EEOC and OFCCP Announce Significant Changes to Federal Employment Enforcement and Federal Contractor Compliance

Employers and federal contractors are facing a changing compliance landscape following a series of recent actions by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) and the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (“OFCCP”). The EEOC recently adopted its Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years 2026–2030, outlining how the agency intends to prioritize enforcement, systemic discrimination, outreach, and agency resources over the next several years. Separately, OFCCP issued three final rules that significantly reshape the regulatory framework applicable to federal contractors, including by eliminating certain disability self-identification and utilization requirements under Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act, updating requirements under the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act (“VEVRAA”), and formally rescinding regulations implementing Executive Order 11246. Taken together, the developments reflect the federal government’s continued shift in approach to equal employment opportunity and affirmative action enforcement.

EEOC Adopts Strategic Plan for Fiscal Year 2026-2030

The EEOC’s updated Strategic Plan, which became effective immediately upon its August 26, 2026 adoption, establishes the agency’s framework for enforcement through fiscal year 2030. Of particular significance for employers, is the EEOC’s continued emphasis on strategic and systemic enforcement, highlighting that it intends to exercise its enforcement authority “even-handedly, efficiently, and based on the circumstances of each charge or complaint.” The agency will continue prioritizing charges through its Priority Charge Handling Procedures and will coordinate those efforts with the substantive priorities contained in its National Enforcement Plan. 

The Strategic Plan also establishes several specific enforcement benchmarks through 2030, including:

• Systemic matters.The EEOC’s Systemic Program will focus on complex matters involving ten or more aggrieved individuals, particularly where an allegedly discriminatory policy or practice may have a broader impact on an industry, profession, company, or geographic area.
• Broader equitable relief.The EEOC intends for 97% of conciliation agreements and favorable litigation resolutions to include targeted equitable relief. Such relief may extend beyond monetary payments and include customized training, revised employment policies or practices, and external monitoring.
• Increased compliance monitoring.The EEOC plans to enhance its monitoring of conciliation agreements through more standardized procedures, improved tracking and reporting mechanisms, and additional training for EEOC personnel.
• More efficient intake and investigations.The agency intends to use technology to improve accessibility and processing of charges, reduce its pending intake inventory by 2% annually, and decrease intake-processing times by 2030.
• Expanded employer outreach.The EEOC will increase outreach and training to employers and other covered entities and update its compliance materials to reflect current enforcement priorities.

The Strategic Plan does not itself create new substantive employment obligations. It does, however, provide employers with a roadmap of how the EEOC intends to deploy its enforcement resources. In particular, the emphasis on systemic matters, facially discriminatory policies, targeted equitable relief, and post-resolution compliance monitoring signals that employers should continue reviewing employment practices for issues that could affect groups of applicants or employees rather than focusing only on individual employment decisions.

OFCCP Issues Three Final Rules Reshaping Federal Contractor Obligations

OFCCP’s three final rules reflect the agency’s continued implementation of Executive Order 14173, which revoked Executive Order 11246 in January 2025. The rules formally remove the Executive Order 11246 regulatory framework while revising OFCCP’s remaining Section 503 and VEVRAA regulations.

1. OFCCP Formally Rescinds the Executive Order 11246 Regulations

The first final rule formally rescinds OFCCP’s regulations implementing Executive Order 11246. The rule becomes effective October 26, 2026.  Executive Order 11246 previously required covered federal contractors and subcontractors to comply with nondiscrimination requirements based on race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, and national origin and imposed affirmative action requirements relating to race and sex. The final rule removes the regulations implementing those requirements, including the regulatory provisions governing federal contractor affirmative action programs and construction-industry participation goals.

The rescission does not, however, eliminate contractors’ obligations under generally applicable federal employment laws such as Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 or other applicable federal, state, or local employment laws. Accordingly, contractors should distinguish between requirements that existed solely because of Executive Order 11246 and nondiscrimination requirements that continue to apply independently.

2. Section 503 Requirements Are Significantly Reduced

The most significant immediate compliance changes arise from OFCCP’s final rule modifying the regulations implementing Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act, which governs federal contractors’ obligations with respect to individuals with disabilities. Most of these changes became effective September 21, 2026. A separate technical amendment concerning OFCCP’s administrative proceeding regulations takes effect December 21, 2026.

Most notably, the final rule eliminates several requirements that have been central to federal contractor Section 503 compliance since 2013. Contractors are no longer required to: (i) invite applicants and employees to self-identify as individuals with disabilities using OFCCP’s CC-305 form; (ii) maintain the related disability applicant and hiring data previously required by the regulations; or (iii) conduct the annual analysis measuring their workforce against OFCCP’s former 7% utilization goal for individuals with disabilities.

OFCCP explained that contractors choosing to continue collecting or analyzing disability information voluntarily must ensure that their practices comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act and other applicable laws. In particular, OFCCP takes the position in the final rule that an employer-requested pre-offer disability self-identification constitutes a disability-related inquiry notwithstanding that responding to the inquiry is voluntary.

The rule does not eliminate Section 503 altogether. Covered contractors remain subject to Section 503’s nondiscrimination and affirmative action requirements, including applicable outreach, accommodation, audit, and recordkeeping obligations. The rule also updates the basic Section 503 coverage threshold from $15,000 to $20,000 to reflect the inflation adjustment that became effective October 1, 2025. Contractors with at least 50 employees and a federal contract or subcontract of at least $50,000 remain subject to Section 503’s affirmative action program requirements.

3. VEVRAA Obligations Remain, but the Coverage Threshold Increases

The third final rule modifies OFCCP’s regulations implementing the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act (“VEVRAA”). The rule became effective September 21, 2026.  Unlike the Section 503 rule, the VEVRAA rule generally does not eliminate the substantive affirmative action requirements applicable to protected veterans. Instead, OFCCP removed references to the revoked Executive Order 11246 framework and relocated administrative enforcement procedures directly into the VEVRAA regulations.

The rule also increases the general VEVRAA contract coverage threshold from $150,000 to $200,000. Federal contractors with at least 50 employees and a covered contract of $200,000 or more remain subject to VEVRAA’s affirmative action program requirements. Existing requirements concerning protected-veteran affirmative action efforts, including the VEVRAA hiring benchmark, were not eliminated by the rule.

What Employers Should Do Now

Employers should consider the EEOC Strategic Plan an indication of where the agency intends to devote enforcement resources rather than a source of new substantive employer obligations. Employers and federal contractors should both consider taking the following steps in response to these developments:

• Review disability self-identification practices. Federal contractors should update applicant tracking systems, onboarding processes, and other HR systems that automatically distribute the CC-305 form or collect disability information for Section 503 purposes and carefully review any disability data collection they intend to continue.
• Update Section 503 affirmative action processes. Contractors should remove the former 7% utilization analysis and related applicant and hiring calculations from their required Section 503 compliance processes while ensuring that remaining outreach, nondiscrimination, accommodation, and affirmative action obligations continue to be satisfied.
• Confirm VEVRAA coverage. Contractors should determine whether their federal contracts meet the new $200,000 threshold and continue maintaining VEVRAA affirmative action programs where applicable.
• Review federal contractor policies and documents. Contractors should identify policies, affirmative action plans, contract clauses, notices, and other materials that continue to reference Executive Order 11246 and determine whether revisions are appropriate while preserving obligations imposed by Title VII and other applicable laws.
• Review employment practices for potential systemic issues. In light of the EEOC’s continued emphasis on systemic enforcement, employers should evaluate recruiting, hiring, promotion, compensation, termination, and other employment practices for policies or patterns that could affect multiple applicants or employees

Key Takeaway

The EEOC and OFCCP developments continue the federal government’s reshaping of workplace discrimination enforcement and federal contractor compliance. While the EEOC’s new Strategic Plan does not itself impose new obligations on private employers, it signals continued attention to systemic discrimination, strategic enforcement, and remedies designed to change employer practices. For federal contractors, OFCCP’s final rules have more immediate consequences, particularly the elimination of Section 503’s disability self-identification, data-collection, and 7% utilization requirements. Federal contractors should use the coming weeks to update affected systems and affirmative action materials while ensuring that they continue to comply with the nondiscrimination and affirmative action requirements that remain in effect under Section 503, VEVRAA, and other applicable federal, state, and local laws. For more information or assistance, please contact one of Honigman's Employment and Labor Attorneys here.