Compliance Stuff

On June 30, 2026, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced that it had rescinded two documents relating to permissible affirmative action 1 under Title VII of the U.S. Civil Rights Act: (1) its regulatory guidelines 2 on “appropriate” affirmative action under the statute; and (2) section 607 of its Compliance Manual, which addressed those guidelines and the agency’s enforcement positions with respect to permissible affirmative action and affirmative action plans.  Both the guidelines and the related portion of the Compliance Manual explained that voluntary affirmative action plans were only permitted under federal equal employment opportunity laws when designed to remedy past or present discrimination or to address manifest imbalances in traditionally segregated job categories and carefully structured to avoid unlawfully disadvantaging other employees. The documents emphasized that to be lawful, a plan had to be temporary, flexible, and narrowly tailored, and ...

On May 1, 2025, the Minneapolis City Council voted to expand civil rights protections, effective August 1, 2025. Under the updated ordinance ( Ordinance No. 2025-022 ), it will be illegal for employers in Minneapolis to discriminate based on a person’s height, weight, criminal record or history (now referred to as “justice-impacted status”), or housing status. The amendments also redefine “race” and “familial status,” and impose additional requirements on employers when providing religious accommodations. Quick Hits Minneapolis employers must not discriminate on the basis of an individual’s height, weight, justice-impacted status, or housing status, unless there is a bona fide occupational qualification or other exception. Minneapolis employers must provide reasonable accommodations to individuals with known pregnancy-related limitations. Minneapolis employers must provide religious accommodations for sincerely held religious beliefs, unless doing so would impose an undue hardship on...

A cautionary tale for employers.  EDITOR’S NOTE: Our  Affirmative Action Alert  blog has been re-titled  EEO Compliance Dispatch .   Many companies proactively analyze employee compensation to ensure that any disparities based on race and sex can be explained. This practice is advisable for many reasons: To eliminate or reduce potential liability for pay discrimination by identifying and correcting unexplained pay differentials. To increase employee morale and trust in the organization. To demonstrate accountability to shareholders and others. To develop robust compensation strategies and programs. Pay analyses that are prepared by or for counsel for the purpose of obtaining legal advice are generally covered by the attorney-client privilege. This privilege may be waived, however, if the confidentiality of the communication is not maintained by the client. One drawback to conducting a preventive pay equity analysis – even with the involvement of an atto...

  The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has revised Standards for Maintaining, Collecting, and Presenting Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity (SPD 15).  The changes will impact how companies collect the race and ethnicity data for their federal reporting.   The 2024 SPD 15 replaces and supersedes the 1997 SPD 15.  OMB cited “large societal, political, economic shifts in the United States” during the past 25 years including “increasing racial and ethnic diversity; a growing number of people who identify as more than one race or ethnicity; and changing immigration and migration patterns.”   Key revisions include a new race/ethnicity category and a one question format combining the race and ethnicity question into “What is your race and/or ethnicity? Select all that apply and enter additional details in the spaces below.”   With the addition of the new  Middle Eastern/North African  category, there will be seven race and/or ethnicity categories: ...