# EEOC Shortens Employer Charge Response Window

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) reportedly reduced the time employers have to submit position statements responding to discrimination charges from 30 days to 15 days, a change lawyers said was implemented over the summer. The shorter window is intended to help accelerate investigations as the agency works to reduce its private-sector charge backlog. For government contractors and other employers, this may require faster internal escalation, evidence collection, and legal review when a charge is received.

- **Key deadline:** Employers responding to an EEOC discrimination charge reportedly have 15 days, down from 30, to submit a position statement.
- Employers that may receive charges should evaluate whether their HR, legal, and relevant business teams can collect records and approve responses within the shorter period.
- The change concerns employer responses to discrimination charges; the signal identifies no contract award, solicitation, or new procurement opportunity.

**Jurisdictions:** federal
**Topics:** Regulatory Compliance
**Published:** October 13, 2026

### Government Entities
- Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)

### Key Quotes
> The agency said it expected to have 44,540 pending charges of discrimination by the end of fiscal year 2026 and 32,735 by the end of 2027, according to the EEOC’s Congressional Budget Justification from March.
> — Original poster

### Sources
- [EEOC Slashes Timeline for Employers to Respond to Bias Charges](https://www.reddit.com/r/fednews/comments/1x56fnw/eeoc_slashes_timeline_for_employers_to_respond_to) - reddit-fednews