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Employment Law Update: EEOC’s New Enforcement Plan Signals a Sharper Focus on Intentional Discrimination

The EEOC’s National Enforcement Plan for fiscal years 2025–2029, released June 4, 2026, previews where the agency will focus its investigations and litigation. The plan replaces the 2023 Strategic Enforcement Plan and, while it does not change federal employment law, signals which workplace practices will draw the closest scrutiny. The message for employers is clear: employment decisions involving protected characteristics—race, sex, national origin, religion, pregnancy, gender identity, and others—should be carefully reviewed, consistently applied, and well documented.

A central theme is the EEOC’s heightened focus on intentional discrimination. The plan identifies DEI-related practices as potential enforcement priorities, including hiring and promotion decisions, internships, fellowships, diversity panels, diversity statements, and race- or sex-based employment goals. The EEOC also announces it will move away from disparate impact theories “to the maximum degree possible.” Other priorities include religious and pregnancy accommodations, national origin discrimination, vulnerable workers, systemic harassment, retaliation, and recordkeeping compliance. The agency may also use selected cases to develop the law on DEI practices, voluntary affirmative action, sex-based workplace classifications, and the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act.

For employers, the practical takeaway is not to abandon lawful EEO efforts, but to ensure policies do not use protected characteristics as selection criteria. Employers should review hiring, promotion, compensation, layoff, accommodation, and DEI-related processes now—these are the records most likely to matter in an investigation. Train decision-makers to apply criteria consistently, document reasons contemporaneously, and preserve records. Revisit religious and pregnancy accommodation procedures, confirm anti-harassment and anti-retaliation practices are functioning, and prepare charge-response protocols for closer scrutiny. The best preparation is a proactive compliance review focused on how policies operate in practice—not just on paper.

Please reach out to Whiteford’s Employment Law group with any questions on next steps.

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