The FCC rang out the old year by fining two broadcasters a combined $28,000 for not complying with the FCC’s Equal Employment Opportunity (“EEO”) rules.  These two enforcement actions, announced last week, demonstrate how the FCC’s random audits and review of pending license renewal applications can impact a station’s bottom line if the station fails to conduct meaningful EEO recruitment efforts. 

These actions stem from enforcement of FCC rules requiring broadcasters with more than five full-time employees to undertake meaningful recruitment efforts.  This means they must (1) recruit for every full-time job vacancy; (2) use a variety of recruitment sources which in the licensee’s good faith judgment will widely disseminate the information to the public;  (3) analyze the licensee’s recruitment program on an ongoing basis and make changes, where necessary;  (4) document the recruitment efforts; and  (5) include EEO-related material in the station’s local public inspection file and web site. 

In the first action, FCC found after a random audit that the licensee failed to recruit for six of 24 full time vacancies in a 10-month period.  Instead, the licensee relied upon walk-ins, word of mouth and referrals to fill the positions.  The licensee did not list the job title for seven vacancies on its EEO Public File Report, listing “other” for the job title.  The FCC fined this broadcaster $8,000. 

In the second action, the FCC determined that a broadcaster failed to recruit properly for 28 of its 29 full-time positions over a six-year period, relying on walk-ins, Internet sources and on-air advertisements.  The licensee provided no records of its recruitment efforts and could not report the total number of interviewees referred by each recruitment source.  The FCC concluded that the combined lack of recruitment efforts and documentation over the period showed the licensee had not analyzed its recruitment program.  The FCC fined this broadcaster $20,000. 

These decisions reflect the FCC’s increased monitoring and enforcement of EEO rules for broadcasters in recent years.  The agency scrutinizes EEO Public File Reports carefully, looking for deficiencies and requesting supplemental information if any are discovered.  Common EEO errors include: 

• Reliance upon only a handful of recruitment sources
• Over reliance upon generic recruitment sources, such as walk-ins, internet and employees referrals
• Incomplete EEO Public File Reports such as not listing job titles, recruitment sources or referrals
• Lack of documentation of recruitment efforts
• Not undertaking meaningful supplemental recruitment initiatives (i.e. job fairs, internships)
• No meaningful self-assessment of EEO recruitment efforts.

These fines highlight the importance of keeping on top of EEO efforts and of undertaking annual self-assessment.  Either through random audits or at renewal time, broadcasters will submit their EEO Public File Reports to the FCC for review and approval.  That is not the time to find out there are deficiencies in a station’s EEO practices or its EEO Public File Report.