The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has published a new National Enforcement Plan covering fiscal years 2025-2029 and replacing the 2023 plan approved during the last administration. In this compliance alert, we consider how the new plan formalizes several important aspects of the EEOC’s recent approach, including its focus on anti-DEI actions and de-emphasis of disparate impact claims.
Summary
On June 4, 2026, the EEOC announced via a press release that it had approved a new National Enforcement Plan (NEP) through fiscal year 2029. The NEP defines the agency’s outreach, public education, technical assistance, enforcement, and litigation priorities, and this new version inevitably reflects the Trump Administration-era EEOC’s objectives.
Specifically, EEOC Chair Andrea Lucas characterizes the plan’s “merit-based, evenhanded enforcement of our nation’s civil rights laws” and highlights its focus on “intentional discrimination.” Examples of intentional discrimination in the plan itself include:
- “Policies, programs, or practices that preference guest worker visa holders or PERM applicants”
- “Those policies, programs, or practices labeled or framed as “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI) or similar euphemisms, often adopted by large corporations, prominent universities, and other elite institutions.”
Additionally, the plan identifies a number of activities that are likely to attract enforcement attention. These include:
- The operation of diversity hiring panels
- Requirements for candidates to submit diversity statements
- Race- or sex-based employment goals, including those identified as “aspirational”
- Cases where access to internship, mentorship, fellowship, and other similar programs is limited based on characteristics
- Hiring, promotion, and other employment decisions that take race or sex into account
In the plan, the Commission “concludes that allegations of intentional discrimination (disparate treatment) by an employer inherently are more egregious forms of discrimination than unintentional disparities between groups of employees which arise from an employer’s neutral policies or practices (disparate impact).”
Accordingly, the plan prioritizes pursuing matters involving intentional discrimination and “will eliminate the use of disparate impact liability theories in investigations to the maximum degree possible.”
The plan additionally identifies the following as priority areas:
- Religious accommodation
- Anti-American national origin discrimination
- Sex-based workplace issues
- Protection of vulnerable workers, including low-wage and individuals with limited literacy or education
- Systemic harassment
- Retaliation
Who Is Impacted and What Actions Are Required?
As the NEP is an enforcement priority document, it can only go so far within the parameters established by the statutes the EEOC is charged with enforcing. Nonetheless, it signals a shift in priorities that organizations must pay close attention to. Though the last 18 months have provided ample warning, organizations may not yet be accustomed to evaluating their DEI programs, their race- and sex-based policies and considerations, and a number of other key activities from the perspective of the EEOC’s current enforcement priorities.
This new scrutiny makes it imperative that employers review the records and workflows in the areas most likely to attract EEOC attention. This includes:
- Hiring
- Promotion
- Compensation
- Terminations
- Accommodations
- Staffing
- Visa-related practices
- DEI programs
- Vendor relationships
At the same time, organizations should not take the agency’s retreat from “unintentional disparities” and “disparate impact liability theory” as a sign that it is safe to do the same. The agency will ultimately continue to pursue prosecutions using any tools available to it, and third parties will continue to file lawsuits on the basis of disparate impact. This makes it essential to regularly perform disparate impact analyses and other risk assessment activity, both as a way of proactively identifying issues and as a way of being able to refute false claims.
How Affirmity Can Help
Affirmity offers solutions that help HR, EEO, legal, and compliance teams implement consistent, merit-based, and equitable employment practices informed by reliable data and the latest best practices. We offer:
- Race and gender-based workforce analysis software and services to identify disparity patterns and areas of risk
- Section 503 and VEVRAA affirmative action, as well as EEO-1 and VETS-4212 reporting support
- Compensation and pay equity analysis, helping you identify unexplained gaps before they result in legal exposure
- Risk assessment services covering EEOC targets such as DEI programs, as well as emerging risk areas, including AI use in employee selection
Protect your organization from shifting agency priorities: Contact our team of experts today.
About the Author
Kim Hendon oversees account management and sales for Affirmity. She is responsible for building successful, long-term partnerships with clients and generating new business. Having served with the company for more than 25 years, Ms. Hendon has in-depth knowledge and broad experience in all areas of workforce analytics and HR compliance.
Ms. Hendon assists clients with the planning and development of workforce compliance and non-discrimination programs, as well as employee engagement initiatives. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Speech Communication and a Master’s in Business Administration. Connect with her on LinkedIn.