|
Category: Affirmative Action and DEI

GAO Urges DOL To Restore Section 503 Oversight And Compliance Resources

In a report issued September 29, the Government Accountability Office provides eight recommendations that would restore key DOL Section 503 oversight tools and expand practical guidance for federal contractors. GAO suggested that the Labor Department: Resume contractor disability AAP certifications; Resume Section 503 audits; Analyze why individual complaints are closed or referred elsewhere; Align OFCCP’s workforce with its current responsibilities...
|
Category: Agency Enforcement

EEOC Settles Pronoun-Related Religious Accommodation Charge

Generac Power Systems has agreed to resolve a charge involving an employee's request for a religious accommodation related to workplace pronoun usage, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced. As part of the settlement, Generac will provide monetary relief, update its religious accommodation policies, and conduct training. The employee asserted that using pronouns inconsistent with a coworker's biological sex conflicted with...
|
Category: Agency Enforcement

Keith Sonderling Confirmed As Next Secretary Of Labor

The Senate has confirmed President Trump’s nominee, Keith Sonderling, to serve as Secretary of Labor. The vote, held September 30, was 47 to 41. Sonderling has served as Deputy Secretary of Labor since March 2025. He previously served on the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission as a Commissioner (2020-2024) and Vice Chair (2020-2021). During the first Trump Administration, he served as...
|
Category: Agency Enforcement

President Trump Nominates Catherine Eschbach To Serve As EEOC General Counsel

President Trump has formally nominated Catherine Eschbach to serve as the General Counsel of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for a term of four years. Eschbach currently serves as the EEOC’s principal deputy general counsel and acting general counsel. Eschbach previously served as Director of the Labor Department’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs and practiced law at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius....
|
Category: Affirmative Action and DEI

OMB Approves VEVRAA Recordkeeping And Affirmative Action Requirements Through 2029

The White House Office of Management and Budget has approved the OFCCP’s veteran affirmative action requirements and extended them for three years. The Labor Department’s written AAP requirements under Section 4212 of the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act have a new expiration date of September 30, 2029. OMB’s approval ensures that the VEVRAA recordkeeping and reporting requirements remain in...
|
Category: Agency Enforcement

EEOC Finalizes Strategic Plan For FY 2026-2030

EEOC's final Strategic Plan for FY 2026-2030 includes a notable revision to the agency's systemic enforcement performance measure but otherwise is largely unchanged from the draft released earlier this year. The final plan retains performance measures addressing enforcement, outreach and training, and agency operations. Regarding the systemic enforcement revision, the draft would have measured success partly by whether the EEOC...
|
Category: Agency Enforcement

Fifth Circuit Vacates OSHA Rule In Significant Agency Authority Case

A federal appellate court recently struck down a regulation from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration that requires employers to record specified work-related mental illnesses. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reviewed the Occupational Safety and Health Act and concluded that Congress authorized OSHA to require recordkeeping for work-related physical injuries and illnesses, but not mental illnesses. Although the OSHA...
|
Category: Agency Enforcement

EEOC Moves FEPA Lists From Regulations To Agency Website

The EEOC has issued a final rule revising its procedures for recognizing Fair Employment Practice Agencies. FEPAs are state and local agencies that enforce employment discrimination laws and participate in EEOC worksharing and charge-processing arrangements.  Moving forward, the EEOC will list designated FEPAs on its website rather than in its procedural regulations. This is merely an administrative change. The rule does not...
|
Category: Agency Enforcement

CWC Urges EEOC To Strengthen Performance Measures In Strategic Plan

The Center for Workplace Compliance, our affiliated nonprofit membership association, submitted comments July 19 on the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's draft Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years 2026–2030. CWC’s comments generally praised the draft as an improvement over prior plans — citing its streamlined structure, focus on quality investigations and conciliations, attention to the charge intake process, and more appropriate systemic enforcement metrics....
|
Category: Agency Enforcement

Regulatory Agenda Continues Transition In Federal Contractor Compliance

The Trump Administration's new regulatory agenda includes several initiatives that would continue to dismantle the federal contractor compliance framework. While the regulatory agenda prioritizes rollback and revision of longstanding OFCCP regulations, however, the contours of the replacement compliance framework remain unclear. Key items in the agenda include final action on OFCCP's proposal to rescind the E.O. 11246 regulations, significant revisions...

Categories