The EEOC Has Changed Direction: Are Your Policies Keeping Up?

So we're going to talk about the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

That's a federal agency responsible for enforcing Title VII, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Age Discrimination and Employment Act, the Older Workers Benefit Protection Act, USERRA, which protects service members, all sorts of laws.

And most of the time in California, when we hear about federal laws, our eyes glaze over, our ears close, and we decide it doesn't matter because California is more protective.

Well, I got some news for you.

With the EEOC, things are going insane.

And I want to let you know what's happening so you can track this.

Now, again, you know we're not talking politics on this podcast.

But what I shouldn't say, but and what I want you to know is it does matter who's in the White House.

OK, what we have right now is a president who has been very active on the agency front.

OK, the National Labor Relations Board, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, OSHA.

the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, okay, Department of Labor.

So what's happening is it is no longer true that California law will always be more protective than federal law.

Now, we already know a couple of exceptions.

For example, the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act.

We know that that federal law actually protects women who are pregnant more because they don't even have to be able to perform the essential functions of their job to be entitled to a reasonable accommodation.

Remember that in all other situations, to be a qualified individual with a disability, you have to be able to perform the essential functions of your job with or without accommodation.

All right, so here we are.