FCC Waives Broad Outreach Recruitment Requirements to Allow Re-hiring of Employees Laid Off Due to COVID-19

The FCC’s Media Bureau has waived the broad outreach requirements of the EEO recruitment rules to allow broadcast licensees and multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs) to re-hire full-time employees who were laid off due to the COVID-19 pandemic, without first conducting broad recruitment outreach. The waiver applies only to the re-hiring of employees who were released due to circumstances related to the COVID-19 pandemic, and only if employers re-hire the employees within nine months after they were laid off.

The EEO rules ordinarily require broadcast stations employing five or more full-time employees and MVPDs employing six or more full-time employees to engage in broad recruitment outreach for all full-time job vacancies. The FCC says it is waiving this requirement to allow affected broadcast licensees and MVPDs to return operations to full strength when circumstances permit the re-hiring of released employees.

If you have questions about the FCC’s EEO rules and policies, please contact any attorney in our office.