The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has replaced its 2024-2028 Strategic Enforcement Plan with a new National Enforcement Plan (NEP) covering fiscal years 2025-2029. The NEP is intended to guide the agency’s enforcement, litigation, outreach, education, and dispute resolution activities and to provide employers with a clear indication of where the agency plans to focus its resources over the next several years. 

Key Takeaways from the NEP: 

1. The EEOC is prioritizing intentional discrimination (disparate treatment) claims. The NEP emphasizes the agency’s shift in focus to cases involving alleged intentional discrimination, particularly broad-based employment policies, programs, or practices that may result in disparate treatment of applicants or employees based on protected characteristics. 
2. DEI-related employment practices are likely to receive heightened scrutiny. The plan also identifies employer policies and programs that may involve consideration of race, sex, or other protected characteristics as potential enforcement priorities. Employers should expect increased attention to recruiting, hiring, promotion, and compensation practices that could be viewed as providing preferences based on protected status.
3. The agency is de-emphasizing disparate impact enforcement. The NEP directs the EEOC to focus its resources on intentional discrimination (disparate treatment) claims and to limit reliance on disparate impact theories where possible. While this represents a notable federal enforcement shift, employers should remember that disparate impact liability remains recognized as unlawful under federal law and may continue to be pursued by private litigants and state agencies.
4. Expect more coordinated, nationwide enforcement activity. Section I(C) of the NEP directs the EEOC to function as a “national law enforcement agency” and emphasizes collaboration across headquarters, district offices, and program areas. The plan specifically contemplates deploying staff across district lines, assigning matters to multiple offices, and reallocating investigations based on workload and expertise. For employers, this signals that high-priority investigations may receive coordinated national attention and resources, particularly where the EEOC believes a matter has broader enforcement significance. 

What Does it Mean? 

For employers the NEP does not change existing legal obligations under federal, state, or local employment laws. However, it does provide insight into how the EEOC may prioritize investigations and litigation. Employers operating in multiple states should remain mindful that state enforcement agencies and courts will continue to focus on issues that are receiving less emphasis at the federal level. 

Importantly, employers should not view the NEP as reducing their compliance obligations. States such as California and Colorado maintain robust anti-discrimination laws and enforcement frameworks that may differ from current federal enforcement priorities. Employers should continue to evaluate workplace policies and employment decisions under all applicable federal, state, and local requirements. 

Issuance of the NEP offers employers an opportunity to review employment practices, confirm compliance with applicable laws, and prepare for increased scrutiny of policies that could be perceived as involving intentional discrimination. A few recommended next steps include: 

1. Review recruiting and hiring practices to ensure employment decisions are based on job-related qualifications and consistently applied criteria. 
2. Evaluate DEI-related initiatives and employment programs to confirm they do not create preferences, quotas, or decision-making processes tied to protected characteristics. 
3. Train managers and HR professionals on objective, merit-based employment decisions and documentation practices.