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February 1 is the deadline by which broadcast stations in Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, and Oklahoma must place into their Public Inspection files their Annual EEO Public Inspection File Report.  The report must also be available on these stations' websites, if they have such sites.  The Annual EEO Public Inspection File Report provides information about the full-time jobs filled at the station in the previous year; the sources used by the station to recruit potential employees to fill the open positions; and the additional "supplemental efforts" conducted by the station, whether or not they had any employment openings, to educate and inform their communities about broadcast employment.   This obligation extends to all "station employment units" (groups of commonly controlled stations, serving a common geographical area, with at least one common employee) with 5 or more full-time employees (a full-time employee, for FCC purposes, being one working 30 or more hours per week).  Our firm's Advisory detailing the requirements for this report can be found here, with a model for the report at Appendix A of that advisory.  More information about Broadcasters' EEO obligations generally can be found in our Primer on the FCC's EEO Rules, here.

Yesterday, I conducted a webinar for the Kansas Association of Broadcasters to provide a refresher on broadcasters' EEO obligations under FCC rules, regulations and policies.  The slides used in that presentation can be viewed here.  With the next cycle of license renewal applications beginning later this year, stations need to be especially vigilant about EEO obligations to avoid scrutiny at renewal time, which could delay the processing of renewal applications (and potentially of any sale that might be underway at that time, see our post here) and possibly lead to fines or other penalties.    Radio stations in Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi will file renewals on February 1, 2012;  radio stations in Kansas, Oklahoma and Nebraska will file their renewals on February 1, 2013; and those in New York and New Jersey will file by February 1, 2014.  TV stations will file one year later than radio stations located in their states.  As two years worth of public inspection file reports must be submitted with the license renewal applications, the hiring process used this year will be scrutinized by the FCC during the renewal process for stations in most of these states.  So make sure that you are following the rules, and documenting your EEO efforts for the FCC to avoid renewal-time problems. 

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February 1st marks the deadline for two FCC EEO requirements.  First, by February 1st, radio and television stations located in Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York and Oklahoma must prepare their Annual EEO Public File Reports. Specifically, stations or Station Employment Units (SEUs) in those states with five or more full time employees (30 hours or more per week) must:  (1) prepare their Annual EEO Public File Report; (2) place it in the public inspection file of each station comprising the SEU; and (3) post the Report on the Web site, if any station in the SEU has a Web site, all by Feb. 1. The Annual EEO Public File Report summarizes the hiring and EEO activities conducted by the station or SEU during the past 12 months. The Report provides information about the full time job positions filled in the last year, the recruitment sources used to fill those positions, and the outreach activities that the station or SEU performed during the year. In preparing their Annual Reports, stations are encouraged to carefully review their EEO activities and take the time to organize their records. Stations should have appropriate documentation to back up each of the recruitment sources used for each job opening, as well as for each outreach activity. This annual report is also a good time for the station or employment unit to assess the success of its outreach and the efficacy of its recruitment sources, and to make any adjustments necessary to improve EEO compliance in the coming year. A copy of our longer EEO primer can be found here.

Second, in addition to preparing the Annual EEO Public File Report, by February 1 television stations in Kansas, Nebraska, and Oklahoma , as well as larger radio stations in New Jersey and New York (i.e., those with eleven or more full-time employees) must prepare and file electronically with the Commission an FCC Form 397 Mid-Term EEO Report.  The Form 397 provides the FCC with copies of the SEU's two most recent Annual EEO Public File Reports, and is an important part of both the station’s compliance with the EEO rules and the Commission’s monitoring procedures. While normally the Annual Report is simply prepared and placed in the station's public file and on the website, at the mid-point of the license term stations must actually provide the FCC with copies of its two most recent Reports.  More information about both of these February 1 filing deadlines can be found in our recent client advisory available here.

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