September 21, 2023

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) released its Strategic Enforcement Plan (SEP) for fiscal years 2024-2028. The SEP makes clear that the EEOC will be prioritizing its enforcement efforts on: (1) highlighting the continued underrepresentation of women and workers of color in construction, finance, manufacturing, technology and other science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields; (2) preserving workers’ access to the legal system by addressing overly broad waivers, releases, non-disclosure agreements, or non-disparagement agreements restricting workers’ ability to obtain remedies for civil rights violations; (3) targeting discrimination, bias, and hate directed against religious minorities (including antisemitism and Islamophobia), racial or ethnic groups, and LGBTQI+ individuals; (4) expanding the vulnerable and underserved worker priority to include additional categories of workers; (5) updating the emerging and developing issues priority to include protecting workers affected by pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions, including under the new Pregnant Workers Fairness Act and other equal employment opportunity laws, employment discrimination associated with the long-term effects of COVID-19 symptoms, and technology-related employment discrimination; and (6) recognizing employers’ increasing use of technology, including artificial intelligence and machine learning, to target job advertisements, recruit applicants, and make or assist in hiring and other employment decisions. The entire SEP can be reviewed here.

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