The Department of Commerce Office of Civil Rights administers the formal EEO Complaint Process which may be used by Department of Commerce employees and applicants for employment to raise issues of discrimination based on the following: race, color, religion (including denial of accommodation), sex (including sexual orientation, gender identity, or pregnancy), national origen, age (beginning at age 40), disability (including denial of accommodation), genetic information (including family medical history), pregnancy accommodation, or protected EEO activity (i.e., retaliation for opposing these types of discrimination, for participating in the EEO complaint process, or engaging in other protected activity).

The federal Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) process is governed by the regulations, management directives, guidance, and case law of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), as well as applicable federal court cases. The EEO process consists of three parts:

• The informal process, also called EEO Counseling, provides an opportunity to define the complainant's concerns, obtain information necessary to address the issues, and attempt to resolve the issues informally. This process is administered by Bureau EEO Officers. You must see an EEO Counselor within 45 days of the action believed to be discriminatory, the effective date of a personnel action, or the date that you have enough information to reasonably suspect that you have a valid EEO claim, and you must complete EEO counseling before filing a formal complaint.
• The formal EEO complaint process is a legal procedure for the consideration of claims of employment discrimination based on race, color, religion (including denial of accommodation), sex (including sexual orientation, gender identity, or pregnancy), national origen, age (beginning at age 40), disability (including denial of accommodation), genetic information (including family medical history), pregnancy accommodation, or protected EEO activity (i.e., retaliation for opposing these types of discrimination, for participating in the EEO complaint process, or engaging in other protected activity). If a complaint meets procedural requirements established by regulation, an investigation is conducted. In most cases, complainants may also elect to have a hearing before an EEOC Administrative Judge. The formal complaint process ends when the Department issues a Final Agency Decision (FAD) or a Notice of Final Order on the complaint.
• The appeal process allows complainants to appeal FADs and Notices of Final Order to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Merit decisions in mixed case complaints -- complaints on issues that are appealable to the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) -- are first appealed to the MSPB.

Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) is also available throughout both the informal and formal complaint processes, if the complaint is determined to be suitable for ADR.

The informal counseling process is administered by the Bureau EEO Officers. The Department's Office of Civil Rights administers the formal complaint process for all bureaus, except the Patent and Trademark Office (PTO). At the Patent and Trademark Office (PTO), the Bureau EEO Officer administers both the informal and formal complaint processes. Contact the PTO EEO Office for more information.

Four federal civil rights laws are enforced through the EEO complaint process:

• Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended;
• the Equal Pay Act of 1963;
• the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended; 
• the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, as amended;
• the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act of 2022; and
• the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008.

For information about the External Compliance Program see here.