If you think that employees are more hesitant to file formal complaints against their employers or former employers in bad economic times — for fear of retaliation or bad references — think again.
The federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is reporting that it received 93,277 bias claims nationwide in 2009. This represents the second-highest number of annual employee complaints in EEOC history, coming in just shy of the record set in 2008.
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Of the total number of bias complaints, 85,980 were filed against private-sector employers. The number of race and age discrimination claims held steady with last year’s numbers, while complaints of disability bias and retaliation rose markedly. The number of claims alleging discrimination based on national origin and religion also rose slightly.
Overall, continuing a decade-long trend, the most frequently filed charges with the EEOC in 2009 were those alleging discrimination based on race (36%), retaliation (36%), and sex-based discrimination (30%).
The cost to employers of this near-historic number of claims? The EEOC alone recovered more than $376 million from companies on behalf of employees last year. This figure doesn’t include those cases that went on to a civil court and were either settled or resolved through litigation or trial. Nor does it reflect the cost to employers of defending against these claims.
Now more than ever, you must be careful to ensure that your supervisors are trained on what the law requires and how to handle bias allegations when they arise. And at the HR end of things, prompt and effective internal investigations of all complaints are a must.