2011 has been a record year for EEOC

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission handled almost 100,000 discrimination cases  — a new record — in Fiscal 2011. And it also managed to achieve a 10% decrease in its “pending charge inventory” — the backlog of cases waiting for resolution.

Frankly, we’re not sure whether this is good news for employers or not.

The EEOC received a record 99,947 charges of discrimination in fiscal year 2011, which ended Sept. 30.

The agency also garnered $364.6 million in monetary benefits for victims of workplace discrimination — the biggest total in the agency’s 46-year history.

The fiscal year ended with 78,136 pending charges—a decrease of 8,202 charges, or ten percent. In previous years, the pending inventory had increased as staffing declined 30% between fiscal years 2000 and 2008.

For the complete article and a closer look at the EEOC numbers Click Here!

Feds' Crusade Against Worker Misclassification Just Got Bigger

The Department of Labor (DOL) is adding firepower in its fight against companies that commit worker classification mistakes. 

As part of its 2012 budget request, the DOL is planning on allocating $150,000 to the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) to train its safety inspectors to spot worker classification errors.

More money, more investigations

As a result of these increased enforcement efforts, the DOL says its Wage and Hour Division will conduct approximately 3,250 additional investigations, targeting employers in industries with higher rates of violations — such as construction, home health care and landscaping.

Read the whole article from HR Morning here...
More information from the IRS website here...
The United States Department of Labor website