The EEOC’s New Enforcement Targets: What Employers Need To Watch

On June 4, 2026, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) released a new National Enforcement Plan (NEP) under the Trump Administration outlining the Agency’s enforcement priorities. The NEP replaces the EEOC’s previous Strategic Enforcement Plan that was approved in 2023 under the Biden Administration and reflects a shift in the Agency’s current enforcement priorities under Chair Andrea Lucas. The NEP identifies Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI)-related race and sex discrimination focuses, certain sex-based workplace issues, religious accommodation, and other matters the EEOC may emphasize under the plan.

Although the NEP is an enforcement-priority document, rather than a binding change in the law, it offers insight into the charges, investigations, and litigation initiatives that may receive increased EEOC attention. As a result, employers should review their policies that fall under the NEP’s listed priorities, including, but not limited to, DEI initiatives, hiring practices, religious accommodation protocols, and policies regarding sex and gender identity.

What the NEP Prioritizes

The NEP notes that the EEOC is prioritizing matters involving intentional discrimination arising from broad-based employment policies, programs, or practices, including, but not limited to, those that employers label or frame as DEI initiatives. Examples identified by the Agency include hiring and promotion practices that encourage or incentivize race and sex-based decision making, diversity hiring panels, rubrics or evaluation methods that consider protected characteristics, and other employment decisions that take race or sex into account.

Notably, the NEP states that the EEOC “will eliminate the use of disparate impact liability theories in investigations ‘to the maximum degree possible,’” and that it “will not commence, develop, or continue litigation advancing disparate impact claims.”¹ As a practical matter, the EEOC’s new approach shifts the aspects of employment decisions that the Agency will examine and investigate, including who made the decision, what criteria were used, what information was considered, whether exceptions were made, and what documents in employers’ records reflect during the relevant time.

Where the EEOC May Seek to Develop the Law

The NEP separately identifies cases that may promote the Agency’s development of the law. The EEOC specifically notes issues involving certain DEI practices after recent Supreme Court decisions, voluntary affirmative action under older precedent viewed in light of more recent cases, the “some harm” standard, religious accommodation, workplace issues involving sex-based classifications, and the scope of liability under the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act.

Practical Implications and Next Steps for Employers

• Employers may wish to review records that could be relevant in an EEOC investigation, including hiring, promotion, compensation, layoffs, accommodations, staffing, visa-related practices, DEI-related programs, vendor instructions, and charge-response practices.
• Employers should also consider whether recruiting, internship, fellowship, mentorship, and training programs rely on lawful, neutral criteria and are supported by contemporaneous documentation and consistent implementation.
• It may be useful to review DEI-related statements, goals, metrics, and incentive structures to assess how they are described and applied in practice.
• Stay tuned for future updates in the areas identified by the NEP as targets for development of the law.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.