Is there a filing fee?

No. Filing an EEOC charge is free. The agency does not charge for intake, investigation, conciliation, or issuing the Notice of Right to Sue.

Do I need a lawyer to file?

No, but it helps. The EEOC intake counselors will help you complete Form 5, but they cannot give legal advice on which protected basis or which statute to choose. Many employment-law attorneys offer free consultations and take cases on contingency. The choice between Title VII / ADA / §1981 / state-law paths is often consequential and benefits from counsel.

Can I file anonymously?

The EEOC requires the charging party's name on the verified charge. Some state FEPAs accept anonymous tips that trigger commissioner-initiated inquiries, but those rarely produce individual remedies. Your employer will see the charge — Title VII §704(a) prohibits retaliation, but enforcement is after-the-fact.

What if my employer fires me for filing?

Retaliation for filing an EEOC charge is itself a Title VII violation under §704(a). You would file a second charge alleging retaliation. Document everything; the temporal proximity between filing and adverse action is often the strongest evidence of retaliatory intent.

Can I add allegations after filing?

Yes — file an amended charge. The amendment must be a related allegation that 'reasonably grew out of' the original charge, per 29 CFR §1601.12(b). New, unrelated allegations may need their own charge with its own 180/300-day window.

How to file an EEOC charge — step-by-step

The eight steps

Step 1: Confirm you're within the federal window. Use the decoder. It will give you an absolute deadline date, the filing channel, and the statute pin. If the decoder says 'deadline-past', skip to step 8 (post-deadline fallbacks). /decoder
Step 2: Choose the filing channel. For Title VII, ADA, GINA, and ADEA: file with the EEOC, either through the Public Portal or on paper Form 5. For EPA and §1981: skip the EEOC entirely and file in federal district court. For federal civilian employees: initiate contact with your agency's EEO counselor within 45 days.
Step 3: Open the EEOC Public Portal. publicportal.eeoc.gov is the EEOC's online intake system. Create an account, complete the inquiry form, and request an intake interview. The portal generates a confirmation; save it. publicportal.eeoc.gov/Portal/Login.aspx
Step 4: Complete the intake interview. An EEOC intake counselor will walk through the facts. Be ready with: dates, identities of decision-makers, the protected basis of your claim, the discriminatory action(s), the employer's name and address, and your employer-size estimate. Bring documentation if you have it — write-ups, emails, paystubs.
Step 5: Submit a verified charge (Form 5). The intake produces a verified charge form (EEOC Form 5). Read it carefully — the specific allegations and dates here are what the EEOC investigates. Sign under oath. The filing date for the 180/300-day window is the date the EEOC receives the verified charge, not the inquiry date.
Step 6: Confirm dual-filing posture (if applicable). Worksharing agreements between the EEOC and most state FEPAs mean filing with one routes to both. Some state-level filing windows run independently of the federal clock — verify with your state agency directly if state-court remedies matter. /learn/dual-filing-mechanics
Step 7: Track the investigation. Median EEOC investigation duration is around 10 months. You'll be assigned an investigator; the employer receives a Notice of Charge within 10 days and may submit a Position Statement. You can request status updates and a copy of the employer's Position Statement. /learn/eeoc-investigation-timeline
Step 8: After the Notice of Right to Sue: 90-day federal-court window. Whether the EEOC dismisses, issues a cause finding, or you request early notice after 180 days, the Notice of Right to Sue triggers a strict 90-day window to file in federal district court. Engage counsel before this window opens; the 90 days run from receipt, not from EEOC mailing. /learn/right-to-sue-letter

Two-track filing

The federal EEOC charge is one track. The state FEPA charge is another. In most states, worksharing under 29 CFR § 1601.13 means filing once routes to both. The exceptions:

AL, AR, MS — no qualifying FEPA. EEOC track only; no parallel state track.
GA private-sector, NC private-sector non-age — FEPA does not reach private claims. EEOC track only.
States with longer state-law SOL (CA 3-year FEHA, IL 730-day IHRA, OH 730-day, NY 3-year HRL) — filing the federal charge does not toll the state-law clock. If state-court remedies matter, calendar both separately.

What you can NOT do here

We do not file your charge for you. The EEOC requires the charging party's signature under oath; no editorial site can substitute for that.
We do not provide legal advice. The choice between Title VII / §1981 / state-court / parallel-tort paths is case-specific and consequential. The decoder maps the procedural channel; counsel maps the strategy.
We do not capture leads. No newsletter, no callback form, no contingency-firm referral funnel. The filing-channel links go directly to publicportal.eeoc.gov.

Before you click submit

Make sure the dates on Form 5 are the dates the EEOC will use. Common mistakes: using the first incident date instead of the most recent (under Morgan, the clock runs from the most recent contributing act for hostile-environment claims, and from each discrete act for discrete-act claims); misidentifying the protected basis; underestimating the employer's headcount and tripping the 15+ / 20+ thresholds at the wrong number. If any of these are uncertain, talk to an employment-law attorney before you sign.

How to file an EEOC charge