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On June 30, 2026, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced that it had rescinded two documents relating to permissible affirmative action 1 under Title VII of the U.S. Civil Rights Act: (1) its regulatory guidelines 2 on “appropriate”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 October 1, 2025, Congress failed to pass an appropriations bill to keep the federal government open. Three weeks have passed, and there is still no clear path forward. With each passing day, Republicans and Democrats alike become further entrenched in their positions, convinced that their cause is just. As a result, hardworking Americans, their families, and their businesses suffer. Government representatives who contend that holding out for an uncompromising win will be beneficial in the long run fail to appreciate the extent of the ongoing harm, and that whatever benefits may materialize in the future are quickly being erased by the damage inflicted now on so many Americans, as well as the millions of small businesses—government contractors and commercial firms alike—that both parties agree form the backbone of the U.S. economy.   Business leaders are uniquely situated as they have a direct view of the negative impact of the shutdown on their companies, their employees, and t...

On January 2, 2025, then-President Biden signed into law the Senator Elizabeth Dole 21st Century Veterans Healthcare and Benefits Improvement Act (Dole Act) , a bipartisan bill that expands healthcare and other benefits for veterans . Among its various pro-veteran measures, the Dole Act introduced noteworthy amendments to the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA). USERRA, enacted in 1994, prohibits employers from discriminating and retaliating against veterans and service members because of their military status or service. USERRA also provides reemployment rights and other rights and benefits to workers whose civilian jobs are voluntarily or involuntarily interrupted by military obligations. The Dole Act is the first amendment to USERRA since the 2022 Civilian Reservist Emergency Workforce Act (CREW Act) , which extended its coverage to Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) reservists. The Dole Act further enhances job protections for military member...