Final Version of Guidance Broadens Scope of "Workplace Retaliation"

On September 1, 2016 the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) issued its final version of its guidance on workplace retaliation. This guidance was issued on the EEOC’s assessment that workplace retaliation has become a more common occurrence than in recent years. Previously, an employee was only protected from retaliation if they participated in an investigation or opposed an unlawful practice. Such that unlawful retaliation could only exist when an employee opposes a discriminatory practice, but also when participating in an internal company investigation. The EEOC has now changed that. The EEOC’s new guidance extends the type of conduct that can be “retaliatory” beyond simply working conditions, to include a wide range of conduct such as a change of job duties or any “adverse” action that might discourage an employee from filing a complaint.

Learn what this mean for employers here.