On May 6, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced in a single press release that 11 of its 53 offices will begin a pilot program called ACT Digital. This new online charge system will digitally transmit documents relating to discrimination charges between the EEOC and employers and will affect the processing of all new charges filed against public and private employers, employment agencies, and unions.
New and improved?
The EEOC reports that it receives about 90,000 charges per year, making the charge system the EEOC’s most common interaction with the public. The online charge system “aims to improve customer service, ease the administrative burden on staff, and reduce the use of paper submissions and files.” It is intended to “streamline and make more efficient [the agency’s] service delivery to better serve the public” and to streamline the submission of documents, notices, and communications in the EEOC’s charge system.
The EEOC reports that the first phase of ACT Digital will allow employers against which a charge has been filed to communicate with the EEOC through a secure portal. Employers will be able to download the charge, review and respond to an invitation to mediate, submit a position statement, and provide and verify their contact information. The newly designed EEOC notice of charge will provide a unique password-protected login for each charge that will allow an employer to access the system.
The EEOC’s May 6, 2015, press release and Q&A guidance indicate that employers will have the option to opt out of the pilot program and submit all documents and communications in paper form. However, it appears that employers will receive an e-mail notifying them that a charge has been filed rather than receiving a paper form of the EEOC charge.
The pilot program began on May 6 for EEOC offices in the Charlotte District (which includes Charlotte, Greensboro, and Raleigh in North Carolina, Norfolk and Richmond in Virginia, and Greenville, South Carolina) and the San Francisco EEOC office. The EEOC offices in Denver, Detroit, Indianapolis, and Phoenix were set to begin their pilot programs by the end of May.
Coming soon to an agency near you
The EEOC reports that the online system will “roll-out to other offices in stages” and is expected to be available at all offices by October 1, 2015. There’s no time like the present to start preparing!
More information about ACT Digital is available on the EEOC’s website at www.eeoc.gov/employers/act-digital-phase-1.cfm. 
Q&A guidance relating to Phase I of ACT Digital is available at www.eeoc.gov/employers/act-digital-qanda.cfm. The EEOC Respondent Portal User’s Guide Version 1.0.0 (May 7, 2015) is available online at http://www.eeoc.gov/employers/respondent_portal_users_guide.cfm.
Jeanine L. Poole is an attorney with Sulloway & Hollis, P.L.L.C. in Concord, New Hampshire. She may be contacted at jpoole@sulloway.com.