Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO): No Fear Act

No Fear Act

Notification and Federal Anti-Discrimination and Retaliation (No FEAR) Act of 2002

On May 15, 2002, President Bush signed the No FEAR Act legislation, which took effect on October 1, 2003. The No FEAR Act holds Federal agencies individually accountable for violations of anti-discrimination and whistleblower protection laws. Requirements and agency responsibilities under the No FEAR Act include:

Payment of settlements and judgments. Agencies that lose or settle discrimination and whistleblower cases must pay judgments out of their individual budgets.
Employee information and education. Agencies must give their employees, former employees and applicants for employment written notification of discrimination and whistleblower protection laws. This written notification must include posting the information on the agency’s web site. Agencies are also required to provide their employees with training regarding the rights and remedies applicable to them under these laws.
Annual reports to Congress. Each agency must file an annual report with Congress.
Posting of EEO complaint data on the Internet. Each Federal agency must post on its public web site summary statistical data relating to equal opportunity complaints filed against the agency. The agency must post data for the current fiscal year on a cumulative basis (year-to-date information), updated quarterly. An agency also must post year-end data for the five previous fiscal years for comparison purposes.
EEO complaint data for the U.S. Bureau of the Census