The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recovered $660 million for 17,680 discrimination victims during the previous fiscal year, including the largest pre-litigation enforcement monetary recovery in the history of the EEOC. The Department of Labor (DOL) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) signed a memorandum of understanding designed to advance artificial intelligence (AI) workforce development. A House Subcommittee held a hearing to discuss the economic impact of AI on workers and employers. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) updated its National Emphasis Program (NEP) designed to protect workers from outdoor and indoor heat-related hazards.
EEOC Releases Performance Data – The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued a report indicating that during fiscal year 2025, which ended on September 30, 2025, it recovered $660 million for 17,680 victims of employment discrimination. This is the third highest monetary recovery in recent history according to the EEOC. Of the total, $528 million was secured for 13,351 victims of employment discrimination in the private sector and state and local government workplaces through the EEOC’s pre-litigation enforcement process, consisting of mediation, conciliation, and settlements. This is the highest total in the history of the EEOC. There was $27 million recovered for 2,505 individuals through litigation and $104.6 million for 1,824 federal employees and applicants.
EEOC Chair Andrea Lucas stated, “These record-breaking recoveries are the result of an Administration committed to upholding our nation’s civil rights laws through colorblind, merit-based, and evenhanded enforcement. This EEOC is proud to deliver on that commitment and will continue to fight discrimination wherever it occurs.”
The EEOC reported that it received nearly 270,000 inquiries, which was an increase of almost 9% from the previous fiscal year, processed 88,201 new discrimination charges, resolved 90,743 discrimination charges, and reduced the private sector charge inventory by 4% to 49,807.
DOL/NSF Sign Agreement to Advance AI Workforce Development – The Department of Labor (DOL) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to advance workforce development efforts related to artificial intelligence (AI). Potential activities to be undertaken as part of the MOU include:
Previously, the Trump Administration announced a comprehensive national legislative framework designed to address the top policy issues presented by AI. Educating Americans and developing an AI-ready workforce are among the top policy issues. The Administration encouraged the Congress to “further workforce development and skills training programs, expanding opportunities across sectors and creating new jobs in an AI-powered economy.”
Hearing Held on AI’s Impact on Workers and Employers – The Workforce Protections Subcommittee of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce held a hearing to examine “Building an AI-Ready America: Understanding AI’s Economic Impact on Workers and Employers.” Subcommittee Chairman Ryan Mackenzie (R-PA) stated, “With policies that strike the right balance between innovation and accountability, the United States can build a strong and positive future for American workers and employers.”
Chatrane Birbal, Senior Vice President, Public Policy & Government Relations, CHRO Association testified that in human resources, “AI is most effective when it augments—rather than replaces—human judgment and engagement.” She noted that employers are using AI in several areas of HR including hiring, learning and development, self-service HR functions, and compensation management. She observed that the United States has a legal framework concerning workplace conduct and employee protections. She cautioned that “introducing a separate set of AI-specific workplace statutes could create confusion, impose duplicative requirements, and produce unintended consequences…” She recommended that Congress clarify how current laws apply to AI and take a “federal, principles-based approach to AI governance, and support innovation through collaboration between the public and private sectors.”
Matthew Paul Gizzo, Shareholder, the law firm of Ogletree, Deakins, urged Congress to “take a careful, deliberate approach to any regulation of AI in the workforce, particularly in the wage and hour context, so as not to stifle innovation or place unnecessary burdens on employers who are striving, in good faith, to comply with the law, even when doing so is increasingly challenging for the most sophisticated employers.” He believes that AI offers tools that will allow employers to comply with wage and hour laws more accurately, efficiently, and consistently. He cited several areas where AI products can transform wage and hour compliance including classification analysis, automated time tracking and scheduling, payroll compliance, and overtime calculation, generating employment documents and notices, recordkeeping and audit readiness, and multi-jurisdictional compliance monitoring. He urged the Subcommittee to
“pursue a balanced approach that promotes innovation, reduces compliance burdens, and ensures that the benefits of AI are shared by employers and employees alike.”
OSHA Updates Heat Hazards Program – The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) updated its National Emphasis Program (NEP) designed to protect workers from outdoor and indoor heat-related hazards. OSHA will devote its resources on inspections and outreach to those industries and workplaces where heat hazard risks are most likely to occur. According to OSHA, “The goal of this NEP is to reduce or eliminate worker exposures to heat-related hazards that result in illnesses, injuries, and deaths, by targeting industries and worksites, including worksites with radiant heat sources, where employees are exposed to heat-related hazards and have not been provided adequate protection that includes cool water, rest, cool areas, training, and acclimatization.”
OSHA noted that heat illness is a serious hazard for workers in general industry, construction, maritime, and agriculture industries resulting in injuries and fatalities that are preventable. The NEP will result in prioritizing inspections in 55 high-risk industries. The NEP became effective immediately and will remain in place for five years.
Bipartisan legislation (H.R. 4443, S. 2298) has been introduced and is designed to protect the safety and health of workers who are exposed to dangerous heat conditions. The Asuncion Valdivia Heat Illness, Injury, and Fatality Prevention Act would, according to its sponsors, require OSHA to establish an enforceable federal standard to protect workers “in high-heat environments with common sense measures like paid breaks in cool spaces, access to water, limitations on time exposed to heat, and emergency response for workers with heat-related illness.” The legislation has been referred to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce and the Senate Committee on Labor, Health, Education, and Pensions.
Neil Reichenberg is the former executive director of the International Public Management Association for Human Resources. He is an attorney, a frequent writer and speaker on public policy and human resource issues, and an adjunct faculty member at George Mason University. For questions or additional information, contact Reichenberg at [email protected].