Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System

Effective Date: March 27, 2026

Policy Statement

The Board's policy is to provide equal opportunity in employment for all persons. Thus, consistent with applicable law, the Board prohibits discrimination in employment on the basis of race; color; religion; sex¹; national origin; age; disability; genetic information; or pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions and promotes the full realization of equal employment opportunity (EEO). Accordingly, these protections extend to all management practices and decisions, including, but not limited to, recruitment and hiring practices, promotions, transfers, reassignments, training and career development, benefits, separations, and performance appraisals. Further, the Board is committed to non-discriminatory administration of policies and practices and creating a workplace where all employees, regardless of their protected class or status, will have equal access to employment opportunities that enable them to reach their full potential in contributing to the Board's mission.

The Board also prohibits discrimination on the basis of any application, membership, or service in the uniformed services. The Board prohibits workplace harassment or retaliation against any individual because they engaged in protected EEO activity, such as opposing discriminatory practices or participating in the discrimination-complaint process. In addition, all employees are required to complete periodic training to advise them of their role in reporting and preventing discrimination and harassment.

The Board strives to comply with the following statutes and any amendments thereof:

• the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (title VII),
• section 501 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973,
• the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA),
• the Equal Pay Act of 1963,
• the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008, and
• the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA).

The Board's Rules Regarding Equal Employment Opportunity (the Board's EEO rules), 12 C.F.R. pt. 268, set forth the policies and procedures relating to the Board's policy to promote equal opportunity. In order to enforce these protections, all Board employees and applicants are expected—and encouraged—to promptly bring any concerns about discrimination, harassment, and retaliation in any form, to the attention of their supervisor, a member of their management team, or to the Office of EEO Programs and OMWI (OEO). In addition, the Board also issues an EEO Program Status Report adopted by the Board OEO.

Definitions

Aggrieved person is any employee, former employee, or applicant for employment who believes that the Board has discriminated against them with respect to the terms, conditions, or privileges of employment on the basis of race; color; religion; sex; national origin; age; disability; genetic information; or pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions or subject to retaliation for engaging in protected activity, such as opposing discrimination or harassment based on the employee's protected class or status or participating in the EEO process.

Discrimination is treating someone unfavorably because of their protected class or status.

Employee means any individual who performs work for the Board under conditions where the Board controls what work is performed and how the work is performed.

Protected class or status means one's race; color; religion; sex; national origin; age; disability; genetic information; or pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions.

Illegal harassment, as referred to in this policy, is behavior (i.e., verbal or physical conduct) that demeans or shows hostility or aversion toward an individual because of their race; color; religion; sex; national origin; age; disability; genetic information; or pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions, or because of retaliation for engaging in protected activity and the behavior is severe or pervasive enough to create a work environment that a reasonable person would find hostile or abusive.

Complaint Processing

Any employee, former employee, or applicant for employment who believes that they have been subjected to discrimination or illegal harassment with respect to the terms, conditions, or privileges of employment on the basis of race; color; religion; sex; national origin; age; disability; genetic information; or pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions, or subject to retaliation for engaging in protected activity, such as opposing discrimination or harassment based on the employee's protected class or status or participating in the EEO process, may raise any such complaint with the Board's OEO as provided by the Board's EEO rules. The aggrieved person must initiate contact with an EEO counselor within 45 days of the matter alleged to be discriminatory, harassing, or retaliatory, or in the case of a personnel action, within 45 days of the effective date of the action or from the date on which they reasonably became aware of the discrimination, illegal harassment, or retaliation. Aggrieved persons may contact the OEO at [email protected]. Complaints by employees and former employees regarding discrimination on the basis of any application, membership, or service in the uniformed services may be raised under the Addressing Work-Related Problems policy.² This policy does not create any right to file a lawsuit or other legal action on the basis of discrimination on the basis of any application, membership, or service in the uniformed services.

Interaction with Other Policies

Allegations of discrimination or illegal harassment on the grounds of protected class or status or of retaliation for engaging in protected activity, cannot be simultaneously raised under the Board's EEO rules and the Board's Addressing Work-Related Problems policy. When an employee presents an allegation of discrimination or illegal harassment on the grounds of protected class or status or retaliation for engaging in protected activity, the allegation shall be processed under the Board's EEO rules, and any grievance regarding the same matter being processed through the Addressing Work-Related Problems policy shall terminate.

This policy and the EEO complaints process generally are separate and apart from the Board's Discriminatory Workplace Harassment policy, although both reflect the Board's commitment to address allegations of discriminatory or harassing conduct. This EEO complaint process is designed to conduct investigations into allegations of unlawful discrimination for the purpose of determining whether unlawful discrimination occurred. In contrast, the Discriminatory Workplace Harassment policy seeks to eliminate harassing conduct before such conduct rises to a level that would violate the law. Specifically, because the Board wishes to prevent harassment before it violates the law, that is, before it becomes severe or pervasive, the Board has established the Discriminatory Workplace Harassment policy to encourage the reporting of harassment on the basis of protected class status. Such reporting is encouraged regardless of whether the harassment rises to a level that violates the law. The Board will take action against employees who engage in harassment based on protected class status, regardless of whether it has risen to the level of being severe or pervasive, in order to prevent harassment from becoming severe or pervasive.

Responsibility

The Board has assigned direct responsibility for implementation of its EEO policy to supervisors and managers. The EEO Programs director of the OEO is responsible for coordinating Boardwide implementation of EEO procedures and practices; advising on the Board's policies and practices in connection with federal EEO laws; implementing this and other Board policies related to EEO; coordinating the resolution of EEO complaints; and, if applicable, recommending corrective measures to management. The Board's People, Strategy and Operations department (PSO) of the Division of Management and Financial Services is responsible for addressing complaints filed under the Addressing Work-Related Problems policy that allege discrimination on the basis of any application, membership, or service in the uniformed services and any other harassment complaints not covered by this policy or the Discriminatory Workplace Harassment policy. This policy will be reviewed and updated as necessary.

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