The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

Memoranda of Understanding

EEOC and other Federal departments and agencies have entered into Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) when our jurisdictions overlap. We have done this to make sure that individuals seeking the protection of Federal law can be assured that their claims will be heard even if they do not go to the right civil rights agency. These Memoranda also protect employers from having to defend claims before multiple departments or agencies.

• EEOC/OFCCP Memorandum of Understanding: Coordination of Functions
  The MOU between EEOC and the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP), Department of Labor (DOL), sets forth complaint processing and information sharing procedures to coordinate enforcement efforts under Executive Order 11246 and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended. Under the MOU, OFCCP will normally refer complaints/charges of an individual nature filed with both EEOC and OFCCP to EEOC for processing, and will normally retain systemic or class complaints/charges. The MOU authorizes OFCCP to act as EEOC's agent in processing and resolving the Title VII component of these complaints/charges that OFCCP retains under the MOU. (EEOC also has established procedures in 29 C.F.R. Part 1641 for use when an individual alleges disability discrimination against Federal government contractors and subcontractors.)
• EEOC/ESA Memorandum of Understanding: Coordination of Functions
  The MOU enhances enforcement of the federal laws prohibiting compensation discrimination, which are enforced by the EEOC and by the DOL's Employment Standards Administration. The agreement is designed to reduce duplication of effort and result in increased enforcement activity on the issue of compensation discrimination through training of ESA personnel in OFCCP and the Wage and Hour Division, and through communicating about potential issues of compensation discrimination.
  • EEOC enforces the Equal Pay Act, which prohibits sex-based wage discrimination between men and women in the same establishment who are performing under similar working conditions and Title VII, which bars wage-based discrimination on the bases of race, color, national origin, religion, and sex.
  • The Wage and Hour Division administers and enforces the Fair Labor Standards Act, which address Federal minimum wage, overtime, child labor, and record keeping requirements.
• EEOC/Office of Special Counsel Memorandum of Understanding: National Origin and Citizenship Discrimination
  The MOU is intended to prevent any overlap in the filing of charges of discrimination under Title VII, which prohibits, among other things, national origin discrimination by employers with 15 or more employees, and Section 274B of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which prohibits national origin discrimination by employers with between four and 14 employees and citizenship discrimination by employers with more than four employees. Section 274B is administered and enforced by the Office of Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices, Department of Justice.
• EEOC/NLRB Memorandum of Understanding: Disability Discrimination
  The MOU, between EEOC and the National Labor Relations Board establishes a procedure for coordinating the enforcement of Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 8 of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA).
• EEOC/FCC Memorandum of Understanding: Coordination of Functions
  The MOU between EEOC and the Federal Communications Commission addresses overlapping enforcement responsibilities of these agencies and the exchange of information between them. In particular, EEOC designated FCC as an agent of the Commission for the purpose of receiving charges of discrimination.
• EEOC/NAAG Memorandum of Understanding: Federal/State Coordination
  The MOU between the EEOC and the National Association of Attorneys General established effective and lasting mechanisms for communication and cooperation among state Attorneys General and the EEOC. The MOU instituted mechanisms for communication, cooperation, and joint work on affirmative enforcement of employment discrimination laws.

This page was last modified on September 1, 2004.

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