EEOC rescinds 2024 workplace harassment guidance: What employers need to know

On January 22, 2026, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) voted 2 to 1 to rescind its Enforcement Guidance on Harassment in the Workplace. This is one of the first significant actions the EEOC has taken since regaining its quorum in October 2025.

What was rescinded

The Enforcement Guidance on Harassment in the Workplace was originally issued in April 2024 and provided a comprehensive update to the EEOC’s interpretations of federal antiharassment laws under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and related statutes.

The 2024 guidance consolidated and modernized prior EEOC materials, offering examples of unlawful harassment based on protected characteristics, including race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, age, disability, and genetic information. It also addressed modern post-COVID issues, such as remote work, and incorporated the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2020 decision in Bostock v. Clayton County, which held that discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity constitutes sex discrimination under Title VII.

Objections to gender identity protection, but harassment still prohibited