EEOC Rescinds Longstanding Guidance on Voluntary Affirmative Action Plans

Takeaways 

• The EEOC voted to rescind its 1979 interpretive guidance on voluntary affirmative action under Title VII and the related EEOC Compliance Manual Section 607. 
• The EEOC said the guidance was inconsistent with the text of Title VII and subsequent Supreme Court precedent. 
• The rescission reflects the EEOC’s continued shift away from prior agency positions on affirmative action and DEI-related employment practices.

Links 

EEOC Votes to Rescind Affirmative Action Interpretive Guidelines and Related Compliance Manual (EEOC Press Release)

EEOC Proposes to Rescind Employer Voluntary Affirmative Action Plan Guidance (Jackson Lewis Insight)

Article 

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission voted on June 30 to rescind its approximately 40-year-old interpretive guidance, Affirmative Action Appropriate Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 as Amended. It simultaneously rescinded the related EEOC Compliance Manual Section 607 on affirmative action. The action follows the agency’s May 2026 proposal to withdraw the guidance. 

EEOC Chair Andrea Lucas characterized the rescission as consistent with Title VII and Supreme Court decisions issued since the guidance was adopted in 1979. The agency stated that Title VII protects every individual equally and that the prior guidance, which addressed voluntary race, sex and national origin affirmative action measures, was no longer consistent with governing law. The Commission also determined that Compliance Manual Section 607 is now obsolete in light of the rescission and developments in Supreme Court and lower court case law. 

The now-repealed Guidelines had originally been published in 1979 under the EEOC authority to issue “a written interpretation and opinion” pursuant to 42 USC 2000e-12(b)(1). Although the EEOC has withdrawn its own interpretive guidance, the rescission neither amends Title VII nor overrules Supreme Court decisions. 

Employers should assess voluntary affirmative action and related employment practices in light of evolving agency enforcement positions and applicable federal, state and local law.