EEOC Audit Checklist: Postings, Records, and Policies

An EEOC audit checklist is the set of items an employer works through to confirm its hiring, pay, promotion, discipline, accommodation, and recordkeeping practices meet federal anti-discrimination law before a charge or investigation forces the review. The list below moves in the order an internal reviewer would use it: coverage, postings, reporting, records, policies, accommodations, confidentiality, personnel documentation, and the internal complaint process, followed by what triggers an EEOC investigation and what non-compliance costs.

Confirm Which Laws Apply to Your Headcount

Coverage thresholds decide which sections of the checklist you actually have to satisfy. The EEOC enforces six statutes, and each has its own employee count, measured across 20 or more calendar weeks in the current or preceding year.¹

Equal Pay Act: virtually all employers with at least one employee. Prohibits paying different wages to men and women for substantially equal work under similar conditions.²
Title VII: 15 or more employees. Race, color, religion, sex (including sexual orientation and transgender status), and national origin.¹
Americans with Disabilities Act: 15 or more employees.²
Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act: 15 or more employees. Covers use of genetic information, including family medical history.³
Pregnant Workers Fairness Act: 15 or more employees. Requires reasonable accommodations for known limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions, absent undue hardship.⁴
Age Discrimination in Employment Act: 20 or more employees. Protects workers 40 and older.¹

An employer with 12 employees still owes Equal Pay Act compliance but is not yet subject to Title VII, the ADA, GINA, or the PWFA. Write down which laws apply to you today, and re-check the count whenever hiring pushes you near a threshold.

Required Workplace Poster

Every covered employer must display the EEOC’s “Know Your Rights: Workplace Discrimination is Illegal” poster where notices to applicants and employees are customarily posted. The location must be accessible to people with mobility disabilities, and an accessible format (such as an audio recording or a screen-reader-compatible electronic file) should be available for individuals with vision disabilities.⁵

Missing the notice carries a civil penalty of $680 per violation, adjusted annually for inflation. For remote and telework staff who don’t regularly come into a workplace, electronic posting on a company website or intranet may satisfy the requirement, and the EEOC encourages digital posting for all employers.⁵ If you rely on electronic posting, put the notice somewhere staff can actually find it and reference its location in onboarding.

EEO-1 Reporting

Private employers with 100 or more employees, and federal contractors with 50 or more employees meeting certain criteria, must file the annual EEO-1 Component 1 report, which collects workforce demographics by job category, race or ethnicity, and sex. Employers base the report on a snapshot from a single pay period, and the data goes to both the EEOC and the U.S. Department of Labor.⁶⁷

Filing windows shift year to year. Assign someone to watch the EEOC’s collection page and to compare each year’s data against prior years, since unexplained swings in workforce composition can themselves draw attention.

Record Retention

Personnel and Employment Records

All personnel and employment records — application forms, hiring records, promotion records, pay rates, and termination records — must be kept at least one year from the date the record was made or the personnel action occurred, whichever is later. For involuntary terminations, records must be kept for one year from the termination date.⁸

Records Tied to a Charge

Once a charge of discrimination is filed, retain all records related to that charge until final disposition, meaning either expiration of the 90-day period for the charging party to file suit after receiving a right-to-sue notice, or the conclusion of any litigation, including appeals.⁸

Equal Pay Act Payroll Records

The Equal Pay Act runs longer. Payroll records must be kept at least three years. Records that explain the basis for pay differences between men and women in the same workplace, such as wage rates, job evaluations, seniority systems, merit systems, and collective bargaining agreements, must be kept at least two years.⁸ If your retention schedule defaults to the one-year Title VII floor, set payroll at three years instead.

Written Policies to Check

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement

You need a written EEO statement that names the protected categories applicable to your workforce size: race, color, religion, sex (including sexual orientation, transgender status, and pregnancy), national origin, age, disability, and genetic information. It belongs in the handbook, in job postings, and in onboarding materials. Generic language is weaker than a statement that names the characteristics and cites the statutes.

Anti-Harassment Policy

A compliant policy describes the conduct that qualifies as harassment, states that it covers conduct by supervisors, coworkers, clients, and vendors, and offers more than one reporting channel so an employee whose supervisor is the problem still has somewhere to go. Train every employee and manager on the policy, and keep the attendance records.

Anti-Retaliation Policy

The EEOC recommends a separate, written, plain-language anti-retaliation policy that gives managers concrete examples of what to do and what to avoid after an employee raises a concern. Protected activity extends beyond filing a charge to participating in an internal EEO investigation, requesting an accommodation, resisting sexual advances, and gathering evidence for a potential claim. Adverse actions that can qualify as retaliation reach beyond termination to lower evaluations, less desirable transfers, increased scrutiny of attendance, threats of deportation, and action taken against a close family member.⁹

Reasonable Accommodation Processes

ADA

The ADA requires reasonable accommodations for qualified employees and applicants with disabilities absent undue hardship. What an audit looks for is documentation of the informal interactive process: what the employee requested, what steps you took to identify an accommodation, what you offered, and the outcome. Good-faith interactive process evidence can protect an employer from punitive and certain compensatory damages even when the accommodation ultimately falls short. Keep the records at least one year, longer if a charge is filed.¹⁰

Religion

Employers must accommodate sincerely held religious beliefs unless doing so creates an undue hardship. The Supreme Court clarified in 2023 that “undue hardship” in this context means a burden substantial in the overall context of the employer’s business, given the specific accommodation, the employer’s nature, size, and operating costs.¹¹ That is a higher bar than the previous standard, so more religious accommodations will need to be granted. Document these the same way you document ADA requests.

Pregnant Workers Fairness Act

The PWFA’s final implementing regulation took effect June 18, 2024. It applies to the same employers as Title VII and requires reasonable accommodations for known limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions.⁴ Examples of accommodations that may be required include more frequent breaks, schedule changes, telework, temporary reassignment, light duty, and leave for medical appointments.¹² Confirm your accommodation request process explicitly names pregnancy-related limitations alongside disability and religion, and that managers know the PWFA is a separate obligation from the ADA.

Confidentiality of Medical and Genetic Information

ADA Medical Records

Medical information collected during post-offer examinations or accommodation requests must be kept on separate forms, in separate medical files, and treated as confidential. Only three groups may access it: supervisors and managers who need to know about work restrictions or accommodations; first aid and safety personnel when a disability may require emergency treatment; and government officials investigating compliance.¹³ Verify that your filing system physically separates medical records from general HR files and that access controls are enforced.

Genetic Information

GINA prohibits requesting, requiring, or purchasing genetic information about employees or applicants, and “genetic information” includes family medical history. When you send an employee for a post-offer or fitness-for-duty examination, instruct the provider not to ask about family medical history. If genetic information arrives inadvertently, through conversation or FMLA paperwork mentioning a relative’s condition, keep it confidential and never use it in an employment decision. Store it separately from general personnel files, as with ADA medical records.³

Documentation for Personnel Actions

The strongest defense against a charge is contemporaneous records showing a legitimate, non-discriminatory reason for each action. Investigators look for patterns and inconsistencies: one termination file with a single page, another with months of documented warnings, raises the question of whether the same rules apply to everyone.

For hiring, retain job descriptions, advertisements, interview notes, scoring rubrics, and application materials. EEOC regulations require that application forms and records relating to hiring be preserved for at least one year.¹⁴ Applicant flow data — how many people from different demographic groups applied and how far each progressed — is particularly useful for defending against disparate impact claims.

For current employees, keep regular performance reviews using consistent criteria, objective metrics behind compensation decisions, and detailed disciplinary records. Written warnings, performance improvement plans, and separation notices should reflect standards applied consistently across comparable positions. Documentation created the day of a termination looks pretextual, whatever the underlying reason.

Internal Complaint and Investigation Process

Policies on paper are half the equation. The other half is a working internal process. An employer that ran a prompt, thorough, impartial investigation and took appropriate corrective action has a strong defense. An employer that sat on a complaint or handed it to someone with a conflict of interest does not.¹⁵ Confirm each of the following is in place:

Designated investigators who are trained and impartial, not friends, direct supervisors, or anyone with a stake in the outcome.
A protocol for gathering documents, interviewing the complainant, respondent, and witnesses, and preserving communications and physical evidence.
Limits on information sharing, restricted to people who need to know for the investigation.
Prompt, proportional corrective action when the investigation confirms a violation. Action that doesn’t actually stop the behavior will be treated as no action.
Written records of the complaint, every investigative step, the conclusion, and any corrective action. Retain under the same rules as other personnel records, and indefinitely if a charge is filed.

What Can Trigger an EEOC Investigation

Three vehicles bring an EEOC investigation to an employer.¹⁶

An individual charge of discrimination filed by an employee or applicant. While investigating that charge, the EEOC may uncover broader issues and expand the inquiry.
A Commissioner charge under Title VII, the ADA, or GINA, initiated by an EEOC Commissioner based on a field office recommendation or on the Commissioner’s own initiative. This is how pattern-or-practice investigations start without an individual complainant.
A directed investigation under the ADEA and the Equal Pay Act, which the EEOC can launch without any charge being filed. District Directors can initiate these independently, and subpoenas issued in directed investigations are not subject to the same motion-to-revoke process used in other investigations.¹⁶

You do not need a disgruntled employee for an audit to begin. Pay equity and age discrimination can bring investigators to you directly, which is why the three-year payroll retention and consistent documentation of compensation decisions matter as much as they do.

What Non-Compliance Costs

Federal law caps combined compensatory and punitive damages by employer size:¹⁷

15 to 100 employees: $50,000
101 to 200 employees: $100,000
201 to 500 employees: $200,000
More than 500 employees: $300,000

These caps cover damages for emotional distress, pain and suffering, and similar harms, plus punitive damages. They do not cap back pay, front pay, or attorney’s fees. Equal Pay Act claims sit outside these caps entirely and allow recovery of unpaid wages plus an equal amount in liquidated damages.¹⁸ Beyond money, the EEOC can seek injunctive relief requiring policy changes, mandatory training, and ongoing reporting. Federal contractors face potential suspension and debarment.

Employers who can show a good-faith interactive process on accommodation requests, consistent contemporaneous documentation of personnel actions, and prompt corrective action on complaints put themselves in the best position when a charge or investigation does arrive. Running the checklist builds those defenses before you need them.

1
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Small Business Requirements
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U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Equal Employment Opportunity Laws
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U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. What You Should Know – Questions and Answers About Genetic Information
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U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Summary of Key Provisions of EEOCs Final Rule to Implement the PWFA
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U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Know Your Rights – Workplace Discrimination is Illegal Poster
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U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. EEO Data Collections
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U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Legal Requirements
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U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Recordkeeping Requirements
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U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Enforcement Guidance on Retaliation and Related Issues
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U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Enforcement Guidance on Reasonable Accommodation and Undue Hardship Under the ADA
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U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Reasonable Accommodation Policy Tips
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U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. What You Should Know About the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act
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Office of the Law Revision Counsel. United States Code Title 42 Section 12112
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U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Summary of Selected Recordkeeping Obligations in 29 CFR Part 1602
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U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Handling Internal Discrimination Complaints About Disciplinary Action
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U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Systemic Enforcement at the EEOC
17
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. United States Code Title 42 Section 1981a
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U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Remedies for Employment Discrimination