For much of 2025 and early 2026, federal contractors have watched the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) become unusually quiet. Compliance reviews stopped. Enforcement activity nearly disappeared. The contractor portal was shut down, and the agency’s future was publicly questioned. That is why the most recent appropriations news is significant: OFCCP has now…
Read More
Executive Summary Between anti-DEI messaging from federal leadership and continued Title VII enforcement actions penalizing race and sex discrimination, private employers and federal contractors face a complicated compliance environment heading into 2026. While rhetoric suggests heightened scrutiny of “illegal DEI,” the legal reality is that Title VII has not changed: employment decisions may not be…
Read More
When employers think about discrimination risk, they usually focus on familiar protected categories such as race, sex, ethnicity, age, disability, or religion. But a recent settlement announced by the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) underscores a growing and less understood enforcement area: discrimination against U.S. workers based on citizenship and…
Read More
As 2026 approaches, the compliance landscape shaped by Executive Order 14173, “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity,” is entering a more enforcement-focused phase. Based on the recent HR Unlimited Roundtable with former OFCCP and EEOC leaders, federal contractors must brace for a dramatic and high-stakes shift in anti-discrimination enforcement in 2026. The focus is…
Read More
When Executive Order 14173 was issued in January 2025, many employers assumed that the revocation of Executive Order 11246 marked the end of federal oversight of affirmative action and diversity initiatives. Eight months later, that assumption has been proven dangerously wrong. While the structure of oversight has changed, enforcement has not disappeared. It has shifted….
Read More
