EEOC’s new enforcement plan signals sharper focus on intentional discrimination

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC) National Enforcement Plan (NEP) for fiscal years 2025 to 2029—released June 4, 2026—previews where the agency will focus its investigations and litigation. The plan replaces the 2023 Strategic Enforcement Plan, and although it doesn’t change federal employment law, it 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.

New plan, new priorities

A central theme of the NEP is the EEOC’s heightened focus on intentional discrimination. The plan identifies diversity, equity, and inclusion (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 announced 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.

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