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Federal Sector Complaint Processing regulations - 29 C.F.R. 1614 [link to EEOC web site]

EEOC Management Directive 110 [link to EEOC web site]

Enforcement Guidance from the EEOC [link to EEOC web site]

OCR Publications

DOC Sexual Orientation Discrimination Complaint Process

Links

Text of laws enforced through the EEO Complaint Process (links can be found on this page on the EEOC web site)

EEOC web page on Federal Sector Information [link to EEOC web site]

Alternative Dispute Resolution: EEO Mediation Process

Sexual Orientation Discrimination Complaint Process

Note

DOC Employees & Job Applicants: For EEO Counseling, contact your Bureau EEO Officer. You must complete the counseling process before filing a formal complaint.

EEO Complaint Process

The Department of Commerce Office of Civil Rights administers the formal EEO Complaint Process which may be used by Department of Commerce employees and applicants for employment to raise issues of discrimination based on the following:

• race
• color
• sex
• religion
• national origin
• age (40 and over)
• disability

Related retaliation may also be raised in the EEO Complaint Process.

The federal Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) process is governed by the regulations, management directives, guidance, and case law of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), as well as applicable federal court cases. The EEO process consists of three parts:

• The informal process, also called EEO Counseling, provides an opportunity to define the complainant's concerns, obtain information necessary to address the issues, and attempt to resolve the issues informally. This process is administered by Bureau EEO Officers. You must complete EEO counseling before filing a formal complaint.
  
• The formal EEO complaint process is a legal procedure for the consideration of claims of employment discrimination based on race, color, sex, national origin, religion, age, and disability. Claims of retaliation for opposing these types of discrimination or for participating in the EEO complaint process can also be raised. If a complaint meets procedural requirements established by regulation, an investigation is conducted. In most cases, complainants may also elect to have a hearing before an EEOC Administrative Judge. The formal complaint process ends when the Department issues a Final Agency Decision (FAD) on the complaint.
  
• The appeal process allows complainants to appeal FADs to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Merit decisions in mixed case complaints -- complaints on issues that are appealable to the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) -- are first appealed to the MSPB.

EEO Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) is also available throughout both the informal and formal complaint processes, if the complaint is determined to be suitable for ADR.

The informal counseling process is administered by the Bureau EEO Officers. The Department's Office of Civil Rights administers the formal complaint process for all bureaus, except the Patent and Trademark Office (PTO). At the Patent and Trademark Office (PTO), the Bureau EEO Officer administers both the informal and formal complaint processes. Contact the PTO EEO Office for more information.

Four federal civil rights laws are enforced through the EEO complaint process:

• Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended;
  
• the Equal Pay Act of 1963;
  
• the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended; and
  
• the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, as amended.