I. INTRODUCTION
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued a “Best Practices” guide to help employers avoid discrimination against workers with caregiving responsibilities. This document supplements the EEOC’s enforcement guidance issued in 2007 (See NBA Compliance Handbook, Vol I, Personnel tab, "Unlawful Treatment of Workers With Caregiving Responsibilities - EEOC Guidance" article), which examined how federal anti-discrimination laws apply to workers with caregiving responsibilities.
The EEOC has provided several examples of “Best Practices” for employers that go beyond federal nondiscrimination requirements and that are designed to remove barriers to equal employment opportunity, as follows:
A. General
In general, the EEOC suggested that employers should:
With respect to the development of a strong EEOC policy, it is suggested that the policy should, among other things:
B. Recruitment, Hiring, and Promotion
In the areas of recruitment, hiring, and promotion, the EEOC suggested that employers:
For example, in terms of developing specific, job-related qualification standards, the EEOC suggested that if two applicants applied for the position as a marketing director, both with extensive marketing experience, but one applicant is the primary caregiver for her elderly father, the employers selection decision should not be based on the caretaking responsibilities of the individual who is caring for her father.
With respect to the identification and removal of barriers to re-entry, the EEOC noted that if two individuals apply for the same position, both having approximately the same number of years of experience, but one applicant’s experience having been spread over a longer period of time due to her use of maternity leave, the employer cannot refuse to consider that applicant for the job based on her use of maternity leave.
C. Terms, Conditions, and Privileges of Employment
The EEOC suggested with regard to terms, conditions, and privileges of employment, that employers:
Suggested options for flexible working arrangements could, for example, include flextime programs that permit employees to vary their work day start and stop times within a certain range (such as allowing an employee to arrive at work at any time between 8:00 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. and then work for 8 hours) or flexible week opportunities, such as a workweek consisting of four ten-hour work days and enabling employees to work from home or at alternate office locations.