EEOC Releases Anti-Harassment Guide
Date Posted: July 23, 2024
Posted In: News, Organizations, People, Workforce,
From Construction Dive: The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on Tuesday released a guide to help construction leaders prevent and address harassment on the job. “Promising Practices for Preventing Harassment in the Construction Industry” is part of the EEOC’s ongoing focus to address bias within the building sector.
The agency wants to ensure that the flood of federal dollars in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and CHIPS and Science Act aren’t perpetuating a pattern of discrimination, EEOC Vice Chair Jocelyn Samuels told Construction Dive in an interview.
“We have a serious problem. It is far too pervasive. And it has been going on for decades,” said Samuels. “Despite efforts to get it under control, we are still seeing far too many instances of sexual harassment, nooses on worksites, different kinds of discrimination that’s perpetrated against construction workers.”
Dive Insight:
Construction has been a priority for the EEOC during the Biden administration. The EEOC’s Strategic Enforcement Plan for 2024-2028 includes a focus on industries where women and workers of color are underrepresented — particularly those benefiting from substantial federal investment, like construction.
In 2022, about six months after the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act was signed into law, the EEOC held a hearing that probed construction’s culture of racism and sexual harassment. After a yearlong investigation, the agency issued a report in June 2023 detailing the continued prevalence of hate and bias on building jobsites, noting that construction stands out from other industries for “egregious incidents of harassment.”
In the wake of George Floyd’s murder in 2020, dozens of nooses appeared on construction jobsites across North America. In response, six leading general contractors founded Construction Inclusion Week, modeled on the success of the sector’s Safety Week, to root out bias events at building sites.