With the EEOC’s increasing emphasis on large, class action systemic investigations and prosecutions, employers must sort out which EEOC charges pose real risk and which ones simply do not, to avoid expensive BIGLAW “solutions” to more minor workplace people problems. In fact, the EEOC has triaged all incoming charges since its 1995 adoption of Priority Charge Handling Procedures (PCHP), which the EEOC recently reinforced in its 2012-2016 Strategic Plan. Understanding PCHP (and by extension, the severity of the risk) will help employers strategically decide when to refer EEOC matters to outside employment counsel and when to realize the incredible cost savings of DIY position statement preparation and ADR participation.
An application is pending for 1 Strategic credit through the Human Resources Certification Institute, www.hrci.org.