New EEOC small business guide available

The EEOC website announces : "EEOC ISSUES NEW TRAINING GUIDE FOR SMALL BUSINESSES AND SUPERVISORS."

This guide is entitled "The ABCs of EEO for Small Businesses and Supervisors" and the announced intention is "to promote voluntary compliance by employers."

The ABCs of EEO, available here for $14.95 (either paperback or CD version -- click order form link):

is organized by the human resource issues that employers face every day, such as hiring, harassment, accommodation, evaluations, promotions, discipline, discharge and job references. . . . The book also contains a glossary of terms, helpful checklists and reference and resource lists to assist the reader further.

Of course a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing, and the EEOC properly cautions:

The ABC's of EEO is not intended to answer all of your legal questions regarding employment discrimination and does not attempt to explain all of the sophisticated legal issues that can arise in employment discrimination cases.

The EEOC press release concludes:

"This practical handbook is user-friendly, easy-to-understand, and contains invaluable tips to help small businesses proactively prevent discrimination by voluntarily complying with the laws enforced by the EEOC," said Nicholas Inzeo, Director of the agency's Office of Field Programs, which oversees the EEOC Training Institute. "Voluntary compliance simply makes good business sense and helps to ease employers' regulatory burden which is a win-win for everyone."

Who can disagree with that? And the price is certainly right.

I cannot endorse the book, as I have not yet seen it, but I have attended EEOC training seminars and seen their more extensive written materials. The quality is usually quite high. Of course, this only covers the "ABC's," but that's certainly the place to start.