti-discrimination laws and to prevent employment discrimination in their workplaces. The site features answers to frequently asked questions, guidance for making employment decisions in common scenarios, and pointers for developing good workplace policies. It has tips for small businesses on various potential workplace discrimination issues to help businesses avert problems before they arise. It also provides quick access to the names and contact information of the EEOC’s Small Business Liaisons in the EEOC’s field offices. These liaisons answer questions from small business owners as they institute policies and practices to comply with the law.

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Office of the National Ombudsman’s Annual Report to Congress grades all federal agencies on their responsiveness to small business concerns and their compliance with the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996. The Ombudsman’s most recent report, the 2022 Annual Report to Congress, gave the EEOC an “A” rating across-the-board, the highest possible rating, reflecting the SBA’s recognition of the EEOC’s strong commitment to assist this important sector of the economy.

Outreach to Fair Employment Practices Agencies and Tribal Employment Rights Offices

The EEOC routinely engages with state and local Fair Employment Practices Agencies (FEPAs) and Tribal Employment Rights Offices (TEROs) to provide training, conduct joint outreach, and other activities that help to enhance the EEOC’s partnerships and benefit the public. FEPAs and TEROs extend the EEOC’s reach nationwide in ensuring unlawful employment discrimination is addressed.

For example, throughout the country, the EEOC and FEPAs worked together to educate a variety of audiences about employment discrimination on all bases and how to prevent and address it. Further, the EEOC’s partnerships with FEPAs and TEROs resulted in local public service announcements (PSAs) and other advertisements, such as joint FEPA and EEOC signage on public transportation. 

The EEOC also partners with TEROs to share resources and provide information regarding employment discrimination. For example, the EEOC conducted detailed training for TEROs and provided a comprehensive desk reference on how to recognize potential unlawful employment discrimination and to work with the EEOC to help address it on and off tribal lands. Further, the EEOC’s State and Local and Tribal Programs webpages provide videos of the EEOC’s history with FEPAs and TEROs, as well as an animated video that highlights the various ways members of the public can contact the EEOC to file charges of discrimination. The Tribal Programs webpage also contains a new PSA intended for tribal communities to help direct them to the EEOC or to TEROs regarding potential unlawful employment discrimination matters. The PSA is available in several versions to accommodate different types of media outlets that may run the video. The Nez Perce and Lummi Nation Tribes graciously approved the participation of their TERO Directors as spokespersons on the PSA and they allowed filming to occur on their lands. 

Providing Employers with Fee-Based Training

The EEOC Training Institute provides fee-based training and technical assistance to stakeholders from both the private and public sectors. The operations of the Training Institute are funded through the EEOC’s Revolving Fund (RF), which is an instrument established by Congress in 1992 to enable the EEOC to charge “reasonable fees” for specialized products and services developed and delivered as part of the EEOC’s training and technical assistance efforts. The RF serves as the mechanism through which the EEOC can collect payments, thus offsetting some of the costs devoted to training and technical assistance to external entities, allowing the agency to offer more non-fee-based outreach events to those populations less able to pay for training.

In fiscal year 2024, the Training Institute provided expanded opportunities for employees and employers to receive training, education, and information about their rights and obligations to prevent and eradicate workplace discrimination by offering both virtual and in-person events. The Training Institute offered virtual and in-person 1-hour (breakfast and lunch briefings), 2-hour, 4-hour (half-day), and 8-hour (full-day) workshops. These workshops were financially successful and afforded EEOC district offices the opportunity to jointly collaborate and pool their creative ideas and resources to provide a broader range of training in the virtual environment. The workshops also received excellent evaluations from attendees. The Training Institute conducted 33 national (1, 2, 4, and 8 hour) workshops with approximately 5,172 registrants, 36% of which included technical assistance to employees and employers on their respective rights and obligations under the PWFA.  

The Customer Specific Training (CST) programs provided training and education for employees, managers, supervisors, and human resources professionals from private sector employers and state, local, and federal government agencies on their EEO responsibilities and how to prevent and remedy workplace discrimination. The Training Institute designed customized courses to be delivered at employers’ worksites, including virtual delivery. In fiscal year 2024, the Training Institute conducted 252 virtual and in-person CST events that reached approximately 11,156 registrants and included Respectful Workplaces employee training and Leading for Respect manager and supervisor training.

The agency held its 27th Annual Examining Conflicts in Employment Laws (EXCEL) Training Conference for federal sector and private sector EEO practitioners in August 2024, in New Orleans, LA, with 924 registrants. The conference gathered EEO, human resources (HR), and alternative dispute resolution (ADR) practitioners from private, state, local, and federal organizations for four days of education, training, and professional development. The conference theme was “60 Years of the Civil Rights Act: Pursuing Justice/Celebrating Progress.” The agency held 8 pre-conference sessions, 3 plenary sessions, and over 70 open workshops. Topics included the EEOC’s final regulation on the PWFA, the EEOC’s new Enforcement Guidance on Harassment in the Workplace, artificial intelligence, antisemitism and anti-Muslim and other forms of religious discrimination, and significant employment law and EEO compliance developments. The conference received outstanding feedback and gave participants the needed EEO knowledge and skills to enhance their performance and meet the evolving demands of today’s workplace.    

In addition, the Training Institute offered federal courses that are designed to meet training requirements for EEO practitioners and employees working throughout the federal government.   In fiscal year 2024, there were 47 national federal courses with approximately 2,350 attendees and 455 federal agency training sessions with approximately 4,132 attendees. Of the federal agency training sessions, 218 focused on anti-harassment, 137 focused on Respectful Workplace employee training, and 62 focused on Leading for Respect for manager and supervisor training.

Creating Fair and Inclusive Workplaces

Strengthening the Enforcement Capacity of the Agency

The EEOC has a critical role to play in addressing many of the urgent issues facing our nation and requires sufficient resources and tools to continue to prevent and remedy employment discrimination, both now and in the future. The agency’s fiscal year 2024 budget funded the EEOC at the same amount as fiscal year 2023, while costs increased, resulting in significant budgetary limitations for fiscal year 2024. At the end of fiscal year 2024, the EEOC had 2,170 full-time permanent employees onboard, down from 2,300 at the end of fiscal year 2023 due to budgetary limitations. However, based on fiscal year 2024 appropriations, the agency reached its FTE ceiling. As of September 30, the agency’s FTE was 2,246.

Hiring a Diverse EEOC Workforce

The EEOC can best accomplish its mission with a productive, inclusive, and diverse workforce that draws on the talents of Americans of all backgrounds. In fiscal year 2024, the EEOC continued to fully embrace the principles of equal employment in the agency’s own workplace, recognizing that doing so creates an environment that enhances the EEOC’s overall effectiveness by fostering a culture of inclusion and respect and increasing the cultural competency and familiarity of the EEOC’s workforce with the many, diverse demographic groups within the United States. Of the 56 new hires in fiscal year 2024, 19.6% (11) were individuals with a disability and 16% (9) were individuals with a targeted disability. Moreover, 27.1% of the EEOC’s workforce identified as individuals with disabilities and approximately 7.7% identified as individuals with targeted disabilities. The agency benchmark for individuals with disabilities and targeted disabilities is 12% and 2%, respectively. Among federal agencies, the EEOC also has the highest percentage of veterans that are classified as 30% or more disabled. As of the end of fiscal year 2024, approximately 27.7% of the agency’s employees were veterans. Of those 601 veterans, 80% (481) have a disability. Of the veterans who have a disability, 63.7% (383) are classified as 30% or more disabled veterans. This data indicates consistent and tremendous progress in the implementation of the agency’s plan for ensuring equal opportunity for qualified persons with disabilities.

To strengthen the enforcement capacity of the agency, managers were encouraged to establish and recruit for developmental positions to support workforce and succession planning initiatives through various hiring flexibilities such as 30% veterans’ preference hiring, HBCU recruitment initiatives, military spouse non-competitive hiring, partnering with the U.S. Peace Corps to obtain applicants, and Schedule A appointments for persons with disabilities. As discussed previously, the agency also implemented strategies to recruit and retain the EEOC’s talent to compensate for separations due to retirements, transfers, and departures, including retaining talent through the Pathways Program, College Graduate Hiring Program, and law clerk recruitment. The EEOC used an enterprise-wide approach to recruit candidates through these programs to meet overall office needs and align with the Biden Administration’s executive orders, contributing to the agency’s long-term retention efforts and succession planning.

In fiscal year 2024, the agency’s new hires represented the diversity of the nation’s civilian labor force (CLF). Of the new hires, the EEOC met the CLF for women overall and almost all racial groups. Moreover, in fiscal year 2024, approximately 73.8% of the EEOC’s workforce is age 40 and above, and about 45.8% is age 50 and above.

Creating an Inclusive Culture at the EEOC

The EEOC also fostered a culture of inclusion and respect during fiscal year 2024, and supported collaboration and strategic innovation among all employees by:

• Launching several key initiatives to promote inclusivity and cultural competency across the agency. A highlight of these efforts was the agency’s inaugural Unity Week in January 2024, featuring virtual open houses where employees could explore Voluntary Employee Organizations (VEOs). Unity Week showcased events like “Meet Your Commissioner,” during which EEOC leadership shared their commitment to civil rights, and “A Place for Everyone,” a session for employees to discuss how their backgrounds helped shape their paths at the EEOC.
• Hosting two impactful training sessions: “Respectful Workplaces: Interacting with Deaf and Hard of Hearing Members of the Public” in April 2024, and “Respectful Workplaces: Interacting with Blind and Low Vision Members of the Public” in June 2024. These sessions aimed to equip staff with the tools and knowledge necessary to interact effectively with these communities, reinforcing the agency’s commitment to a respectful, accessible, and inclusive environment.
• Hosting ten special emphasis events throughout the year, the Special Emphasis Program successfully engaged employees to increase cultural competencies in support of Special Emphasis Program initiatives. These events drew 350 to 400 EEOC employees on average.
• Supporting eight active VEOs as we advance and celebrate the agency’s culture of respect and inclusion for all employees.

Employee Training and Development in the EEOC

The EEOC continues to show commitment to our employees’ growth by supporting and providing ongoing training opportunities when our budget permits. The agency highlights the importance of training by disseminating weekly communications to employees with information on training courses, an EEOC Events Calendar, Learning Management System (LMS) training, internal development opportunities and also LinkedIn Learning and Rosetta Stone learning platform opportunities. In addition, the EEOC partnered with the Department of Interior to host a Senior Executive Service Candidate Development Program (SESCDP). These training and development improvements will successfully assist career development at all levels within the EEOC’s workforce.

In fiscal year 2024, the EEOC partnered with OPM’s Human Resources Solutions to develop EEOC’s Leadership Succession Management Plan (LSMP). The EEOC will use this information and work with offices to guide future training and development efforts to build leadership bench strength and develop leaders at all levels to contribute to the EEOC’s mission.

Performance Management and Recognition

Accountability remained the focus of performance management in fiscal year 2024. The agency continued to conduct numerous training sessions for EEOC employees and managers on performance related topics, with the objective of promoting and sustaining a high-performance culture and meeting EEOC organizational goals. For fiscal year 2024, employees were provided performance standards, progress reviews, and final performance ratings.

The EEOC Awards Program creates a balance between performance/rating-based awards and contribution awards that supports the strategic use of awards and recognition throughout the year and addresses workforce challenges by allocating rating-based awards in a manner that recognizes high-performing employees. The rating-based award process reflects meaningful distinction and pay differentiation based on levels of performance to ensure employees with higher ratings of record receive larger monetary awards. The contribution award process gives the EEOC the flexibility to recognize individual or group acts/achievements through a variety of means, including special act/achievement awards, on-the-spot awards, suggestion awards, time-off awards, and/or other non-monetary recognition.

Employee and Labor Relations

The EEOC continues to provide supervisors with the necessary training and tools to address employee development and performance throughout the employee lifecycle. This year, training included topics on leave administration, conduct/performance-based actions, and performance management for new and mid-level supervisors.

Labor relations play a significant role in ensuring employee engagement, employee satisfaction, and employee retention. The EEOC strives for proactive and collaborative engagement with the Union on draft policies and on policy implementation, when appropriate. The agency also engaged with the Union and gained approval from OPM on a Labor-Management Forum implementation plan in keeping with Executive Order 14119, Scaling and Expanding the Use of Registered Apprenticeships in Industries and the Federal Government and Promoting Labor-Management Forums (EO 14119).

Other Information

Major Management Challenges

As this report highlights, the EEOC tracks progress toward successful completion of the agency’s strategic objectives. Many of the performance measures identified in the agency’s Strategic Plan and discussed throughout this report address the agency’s efforts to prevent and remedy employment discrimination.

Additionally, each year, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) reports on what it has determined are the most serious management and performance challenges facing the EEOC. For a full description of the challenges identified by the OIG, see the EEOC’s Fiscal Year 2024 Agency Financial Report.

OIG’s Fiscal Year 2025 Management Challenges Report identified two challenges facing the agency: Customer Service and Data and Technology Transformation and Modernization. The EEOC implements remedial actions in response to the recommendations of the OIG. Described below is the progress the agency has made in addressing the major management challenges identified by the OIG.

Customer Service

Improving customer service in the government is a priority for the current administration and the EEOC has incorporated customer service goals into its Strategic Plan for 2022-2026. In particular, the EEOC has begun considering how it can improve its intake-related systems and processes to improve both access and efficiency.

A foundational component of this work is the modernization of the agency’s public portals, which are over ten years old. This modernization, which is made possible by the TMF-supported ARC implementation, will provide additional security, ensure clarity of portal content, expand language offerings, offer more granular data and new services, and improve interview scheduling. As a starting point, in fiscal year 2023, the EEOC developed a new E-File for Attorneys tool that now allows licensed attorneys to submit charges directly to the EEOC, to supplement the current manual processes. E-File for Attorneys, which was deployed in early fiscal year 2024, follows U.S. Web Design Standards (USWDS), is fully accessible, was developed based on customer-focused requirements and feedback, and integrates with login.gov authentication. About 70% of all attorney-submitted charges are now coming in through E-File. In addition to streamlining the charge intake process, E-File for Attorneys eliminated significant manual work from the field intake workload and freed up resources to better serve individuals who are not represented by an attorney.

In addition, the EEOC initiated a project to replace the scheduling tool used by the public to schedule intake appointments with new technology that meets Section 508 accessibility standards, is mobile responsive for phone and tablet use, has multi-language capabilities, fully integrates with Outlook/Teams for appointment/video conference scheduling, and has the capability to provide centralized management of all field office calendars that will allow for a nationwide view. In addition to the new technologies referenced above, the EEOC continued to augment our legacy public portals to add additional services.

The EEOC also improved service to the public by enhancing the agency’s ability to communicate with and provide accurate and timely information to stakeholders, including through:

• Continuing to provide access to interpreter and document translation services in more than 200 languages through the EEOC’s Information Intake Group contact center, as well as EEOC’s intake, mediation, and outreach programs;
• Making intake forms available in ten non-English languages (Arabic, Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), Farci, Haitian Creole, Korean, Russian, Spanish, Tagalog, and Vietnamese); and
• Fully leveraging the state-of-the-art Telephony Platform for the EEOC’s 1-800 toll free telephone number that launched in fiscal year 2022, which features an updated Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system in both English and Spanish, including through:
  • Providing EEOC-related information to over 137,000 callers to the 1-800 number using the text messaging system; and
  • Providing real-time customer satisfaction surveys, which provide the EEOC with feedback necessary to provide ongoing improvements to the customer satisfaction levels of EEOC stakeholders seeking information from the EEOC’s Contact Center. During fiscal year 2024, the EEOC’s Contact Center achieved a Customer Satisfaction Survey Score of approximately 90%, which is well above the industry standard.

Data and Technology Transformation and Modernization

The EEOC has made progress on its data and technology transformation and modernization efforts during fiscal year 2024. As described previously, the agency implemented its first new portal, E-File for Attorneys, which allows licensed attorneys to submit charges of discrimination directly to the EEOC on behalf of charging parties. The agency also focused on development of services to support the agency’s federal sector hearing and appeals processes, including initiating development of ARC Federal Sector Hearings during fiscal year 2024.

Removing the considerable barriers of old technology, transforming the EEOC to support fully digital services, and providing staff and partners with a modern system, has better enabled the agency to carry out its critical mission.

Cross-Agency Collaborations

Working in partnership with other law enforcement agencies and stakeholder communities allows the EEOC to incorporate diverse perspectives, achieve savings and efficiencies, eliminate duplication of efforts, and avoid conflicting enforcement objectives. The EEOC continues to partner with the DOL, particularly DOL’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP), Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), Bureau of International Labor Affairs, Women’s Bureau, and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA); the Small Business Administration; Department of Justice (DOJ); Department of State; state and local FEPAs and TEROs; as well as Foreign Consulates and Embassies.

For example, the agency partnered with the DOJ to support their nationwide initiative to combat unlawful acts of hate, called “United Against Hate.” The United Against Hate Initiative addresses hate crimes, promotes unity, and prevents discrimination against underserved and vulnerable communities. The EEOC joined the DOJ’s training event hosted by 94 U.S. Attorney’s Offices (USAOs) to provide updates about the EEOC’s charge referral process, the EEOC’s Antisemitism and Islamophobia outreach activities, and the relevant sections of the DOJ and EEOC MOU.

The agency executed an updated Memorandum of Understanding with DOJ’s Civil Rights Division (CRT) to include the PWFA and make other minor updates to ensure the proper handling of shared records and information.

At the request of OMB and other agencies, during fiscal year 2024, the EEOC provided important assistance on documents drafted by other federal entities. The Commission reviewed over 120 federal agency documents, Government Accountability Office reports, and bills proposed by Congress. The EEOC also participated in inter-agency taskforces on issues such as AI, language access, equity in retirement, mental health, and HIV/AIDS.

During fiscal year 2024, the EEOC’s cross-agency collaboration efforts on data issues continued to expand across program offices within the EEOC as well as with other federal agencies.

The agency continued to fulfill the leadership role with the EEO Special Tabulation Consortium and oversaw the execution of the current multi-year Interagency Agreements with the U.S. Census Bureau. Authorized under 13 U.S.C. §§ 141 and 193, the Census Bureau collects survey data through the American Community Survey (ACS). The ACS is the largest general-purpose demographic survey in the United States and includes questions on individuals’ occupations in combination with other demographic characteristics, such as race, sex, national origin, age, educational attainment, and income. The EEOC has found that the Census Bureau is the best entity to provide the required demographic EEO data and the ACS is the only source that can provide this information. In working with the Census Bureau, the EEOC joins a consortium of over 40 subject matter experts from DOJ, DOL, and OPM that will use the summarized data to monitor and enforce civil rights laws and regulations in employment. The EEOC continued to chair the Consortium and manages quarterly meetings with the Census Bureau.

Data Sharing with OFCCP

The EEOC has continued to share data with OFCCP to improve the effectiveness of both agencies in eradicating employment discrimination. The EEOC provides OFCCP with access to EEO-1 data to facilitate OFCCP’s enforcement of Executive Order 11246, which prohibits federal contractors from discriminating in employment on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or national origin and requires contractors to take affirmative action to ensure equal opportunity in employment.

Collaborating on a Website for Workers

During fiscal year 2024, the EEOC collaborated with the Department of Labor to support their new Migrantworker.gov website. This worker-centered website answers common questions and consolidates important resources and information from across the U.S. government about migrant worker rights throughout the labor migration journey — from recruitment, to working in the U.S., to a safe return home. The partnership effort focused on providing resources in Spanish and English to inform migrant workers that working in the United States includes the right to work in fair and inclusive workplace free of discrimination.  

This interagency effort directly supports Executive Order 14058: Transforming Federal Customer Experience and Service Delivery to Rebuild Trust in Government (EO 14058) by limiting hard to navigate, complicated websites for workers who are new to the country and may have limited English proficiency, literacy, or technology skills. This interagency collaboration streamlines the customer experience by providing information related to employment from different agencies in one location, increases access to important resources, and leads to positive lasting change for vulnerable communities to access these critical services throughout their U.S. employment experience.

Use of Virtual Desktop Technology

In fiscal year 2024, the EEOC expanded support for external stakeholders making use of Azure Virtual Desktop (X-AVD) as an inter-agency collaboration tool with the Department of Justice (DOJ) and other external collaborators. The X-AVD program has proven effective for the agency in handing critical matters and certain internal/cross-agency efforts. The use of X-AVD demonstrates the potential for leveraging modern, cloud-based solutions for efficient, secure, and scalable inter-agency collaboration.

Program Evaluations

Program evaluation is an important component of the EEOC’s efforts to ensure that its programs are operating as intended and achieving results. Program evaluation is a thorough examination of program design and operational effectiveness that uses rigorous methodologies and statistical and analytical tools. Evaluations also use expertise internal and external to the agency for the program under review.

Independent program evaluations have played an important role in formulating the strategic and performance goals for the EEOC’s Strategic Plan. They have helped shape some of the program issues and key focus areas for improvement, thereby increasing the plan’s value as a management tool to guide the agency’s strategic efforts in attaining overall productivity and program efficiency, effectiveness, and accountability. To that end, the EEOC has used findings and recommendations issued in the OIG program evaluations reports listed below to advance the EEOC’s performance-based management initiatives under the Government Performance and Results Management Act, and to improve the effectiveness of key agency programs. Information found in OIG program evaluations reports was useful to inform development of the EEOC’s strategic direction and goals for the next several years.

• Evaluation of EEOC Data Reliability, Elder Research for the EEOC Office of Inspector General, August 2024.
• Fair Employment Practices Agencies, Clarus Research for the EEOC Office of the Inspector General, August 2024.
• Customer Service Portals, KAI Partners for the EEOC Office of Inspector General, September 2023.
• Digital Process Transformation and Automation Program, KAI Partners for the EEOC Office of Inspector General, January 2023.
• EEOC’s Management of Private Sector Customer Service, Office of Inspector General, October 2022.
• EEOC’s Social Media Program, Hager Sharp for the EEOC Office of Inspector General, July 2021.
• EEOC’s Contracts Administration Activities, Office of Inspector General, March 2020.
• EEOC Federal Hearings and Appeals Processes, The Center for Organizational Excellence, Inc., and Cohn Reznick LLP, Office of Inspector General, March 2020.
• EEOC’s Data Analytics Activities, Elder Research, Office of Inspector General, September 2018.

Consistent with the Commission’s focus on improving the effectiveness of government through rigorous evaluation and evidence-based policy initiatives, the EEOC will continue to use the information noted in OIG’s program evaluations reports during the reporting period of the agency’s Strategic Plan. This on-going evaluation will ensure that the EEOC’s efforts align with the agency’s budget and other programmatic priorities. The EEOC will assess its progress on an ongoing basis to reaffirm its commitment to fulfilling the agency’s mission.

In fiscal year 2024, the agency continued its work to address the following evaluation projects:

• National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s Evaluation of Compensation Data Collected Through the EEO-1 Form. In fiscal year 2020, the EEOC contracted with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (National Academies) to evaluate the EEOC’s historic, first-time collection of pay data from certain private employers and federal contractors between July 2019 and February 2020. On July 28, 2022, the National Academies issued a Consensus Study Report, which concluded that the collection of pay and related data would significantly enhance the EEOC’s efficiency in investigating charges alleging not just pay discrimination, but also other forms of discrimination that can generate pay disparities, such as discrimination in promotions, other terms and conditions of employment, job/work assignments, and occupational segregation. The report also offers recommendations for improving the collection of pay data in the future. Many of the recommendations complement and were incorporated into the agency’s ongoing modernization of its EEO data collections and data analytics that began in fiscal year 2022 and continued in fiscal year 2024. The report’s conclusions and recommendations will help inform the EEOC’s approach to any future pay data collection.
• Mediation Survey Modernization Project. EEOC mediation participants continue to share their feedback by completing a survey electronically, in English, Spanish, Chinese (Simplified), and Haitian Creole. The project’s benefits include fewer steps in the process of distributing the survey to participants, faster receipt of survey responses, reduced data entry, and elimination of postage. In fiscal year 2024, technological enhancements were made to the universal link that collects email contacts for the participants. Subject to the availability of funds in fiscal years 2025 and 2026, the EEOC’s Office of Information Technology (OIT) will create an interface between the data collected in ARC and the survey results reported by the EEOC’s Office of Enterprise Data and Analytics (OEDA). The continued cross-office collaboration and experience acquired in executing these targeted survey instruments, protocols, and oversight among EEOC program offices provides a model and framework for other strategic applications involving customer canvassing, training/outreach assessments, and targeted programmatic evaluations, should funds be available for the continued development of this project.
• The EEOC’s Data and Analytics Modernization Program. The goals of the modernization program are to: 1) enhance transparency of agency functions and operations; 2) reduce burden on our stakeholders; 3) augment agency use of modern data analytics to drive data-driven decision making; and 4) promote greater public access to data. In fiscal year 2024, OEDA led and participated in several modernization efforts specific to the evaluation of its data collection and reporting. With the transition of the enforcement data collection from the EEOC’s IMS to ARC, OEDA worked closely with EEOC’s Office of Information Technology (OIT) and Office of Field Programs (OFP) to identify reporting errors. Inaccurate data or data collection issues were promptly reported to OIT and OFP and collaboratively addressed. During the fiscal year, OEDA continued to integrate ARC into its regular internal reporting processes and implement additional quality assurance measures.

Evidence Building

The EEOC recognizes the importance of data driven decision-making and the transformative role data can have to make the federal government more efficient and to better serve the nation. The EEOC is committed to building its capacity to provide mission-critical evidence and better integrate the agency’s information and data policy into budget, performance, and management decision-making. As a basis for this emphasis, the EEOC is guided by:

• The EEOC’s Strategic Plan and its prioritization across the EEOC’s long-term strategic goals and objectives;
• The EEOC’s Strategic Enforcement Plan (SEP), Fiscal Years 2024-2028;
• Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018;
• OMB Guidance, including OMB M-21-27, OMB M-20-12, and OMB M-19-23;
• Executive Order 13985: Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government;
• Executive Order 14035: Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility in the Federal Workforce;
• Presidential Memorandum on Restoring Trust in Government Through Scientific Integrity and Evidence-Based Policymaking;
• Executive Order 14028: Improving the Nation’s Cybersecurity;
• Executive Order 14058: Transforming Federal Customer Experience and Service Delivery to Rebuild Trust in Government; and
• Executive Order 14110: the Safe, Secure and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence.

The EEOC’s Data Governance Board and Chief Data Officer provide executive leadership and oversight for the development and implementation of the policies and processes that govern the collection, creation, management, use, and disclosure of the EEOC’s data.

The EEOC continues to make great strides with its Data and Analytics Modernization Program. In fiscal year 2024, the program focused on enhancing the transparency of agency functions and operations, reducing burden on stakeholders, augmenting agency use of modern data analytics to drive data-driven decision-making, and promoting greater public access to data. The EEOC’s Data and Analytics Modernization Program accomplishments include:

• Administered the EEO-1 Component 1 (Employer Information Report) and the EEO-4 (State and Local Government Information Report);
• Enhanced EEOC Explore, a web-enabled, user-friendly, data query and mapping tool, to facilitate and encourage greater access to and use of EEOC data for both agency staff and members of the public;
• Continued to modernize, enhance, and streamline the agency management workload reporting process thereby reducing burden on district office staff and utilizing the modern analysis and reporting platforms;
• Implemented improvements to gov/data, the agency’s one-stop shop for data and analytics that enables access to the EEOC’s publicly available workforce demographic data, and easy-to-explore datasets, along with visualizations on specific topics;
• Entered into an Interagency Agreement with the Census Bureau to provide secure access to agency data for qualified researchers using its Federal Statistical Research Data Center network.
• Appointed the agency’s first Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer to lead the EEOC through its continuing digital transformation while evaluating and possibly adopting new technologies.

Appendices

Appendix A: Organization and Laws Enforced

When the EEOC first opened its doors in 1965, it was charged with enforcing the employment provisions in Title VII of the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964. The EEOC’s jurisdiction over employment discrimination now includes the following laws:

• Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, gender identity, and sexual orientation), and national origin.
• Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978, which amended Title VII to clarify that discrimination on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions constitutes sex discrimination and requires employers to treat female employees affected by pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions the same as other employees who are similar in their ability or inability to work, with respect to terms and conditions of employment, including leave and benefits.
• Equal Pay Act of 1963 (included in the Fair Labor Standards Act), which prohibits sex discrimination in the payment of wages to men and women performing substantially equal work in the same establishment.
• Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, which protects workers age 40 and older from discrimination in hiring, discharge, pay, promotions, fringe benefits, and other aspects of employment. The ADEA also prohibits the termination of pension contributions and accruals on account of age and governs early retirement incentive plans and other aspects of benefits planning and integration for older workers.
• Title I and Title V of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, as amended by the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act of 2008, which prohibits employment discrimination by private sector respondents and state and local governments against qualified individuals on the basis of disability.
• Section 501 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of disability in the federal government.
• Government Employee Rights Act of 1991, which protects certain state government employees from discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, or disability. Protected applicants or employees include any individual chosen or appointed by a person elected to public office in any State or political subdivision of any State to be a member of the elected official’s personal or policymaking staff or to advise the official on the constitutional or legal powers of the office.
• Title II of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008, which prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of an applicant’s or employee’s genetic information (including family medical history), generally prohibits acquisition of genetic information from applicants and employees, and requires covered entities to keep such information confidential, with limited exceptions.
• Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, which overturned adverse Supreme Court precedent by amending Title VII, the ADA, and the ADEA to restore the EEOC’s long-held position on the timeliness of pay discrimination claims.
• Pregnant Workers Fairness Act of 2022, which requires that a covered entity provide a reasonable accommodation to a qualified employee’s or applicant’s known limitation related to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions, absent undue hardship.

The Office of Field Programs (OFP), the Office of General Counsel (OGC), and 53 field offices, ensure that the EEOC effectively enforces the statutory, regulatory, policy, and program responsibilities of the agency through a variety of resolution methods tailored to each charge. Staff are responsible for achieving a wide range of objectives, which focus on the quality, timeliness, and appropriateness of individual, multiple victim, and systemic charges and for securing relief for workers subjected to discrimination in accordance with agency policies. Staff also counsel individuals about their rights under the laws enforced by the EEOC and conduct outreach and technical assistance programs. OGC conducts litigation in federal district courts and in the federal courts of appeals.

Additionally, through OFP’s State, Local, and Tribal Program, the EEOC maintains work- sharing agreements and a contract services program with 90 state and local FEPAs for the purpose of coordinating the investigation of charges dual-filed under state and local laws and federal law, as appropriate. The EEOC partners with at least 60 TEROs to promote equal employment opportunity on or near Native American/Alaska Native Tribal lands.

The Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) serves as counsel to the Chair, developing policy guidance and regulatory actions, providing technical assistance to employers and employees, and coordinating with other agencies and stakeholders regarding the statutes and regulations enforced by the EEOC. OLC also fulfills in-house counsel functions by conducting or coordinating defensive litigation on behalf of the Chair and the Commission and advising agency officials on administrative issues such as contracts, disclosures, ethics, fiscal law, the Privacy Act, and recordkeeping matters. OLC houses the agency’s FOIA Division and its Records Management Division.

Through its Office of Federal Operations (OFO), the EEOC provides leadership and guidance to federal agencies on all aspects of the federal government’s equal employment opportunity program. This office ensures federal agency and department compliance with EEOC regulations, provides technical assistance to federal agencies concerning EEO complaint adjudication, monitors and evaluates federal agencies’ affirmative employment programs, develops and distributes federal sector educational materials and conducts training for stakeholders, provides guidance and assistance to EEOC administrative judges who conduct hearings on EEO complaints, but the responsibility for conducting hearings of federal sector complaints is performed in field offices under the oversight of OFP. Moreover, OFO adjudicates appeals from administrative decisions made by federal agencies on EEO complaints.

The EEOC receives a congressional appropriation to fund the necessary expenses of enforcing civil rights legislation, as well as prevention, outreach, and coordination of activities within the private and public sectors. In addition, the EEOC maintains a Training Institute for technical assistance programs. These programs provide fee-based education and training relating to the laws administered by the Commission.

Appendix B: EEOC Field Offices

For a full list of EEOC offices and a zip-code based office locator, please see: https://www.eeoc.gov/field/index.cfm

Appendix C: Biographies of the Chair, Vice Chair, Commissioners, and General Counsel

Charlotte A. Burrows, Chair

Charlotte A. Burrows was designated by President Biden as Chair of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) on January 20, 2021. Chair Burrows has been confirmed three times to serve as a member of the EEOC, first in 2015 and most recently on November 8, 2023 to a term expiring July 1, 2028.

For more information about Chair Burrows, please see: www.eeoc.gov/charlotte-burrows-chair.

Jocelyn Samuels, Vice Chair

Jocelyn Samuels was designated by President Biden as Vice Chair of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) on January 20, 2021. Vice Chair Samuels was initially nominated to serve as a Commissioner of the EEOC in 2020 and then re-nominated in 2021. On July 14, 2021, the U.S. Senate confirmed her to a second term ending July 1, 2026.

For more information about Vice Chair Samuels, please see: https://www.eeoc.gov/jocelyn-samuels-vice-chair.

Keith E. Sonderling, Commissioner*

Keith E. Sonderling was nominated to serve as a Commissioner of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in 2019 and was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on September 22, 2020, for a term expiring July 1, 2024.

*Commissioner Sonderling’s term expired on July 1, 2024. He remained in hold-over status until August 30, 2024.

Andrea R. Lucas, Commissioner

Andrea R. Lucas was nominated to serve as a Commissioner of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in 2020 and was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on September 22, 2020, for a term expiring July 1, 2025.

For more information about Commissioner Lucas, please see: https://www.eeoc.gov/andrea-r-lucas-commissioner.

Kalpana Kotagal, Commissioner

Kalpana Kotagal was nominated to serve as a Commissioner of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in 2022 and was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on July 13, 2023, for a term expiring July 1, 2027.

For more information about Commissioner Kotagal, please see: https://www.eeoc.gov/kalpana-kotagal-commissioner.

Karla Gilbride, General Counsel

Karla Gilbride was nominated to serve as the General Counsel of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in 2023 and was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on October 17, 2023, for a term expiring in 2027.

For more information about General Counsel Gilbride, please see: https://www.eeoc.gov/karla-gilbride-general-counsel.

Appendix D: Data Verification and Validation

The agency’s private sector, federal sector, and litigation programs require accurate enforcement data, as well as reliable financial and human resources information, to assess the EEOC’s operations and performance results and make sound management decisions. The EEOC will continue efforts to ensure the accuracy of program information and analysis of the information.

The EEOC systematically reviews the information collected in its databases for accuracy by using statistical software (e.g., SAS, PowerBI, etc.) and program reviews of a sample of records during field office technical assistance visits. Additionally, headquarters offices regularly conduct analyses to review the information collected to identify erroneous entries requiring correction to collection procedures.

The transition from the agency’s legacy Integrated Mission System (IMS) application to the modernized Agency Records Center (ARC) system continues to improve the collection and validation of the EEOC’s program data related to charge intake, investigation, mediation, conciliation, and Fair Employment Practices Agencies (FEPA) functions – migrating away from manual activity-based data entry to automated event-driven recordation. During these modernization efforts, the EEOC has identified many areas where the agency will be able to further automate and improve current processes and related data integrity. Because several performance measures require data to assess agency achievements, it is significant that the EEOC can now obtain reliable data more quickly.

The EEOC’s OIG regularly reviews the agency’s data validity and verification procedures, information systems, and databases and offers recommendations for corrective action or improvement. The agency uses the OIG’s information and recommendations to continually ensure the reliability and validity of the EEOC’s systems and data.

Appendix E: Glossary of Acronyms

AANHPI Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders

ADA Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990

ADEA Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967

ADR Alternative Dispute Resolution

AI Artificial Intelligence

APP Annual Performance Plan

ARC Agency Records Center

ASL American Sign Language

CST Customer Specific Training

DEIA Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility

DOJ U.S. Department of Justice

DOL, OFCCP U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs

DPC White House Domestic Policy Council

EDCON EEOC Education Consortium

EEO Equal Employment Opportunity

EEOC Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

EPA Equal Pay Act of 1963

EO Executive Order

EXCEL Examining Conflicts in Employment Laws

FEPA Fair Employment Practices Agency

FOIA Freedom of Information Act

FTE Full-Time Equivalent

GINA Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008

GSA General Services Administration

GERA Government Employee Rights Act of 1991

HBCU Historically Black Colleges and Universities

IIG Intake Information Group

IMS Integrated Mission System

NPRM Notice of Proposed Rulemaking

OCR Office for Civil Rights

OEDA Office of Enterprise Data and Analytics

OFO Office of Federal Operations

OFP Office of Field Programs

OGC Office of General Counsel

OIG Office of Inspector General

OIT Office of Information Technology

OLC Office of Legal Counsel

OMB U.S. Office of Management and Budget

OPM U.S. Office of Personnel Management

OTED Office of Training and Engagement Division

PWFA Pregnant Workers Fairness Act

SEP Strategic Enforcement Plan

TMF Technology Modernization Fund

TITLE VII Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

TERO Tribal Employment Rights Offices

USCIS U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services

WHIAANHPI White House Initiative on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders

Appendix F: Internet Links

EEOC Homepage: https://www.eeoc.gov/

EEOC Statistics: https://www.eeoc.gov/statistics

EEOC Strategic Plan for FY 2022-2026: https://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc-strategic-plan-2022-2026

Strategic Enforcement Plan for FY 2024-2028: https://www.eeoc.gov/strategic-enforcement-plan-fiscal-years-2024-2028

Meetings of the Commission: https://www.eeoc.gov/meetings

Newsroom/Press Releases: https://www.eeoc.gov/newsroom/search

Digest of EEO Law: https://www.eeoc.gov/digest

EEOC Explore: https://www.eeoc.gov/data/data-tools-and-products

EEOC FY 2024 Congressional Budget: https://www.eeoc.gov/fiscal-year-2024-congressional-budget-justification

EEOC FY 2025 Congressional Budget: https://www.eeoc.gov/fiscal-year-2025-congressional-budget-justification

EEOC Congressional Budgets: https://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc-budget-archives

EEOC Performance and Accountability Reports: https://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc-annual-reports-archives

Small Business Resource Center: https://www.eeoc.gov/employers/small-business

EEOC Training Institute: https://www.eeoc.gov/training-institute

Youth@Work: https://www.eeoc.gov/youthwork

Appendix G: Acknowledgments

The EEOC’s Fiscal Year 2024 Annual Performance Report is a collaborative endeavor on the part of many EEOC employees. The EEOC would like to acknowledge and thank them for their hard work and commitment in successfully preparing this report.

We Welcome Your Comments

Thank you for your interest in the EEOC’s Fiscal Year 2024 Annual Performance Report. We welcome your comments on how we can make this report more informative.

Please send your comments to:

Executive Officer
Office of the Executive Secretariat
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
131 M Street, NE
Washington, DC 20507–0001
(202) 921-2815
TTY 1-800-669-6820
ASL Video Phone 1-844-234-5122
Email: eeoc-executive-secretariat@eeoc.gov