Under a proposed rule, federal employees who file discrimination complaints against their agencies would no longer be guaranteed a hearing with an EEOC administrative judge.
September 8, 2026
• 3 min read
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently voted to advance a proposed rule that would transform the process federal employees undergo when filing discrimination complaints against the agencies they work for.
Under the proposed changes, federal employees wouldn’t have the right to join class-action complaints, unless they wanted to file such a case in federal court.
Additionally, the EEOC would no longer provide mandatory counseling to complainants, which is intended to inform them of their rights under EEO laws, and sometimes pursue informal resolutions. In lieu of mandatory counseling, federal employees would be asked to file a complaint to the EEOC within 60 days of an alleged discriminatory incident occurring. They would no longer be guaranteed a hearing with an EEOC administrative judge, however.
The proposed rule would also limit parties’ ability to engage in discovery, which up until now has allowed both sides involved in a case to gather and exchange information relevant to it.
Why EEOC leaders want to push through this rule. The two EEOC members who voted to move this rule forward argued it’s necessary in order to make the process of resolving discrimination cases more efficient.
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