The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC or Commission) has issued new guidance for preventing harassment in private-sector workplaces. Enforcement Guidance on Harassment in the Workplace supersedes previous guidance issued by the agency in the 1980s and 1990s.
The three-member Democratic majority on the Commission approved the guidance April 29, 2024, over the objection of the agency’s two Republican commissioners. It took effect immediately.
Issuance of new and predictably expansive guidance became a Commission priority after the U.S. Senate confirmed the appointment of Biden nominee Kalpana Kotagal to a vacant seat last year. Kotagal’s presence put a Democratic majority in charge of the EEOC for the first time since January 2019.
Members of the Center for Workplace Compliance (CWC), our affiliated nonprofit membership association, can read more here.