The EEOC is seeking comment, through February 24, on a proposed revision to its guidance addressing retaliation and related issues under federal employment discrimination laws.
The commission said it is considering the changes in light of court decisions since its Compliance Manual on Retaliation was last updated in 1998.
At issue is how EEOC will interpret management actions that may be considered retaliatory against employees or job applicants because they complained about discrimination on the job, filed a charge of discrimination with the EEOC, participated in an employment discrimination proceeding or engaged in other activity protected under anti-bias laws.
It said that in the federal sector, retaliation has been the most frequently alleged basis of a complaint to EEOC since 2008, and retaliation violations comprised 53 percent of all violations found in the federal sector in fiscal year 2015. Retaliation also is the most common type of complaint from private sector employees, it said.
The draft document is on regulations.gov.
