The recent announcement from the FCC advising the proposed expansion of the Equal Employment Opportunity FCC office with additional staff and lawyers has many licensees on edge.
Media Information Bureau columnist Ken Benner has some things to say about it.
By Ken Benner
Please punch up the Code of Federal Regulations §73.2080 and carefully read it.
Easy to comprehend, it’s not rocket science. However, it appears to have been written by someone paid by the word, something so pathetically common in most regulations and NOVs (Notices of Violations).
Mr. Lewis Pulley has long headed the EEO office with he and his staff providing extraordinary professional dedication and a willingness to assist anyone seeking assistance to be compliant. You’ll find him and his primary staff listed on page 7 of the current edition of the FCC’s “Media Bureau Subject Matter Expert List.” It’s online at www.fcc.gov and is an absolute “must have” for any radio or TV licensee.
What I am about to share with you is taken from one of my hand-out sheets that I used to provide attendees for my seminars. It is not to be construed as professional legal advice but rather a good faith effort to enhance regulatory comprehension. Hopefully it will encourage you and your staff to review this massive regulation further. The item was originally used to successfully address an EEO Audit request. The dates, station’s identification and FIN have been changed for its protection.
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(year) Annual EEO Public File Report
The purpose of this EEO Public File Report (“Annual EEO Report”) is to comply with Section 73.2080(c)(6) of the FCC’s Equal Employment Rules. This Annual EEO Report summarizes the relevant hiring and EEO outreach conducted by the following station which forms a single station Employment unit for purposes of the FCC Rules:
Call Sign: WXYZ-AM; Community of License;Smallville, WY; FIN: 12345
The information contained in this required Annual EEO Report covers the applicable period from January 1, 2004 to December 31, 2004.
Consistent with FCC Rules, this Annual EEO report contains the following information:
1. A list of all full-time vacancies filled during the Applicable Period.
2. For each station vacancy, the recruitment sources that were utilized to fill each vacancy including and such sources that have asked to receive information from the station about any new job openings, each of which are separately identified.
3. The recruitment source that referred the person hired for each full time vacancy that was filled during the Applicable Period.
4. Data reflecting the total number of persons that were interviewed for all full-time vacancies during the Applicable Period and the total number of those interviewed as referred by each recruitment source utilized in connection with each such vacancy and finally:
5. A list and brief description of the community outreach activities, not directly related to the opening of job positions undertaken during the Applicable Period.
The purpose of this column is primarily to illustrate, how by simply sharing experiences with others, we can save millions of dollars in legal expenses.
Again, on behalf of the entire broadcasting industry, I urge you to please contact the FCC Compliance Bureau and urge them to update the eight “FCC Self Inspection Checklists.”
This will save all of us substantial fines, fees, forfeitures, frustration and significant legal costs.
