EEOC’s Updated Strategic Plan: Aligned with Current NEP Priorities

On Aug. 26, 2026, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) published its updated Strategic Plan 2026-2030, effective immediately, after a 2-to-1 vote of the commissioners.

The Plan establishes the EEOC’s operational framework and performance measures through 2030 and identifies how the agency will carry out the priorities of its National Enforcement Plan for fiscal years 2025-2029 (NEP). The Strategic Plan does not create new employer obligations, but it does provide valuable insight into how the agency expects to:

• Prioritize investigations.
• Structure resolutions.
• Interact with employers in the coming years.

The Plan identifies three overarching strategic goals:

• Enforcement.
• Outreach and training.
• Organizational excellence.

Enforcement Aligned with Current NEP Priorities

In the new Plan, the EEOC states that it will prevent and remedy employment discrimination by “rigorously and consistently” focusing resources on the NEP priorities.  
As described in the NEP, those priorities include a focus on:

• Certain DEI employment practices.
• Religious accommodation issues.
• Protection of American workers from anti-American national origin discrimination.
• Protection of vulnerable workers.
• Systemic harassment.
• Liability under the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act.

The NEP also identifies as a priority “[m]atters involving intentional discrimination arising from challenging broad-based employment policies, programs, or practices that result in intentional discrimination against employees or applicants for employment,” and states the EEOC will no longer pursue litigation advancing disparate impact claims.

HR Q&A: Understanding Disparate Impact vs. Disparate Treatment in Hiring 

The new Plan explains that the EEOC will continue to use its Priority Charge Handling Procedures to strategically allocate resources based on the likelihood of a reasonable-cause finding that discrimination occurred. Under the Plan, these charge procedures and the NEP work together “to empower agency investigators and litigators to focus their resources strategically.”

In cases of alleged systemic discrimination, handled through the Systemic Program, the EEOC will prioritize cases impacting at least 10 employees. Unlike the draft version of the Plan, which proposed the goal of “at least $1 million in monetary relief” in “80% of systemic investigations in which cause is found,” the final Plan states the performance measure for the Systemic Program is “meaningful targeted equitable relief and monetary relief” without including a target relief amount.

Other performance measures include:

• 97% of EEOC conciliation agreements and favorable litigation resolutions contain targeted, equitable relief (an increase from 90% in the prior 2022-2026 plan).
• Continue to favorably resolve at least 90% of enforcement lawsuits.
• Enhanced monitoring, tracking, and internal reporting of conciliation agreements.
• Establishment of baseline measures for federal agencies’ compliance with EEO requirements.
• At least 90% of completed investigations and conciliations, hearings, and federal appeals meet or exceed criteria established for quality reviews.
• Reduce volume of pending intake inventory by 2% each year.

Toolkit: SHRM’s BEAM Toolkit for I&D 

Expanded Outreach to Individuals and Employers

The EEOC plans to expand outreach to workers, employers, and other covered entities through increased use of technology and social media, new partnerships, and updated materials. In particular, the charge management system will track how a charging party learned about their right to file a charge and increase outreach to individuals with a particular focus on “vulnerable workers and those in underserved communities.”

The agency plans to continuously increase the number of outreach and training events for new agency partners, adding 20-50 more events depending on the year. Resources and training materials for employers will address obligations under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and the substantive categories set out in the NEP. Sub-regulatory documents will be reviewed and updated with more accessible language, and resource materials will be regularly updated based on new priority lists.

EEOC Staffing and Operations

The Plan states the EEOC will seek to maintain staffing levels of at least 95% of the agency’s fulltime employee baseline by strengthening employee retention and making the hiring process more efficient. The agency will gather post-service feedback surveys and other feedback to inform improvements, with the goal of improving stakeholder satisfaction scores by 5% annually over the prior year.

The new Plan differs from the 2022-2026 plan in that it makes no reference to diversity, inclusion, and accessibility commitments in the EEOC’s own hiring practices, which is consistent with the Commission’s broader policy shift away from diversity-related initiatives.

Technology and Artificial Intelligence

Although the Plan references changes to the EEOC’s use of technology and mentions the anticipated impact of generative artificial intelligence (AI) on the job market and its own operations, AI is not explicitly included in any performance measures or priorities.

Specialty Credential: AI + HI

What Employers Should Know

The new Strategic Plan reaffirms that agency resources will be directed toward the priorities of the new NEP and also provides employers with some indicators of what to expect from the EEOC through fiscal year 2030:

• Charges involving NEP priorities may receive greater investigative attention.
• Policies affecting groups of employees may create systemic-enforcement exposure.
• Conciliation agreements and litigation resolutions are expected to contain non-monetary obligations, such as customized training for supervisors and employees, development of policies to deter future discrimination, and external monitoring of employer actions.
• New outreach and compliance materials will focus on NEP priorities.

Alison L. Lynch is an attorney with Jackson Lewis in Orange County, Calif. Ana C. Shields is an attorney with Jackson Lewis in Long Island, N.Y. Dana G. Weisbrod is an attorney in New York City. Andrew F. Maunz is an attorney with Jackon Lewis in Pittsburgh. © 2026 Jackson Lewis. All rights reserved. Reposted with permission.