Steven Gutierrez
Employers facing a Charge of Discrimination now have far less time to respond than they traditionally have. According to a recent Bloomberg Law report (https://news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-labor-report/eeoc-slashes-timeline-for-employers-to-respond-to-bias-charges), the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has cut the time for respondents to file position statements to 15 days, half the 30 days employers have long relied on. The agency has not formally announced the change, but EEOC district offices, including in Colorado, are already sending requests with the shorter 15-day deadline.
What Changed
The shorter deadline comes with less flexibility. Historically, a good-cause request typically bought an employer weeks of additional time, and practice differed from office to office. Under the new approach, employers should plan on getting one short extension, which based on this practitioner’s experience, has been no more than 10 days at most. The irony is that the EEOC’s side of the process has not accelerated. A position statement filed on day 15 may still sit for a month or more before an investigator picks up the file.
Why It Matters
A late position statement does not mean the employer loses the charge. But silence is costly. The EEOC can press for the information through follow-up requests and, if necessary, a subpoena, and it may ultimately evaluate the charge with nothing in front of it but the employee’s version of events. Some offices are applying the new deadline more strictly than others today, but employers should not count on leniency as the agency works toward consistency nationwide.
Steps Employers Should Take Now
- Build the playbook before the first charge arrives. Name the person who will receive the charge, the person who will pull documents and identify witnesses, and the person who will loop in outside counsel. When responsibilities are assigned in advance, no one loses the first several days deciding who should act.
- Check the EEOC Respondent Portal now. Confirm that the portal lists a monitored, current email address, and that whoever receives it knows to escalate a new charge the same day. Also, make sure to have the password readily available. Every day lost in routing is a day lost from a 15-day window.
- Document as you go, not after the charge. Discipline, performance, and accommodation decisions are far easier to defend when the reasons are written down at the time they are made and stored where they can be found. Contemporaneous records can turn a two-week scramble into a manageable review.
With only 15 days on the clock, preparation is the employer’s best tool to make sure its side of the story is heard. Our employment team regularly advises clients on proactive strategies and responses to EEOC charges.
