§  73.2080   Equal employment opportunities (EEO).

   (a) General EEO policy. Equal opportunity in employment shall be
   afforded by all licensees or permittees of commercially or
   noncommercially operated AM, FM, TV, Class A TV or international
   broadcast stations (as defined in this part) to all qualified persons,
   and no person shall be discriminated against in employment by such
   stations because of race, color, religion, national origin, or sex.
   Religious radio broadcasters may establish religious belief or
   affiliation as a job qualification for all station employees. However,
   they cannot discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin
   or gender from among those who share their religious affiliation or
   belief. For purposes of this rule, a religious broadcaster is a
   licensee which is, or is closely affiliated with, a church, synagogue,
   or other religious entity, including a subsidiary of such an entity.

   (b) General EEO program requirements. Each broadcast station shall
   establish, maintain, and carry out a positive continuing program of
   specific practices designed to ensure equal opportunity and
   nondiscrimination in every aspect of station employment policy and
   practice. Under the terms of its program, a station shall:

   (1) Define the responsibility of each level of management to ensure
   vigorous enforcement of its policy of equal opportunity, and establish
   a procedure to review and control managerial and supervisory
   performance;

   (2) Inform its employees and recognized employee organizations of the
   equal employment opportunity policy and program and enlist their
   cooperation;

   (3) Communicate its equal employment opportunity policy and program and
   its employment needs to sources of qualified applicants without regard
   to race, color, religion, national origin, or sex, and solicit their
   recruitment assistance on a continuing basis;

   (4) Conduct a continuing program to exclude all unlawful forms of
   prejudice or discrimination based upon race, color, religion, national
   origin, or sex from its personnel policies and practices and working
   conditions; and

   (5) Conduct a continuing review of job structure and employment
   practices and adopt positive recruitment, job design, and other
   measures needed to ensure genuine equality of opportunity to
   participate fully in all organizational units, occupations, and levels
   of responsibility.

   (c) Specific EEO program requirements. Under the terms of its program,
   a station employment unit must:

   (1) Recruit for every full-time job vacancy in its operation. A job
   filled by an internal promotion is not considered a vacancy for which
   recruitment is necessary. Religious radio broadcasters who establish
   religious affiliation as a qualification for a job position are not
   required to comply with these recruitment requirements with respect to
   that job position or positions, but will be expected to make
   reasonable, good faith efforts to recruit applicants who are qualified
   based on their religious affiliation. Nothing in this section shall be
   interpreted to require a broadcaster to grant preferential treatment to
   any individual or group based on race, color, national origin,
   religion, or gender.

   (i) A station employment unit shall use recruitment sources for each
   vacancy sufficient in its reasonable, good faith judgment to widely
   disseminate information concerning the vacancy.

   (ii) In addition to such recruitment sources, a station employment unit
   shall provide notification of each full-time vacancy to any
   organization that distributes information about employment
   opportunities to job seekers or refers job seekers to employers, upon
   request by such organization. To be entitled to notice of vacancies,
   the requesting organization must provide the station employment unit
   with its name, mailing address, e-mail address (if applicable),
   telephone number, and contact person, and identify the category or
   categories of vacancies of which it requests notice. (An organization
   may request notice of all vacancies).

   (2) Engage in at least four (if the station employment unit has more
   than ten full-time employees and is not located in a smaller market) or
   two (if it has five to ten full-time employees and/or is located
   entirely in a smaller market) of the following initiatives during each
   two-year period beginning with the date stations in the station
   employment unit are required to file renewal applications, or the
   second, fourth or sixth anniversaries of that date.

   (i) Participation in at least four job fairs by station personnel who
   have substantial responsibility in the making of hiring decisions;

   (ii) Hosting of at least one job fair;

   (iii) Co-sponsoring at least one job fair with organizations in the
   business and professional community whose membership includes
   substantial participation of women and minorities;

   (iv) Participation in at least four events sponsored by organizations
   representing groups present in the community interested in broadcast
   employment issues, including conventions, career days, workshops, and
   similar activities;

   (v) Establishment of an internship program designed to assist members
   of the community to acquire skills needed for broadcast employment;

   (vi) Participation in job banks, Internet programs, and other programs
   designed to promote outreach generally (i.e., that are not primarily
   directed to providing notification of specific job vacancies);

   (vii) Participation in scholarship programs designed to assist students
   interested in pursuing a career in broadcasting;

   (viii) Establishment of training programs designed to enable station
   personnel to acquire skills that could qualify them for higher level
   positions;

   (ix) Establishment of a mentoring program for station personnel;

   (x) Participation in at least four events or programs sponsored by
   educational institutions relating to career opportunities in
   broadcasting;

   (xi) Sponsorship of at least two events in the community designed to
   inform and educate members of the public as to employment opportunities
   in broadcasting;

   (xii) Listing of each upper-level category opening in a job bank or
   newsletter of media trade groups whose membership includes substantial
   participation of women and minorities;

   (xiii) Provision of assistance to unaffiliated non-profit entities in
   the maintenance of web sites that provide counseling on the process of
   searching for broadcast employment and/or other career development
   assistance pertinent to broadcasting;

   (xiv) Provision of training to management level personnel as to methods
   of ensuring equal employment opportunity and preventing discrimination;

   (xv) Provision of training to personnel of unaffiliated non-profit
   organizations interested in broadcast employment opportunities that
   would enable them to better refer job candidates for broadcast
   positions;

   (xvi) Participation in other activities designed by the station
   employment unit reasonably calculated to further the goal of
   disseminating information as to employment opportunities in
   broadcasting to job candidates who might otherwise be unaware of such
   opportunities.

   (3) Analyze its recruitment program on an ongoing basis to ensure that
   it is effective in achieving broad outreach to potential applicants,
   and address any problems found as a result of its analysis.

   (4) Periodically analyze measures taken to:

   (i) Disseminate the station's equal employment opportunity program to
   job applicants and employees;

   (ii) Review seniority practices to ensure that such practices are
   nondiscriminatory;

   (iii) Examine rates of pay and fringe benefits for employees having the
   same duties, and eliminate any inequities based upon race, national
   origin, color, religion, or sex discrimination;

   (iv) Utilize media for recruitment purposes in a manner that will
   contain no indication, either explicit or implicit, of a preference for
   one race, national origin, color, religion or sex over another;

   (v) Ensure that promotions to positions of greater responsibility are
   made in a nondiscriminatory manner;

   (vi) Where union agreements exist, cooperate with the union or unions
   in the development of programs to ensure all persons of equal
   opportunity for employment, irrespective of race, national origin,
   color, religion, or sex, and include an effective nondiscrimination
   clause in new or renegotiated union agreements; and

   (vii) Avoid the use of selection techniques or tests that have the
   effect of discriminating against any person based on race, national
   origin, color, religion, or sex.

   (5) Retain records to document that it has satisfied the requirements
   of paragraphs (c)(1) and (2) of this section. Such records, which may
   be maintained in an electronic format, shall be retained until after
   grant of the renewal application for the term during which the vacancy
   was filled or the initiative occurred. Such records need not be
   submitted to the FCC unless specifically requested. The following
   records shall be maintained:

   (i) Listings of all full-time job vacancies filled by the station
   employment unit, identified by job title;

   (ii) For each such vacancy, the recruitment sources utilized to fill
   the vacancy (including, if applicable, organizations entitled to
   notification pursuant to paragraph (c)(1)(ii) of this section, which
   should be separately identified), identified by name, address, contact
   person and telephone number;

   (iii) Dated copies of all advertisements, bulletins, letters, faxes,
   e-mails, or other communications announcing vacancies;

   (iv) Documentation necessary to demonstrate performance of the
   initiatives required by paragraph (c)(2) of this section, including
   sufficient information to fully disclose the nature of the initiative
   and the scope of the station's participation, including the station
   personnel involved;

   (v) The total number of interviewees for each vacancy and the referral
   source for each interviewee; and

   (vi) The date each vacancy was filled and the recruitment source that
   referred the hiree.

   (6) Annually, on the anniversary of the date a station is due to file
   its renewal application, the station shall place in its public file,
   maintained pursuant to § 73.3526 or § 73.3527, and on its web site, if it
   has one, an EEO public file report containing the following information
   (although if any broadcast licensee acquires a station pursuant to FCC
   Form 314 or FCC Form 315 during the twelve months covered by the EEO
   public file report, its EEO public file report shall cover the period
   starting with the date it acquired the station):

   (i) A list of all full-time vacancies filled by the station's
   employment unit during the preceding year, identified by job title;

   (ii) For each such vacancy, the recruitment source(s) utilized to fill
   the vacancy (including, if applicable, organizations entitled to
   notification pursuant to paragraph (c)(1)(ii) of this section, which
   should be separately identified), identified by name, address, contact
   person and telephone number;

   (iii) The recruitment source that referred the hiree for each full-time
   vacancy during the preceding year;

   (iv) Data reflecting the total number of persons interviewed for
   full-time vacancies during the preceding year and the total number of
   interviewees referred by each recruitment source utilized in connection
   with such vacancies; and

   (v) A list and brief description of initiatives undertaken pursuant to
   paragraph (c)(2) of this section during the preceding year.

   (d) Small station exemption. The provisions of paragraphs (b) and (c)
   of this section shall not apply to station employment units that have
   fewer than five full-time employees.

   (e) Definitions. For the purposes of this rule:

   (1) A full-time employee is a permanent employee whose regular work
   schedule is 30 hours per week or more.

   (2) A station employment unit is a station or a group of commonly owned
   stations in the same market that share at least one employee.

   (3) A smaller market includes metropolitan areas as defined by the
   Office of Management and Budget with a population of fewer than 250,000
   persons and areas outside of all metropolitan areas as defined by the
   Office of Management and Budget.

   (f) Enforcement. The following provisions apply to employment activity
   concerning full-time positions at each broadcast station employment
   unit (defined in this part) employing five or more persons in full-time
   positions, except where noted.

   (1) All broadcast stations, including those that are part of an
   employment unit with fewer than five full-time employees, shall file a
   Broadcast Equal Employment Opportunity Program Report (Form 396) with
   their renewal application. Form 396 is filed on the date the station is
   due to file its application for renewal of license. If a broadcast
   licensee acquires a station pursuant to FCC Form 314 or FCC Form 315
   during the period that is to form the basis for the Form 396,
   information provided on its Form 396 should cover the licensee's EEO
   recruitment activity during the period starting with the date it
   acquired the station. Stations are required to maintain a copy of their
   Form 396 in the station's public file in accordance with the provisions
   of § § 73.3526 and 73.3527.

   (2) The Commission will conduct a mid-term review of the employment
   practices of each broadcast television station that is part of an
   employment unit of five or more full-time employees and each radio
   station that is part of an employment unit of eleven or more full-time
   employees, four years following the station's most recent license
   expiration date as specified in § 73.1020. If a broadcast licensee
   acquires a station pursuant to FCC Form 314 or FCC Form 315 during the
   period that is to form the basis for the mid-term review, that review
   will cover the licensee's EEO recruitment activity during the period
   starting with the date it acquired the station.

   (3) If a station is subject to a time brokerage agreement, the licensee
   shall file Forms 396, Forms 397, and EEO public file reports concerning
   only its own recruitment activity. If a licensee is a broker of another
   station or stations, the licensee-broker shall include its recruitment
   activity for the brokered station(s) in determining the bases of Forms
   396, Forms 397 and the EEO public file reports for its own station. If
   a licensee-broker owns more than one station, it shall include its
   recruitment activity for the brokered station in the Forms 396, Forms
   397, and EEO public file reports filed for its own station that is most
   closely affiliated with, and in the same market as, the brokered
   station. If a licensee-broker does not own a station in the same market
   as the brokered station, then it shall include its recruitment activity
   for the brokered station in the Forms 396, Forms 397, and EEO public
   file reports filed for its own station that is geographically closest
   to the brokered station.

   (4) Broadcast stations subject to this section shall maintain records
   of their recruitment activity necessary to demonstrate that they are in
   compliance with the EEO rule. Stations shall ensure that they maintain
   records sufficient to verify the accuracy of information provided in
   Forms 396, Forms 397, and EEO public file reports. To determine
   compliance with the EEO rule, the Commission may conduct inquiries of
   licensees at random or if it has evidence of a possible violation of
   the EEO rule. In addition, the Commission will conduct random audits.
   Specifically, each year approximately five percent of all licensees in
   the television and radio services will be randomly selected for audit,
   ensuring that, even though the number of radio licensees is
   significantly larger than television licensees, both services are
   represented in the audit process. Upon request, stations shall make
   records available to the Commission for its review.

   (5) The public may file complaints throughout the license term based on
   a station's Form 397 or the contents of a station's public file.
   Provisions concerning filing, withdrawing, or non-filing of informal
   objections or petitions to deny license renewal, assignment, or
   transfer applications are delineated in § § 73.3584 and 73.3587-3589 of
   the Commission's rules.

   (g) Sanctions and remedies. The Commission may issue appropriate
   sanctions and remedies for any violation of this rule.

   [ 68 FR 689 , Jan. 7, 2003, as amended at  84 FR 21723 , May 15, 2019]