On September 21st the EEOC released its Strategic Enforcement Plan (SEP) for the years 2024-2028. The SEP sets the EEOC’s subject matter priorities and is a roadmap to the areas upon which it will focus.
The SEP states that the EEOC will continue its focus on promoting pay practices to prevent discrimination, combatting pay discrimination and advancing equal pay, preventing and remedying systemic harassment and tackling retaliation. The changes to the SEP include:
- Targeting discrimination, bias, and hate directed against religious minorities (including antisemitism and Islamophobia), racial or ethnic groups, and LGBTQI+ individuals.
- Expanding the vulnerable and underserved worker priority to include additional categories of workers who may be unaware of their rights under equal employment opportunity (EEO) laws, may be reluctant or unable to exercise their legally protected rights, or have historically been underserved by federal employment discrimination protections.
- 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 (PWFA) and other EEO laws; employment discrimination associated with the long-term effects of COVID-19 symptoms; and technology-related employment discrimination.
- Highlighting the continued underrepresentation of women and workers of color in certain industries and sectors, such as construction and manufacturing, finance, tech and other science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields.
- 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.
- Preserving access to the legal system by addressing overly broad waivers, releases, non-disclosure agreements, or non-disparagement agreements when they restrict workers’ ability to obtain remedies for civil rights violations.
Employers, you now know where the EEOC will focus in the years ahead. Now is the time to be proactive and make sure you are compliant in those areas. Take steps such as conducting internal EEO and pay audits, expanding recruiting areas and reviewing and revising policies and procedures. The failure to take those steps now could prove costly in the future.
Tennessee Employment Law 