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Insights

September 10, 2026
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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...
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September 10, 2026
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Category: Compliance Reporting and Recordkeeping

Census Bureau Proposes Removing Race-Ethnicity Questions From Decennial Census

The U.S. Census Bureau has proposed regulations to prohibit questions about race, ethnicity, and sexual orientation on the decennial census questionnaire or any questionnaire used to enumerate the U.S. population. The Census Bureau argues that the questions do not directly support the constitutional purpose of the census and may reduce response rates or increase privacy concerns. The proposal also would change who...
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September 10, 2026
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Category: Discrimination and Harassment

Judge Says Offensive Conduct Need Not Target An Employee To Affect The Workplace

Harassment investigations should look beyond conduct directed at the employee who raised the concern, according to a recent D.C. Circuit concurrence. It challenges a line of lower-court decisions that discounted discriminatory conduct that was not directed at the employee alleging a hostile work environment. The concurrence argues that this approach is too narrow because offensive conduct involving coworkers, customers, or others may...
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September 08, 2026
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Category: Disability, Accommodations, and Leaves

Fourth Circuit Cautions Employers Against Parsing Religious Beliefs

A divided Fourth Circuit allowed an employee to proceed with a Title VII claim challenging her employer’s denial of her religious exemption from a COVID-19 vaccination requirement. The decision illustrates the risk an employer takes in denying an employee’s religious accommodation request because the employer considers the employee’s stated belief insufficiently religious. The employee tied her objection to her belief...
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September 03, 2026
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Category: State and Local Compliance

CWC Interstate For August 2026

The Center for Workplace Compliance (CWC), our affiliated nonprofit membership association, has released its August 2026 update of developments in state and local workplace compliance laws.  This Interstate resource highlights fair employment laws governing anti-discrimination enforcement in Illinois and Virginia, artificial intelligence in Colorado, and criminal history in San Francisco. It also reports on immigration developments related to employment eligibility verification in...
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September 02, 2026
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Category: Affirmative Action and DEI

CWC Roundtable Examines OFCCP’s New Regulatory Framework

The practical implications of OFCCP's new framework and the future of disability self-identification for federal contractors were the dominant topics at the members-only roundtable held by the Center for Workplace Compliance (CWC), our affiliated nonprofit membership association. The September 1 roundtable discussed three new OFCCP actions: rescission of Executive Order 11246 rules, significant changes to the Section 503 disability affirmative action...
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August 31, 2026
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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...
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August 31, 2026
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Category: Discrimination and Harassment

Ninth Circuit Allows Employee To Exit Arbitration After Harassment Claim Emerges

A federal court has allowed an employee to move a dispute from arbitration to court after discovery uncovered evidence supporting a sex-based harassment claim. In this case, an employee initially asserted claims based on national origin and her status as a domestic violence victim. During arbitration, she obtained internal communications and testimony that allegedly revealed sex-based stereotyping and bias. The...
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August 27, 2026
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Category: Immigration

DHS Proposes $103,265 Fee For Cap-Subject H-1B Petitions

The Department of Homeland Security has published a proposed rule that would establish a new $103,265 fee for all H-1B petitions subject to the annual cap, including petitions filed under the advanced-degree exemption. The fee would be imposed in addition to all existing H-1B filing fees but would not apply to cap-exempt H-1B petitions. If finalized, the proposal would fundamentally change the...
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August 26, 2026
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Category: Affirmative Action and DEI

OFCCP Asks OMB To Eliminate Form CC-305

The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs has asked the Office of Management and Budget for emergency authorization to eliminate Voluntary Self-Identification of Disability Form (Form CC-305). Federal contractors currently use Form CC-305 to invite applicants and employees to voluntarily report their disability status. OFCCP’s request follows a recent rulemaking through which it modified its regulations implementing the nondiscrimination and affirmative action...
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