On June 30, 2026, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) announced it had rescinded two longstanding policy documents concerning voluntary affirmative action under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. First, the interpretive guidelines titled “Affirmative Action Appropriate Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 as Amended,” codified at 29 C.F.R. Part 1608. Second, the related Compliance Manual Section 607 on Affirmative Action (collectively, the “Guidelines”). Employers that have relied on the Guidelines as a framework for structuring and defending voluntary affirmative action plans face a materially different regulatory landscape.
Background: The 1979 Affirmative Action Guidelines and Part 1608
The Guidelines were adopted in 1979 to provide employers and entities subject to Title VII with a structured framework for implementing voluntary affirmative action plans. The Guidelines addressed a practical question that Title VII’s text left unanswered:… Read the complete article here...
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