The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has called out construction for its lack of diversity in its latest proposed strategic enforcement plan, the official operating roadmap that will guide the agency’s enforcement efforts through 2027.
In a section focused on recruitment and hiring practices and policies that discriminate, the EEOC’s proposed plan states “the lack of diversity in certain industries and workplaces (such as construction and high tech, among others), especially in growth industries and industries that benefit from substantial federal investment, are also areas of particular concern.”
Coupled with a $35 million, or 8%, increase in the EEOC’s budget for fiscal 2023, attorneys say the reference effectively puts the industry on formal notice that the government’s top discrimination watchdog plans to step up its scrutiny of the sector. “I’m a big believer if somebody tells you they’re going to do something, take them at their word,” said Kevin Carr, an employment lawyer with Charleston, West Virginia-based law firm Spilman Thomas & Battle. “Well, they’ve told us.”
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