The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division signed a memorandum of understanding Wednesday to formalize and increase coordination between the agencies through information-sharing, joint investigations, training and outreach.
EEOC Chair Charlotte A. Burrows said in a statement that the partnership would “better serve America’s workers.”
“This collaboration will further effective outreach and enforcement with respect to the federal laws that advance equal employment opportunity and fair pay, including the recently enacted [PUMP for Nursing Mothers Act] and Pregnant Workers Fairness Act ,” she said.
The partnership between the agencies, said Principal Deputy Wage and Hour Division Administrator Jessica Looman, “helps us work across federal agencies to ensure workers are treated fairly, paid fairly and do not have to fear retaliation when demanding the workplace protections that federal labor laws such as the PUMP Act require.”
The memorandum outlines procedures to be followed by both the EEOC and WHD under this new partnership. It is a voluntary good-faith agreement between the agencies and is not legally binding, according to the document. Nothing in the agreement limits the agencies’ enforcement of their respective statutes.
The agencies committed to sharing any information or data that support one another’s enforcement activities, to the extent permitted by law.
