On January 22, 2026, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission voted 2–1 to rescind its 2024 Enforcement Guidance on Harassment in the Workplace. The agency announced the decision the following day. The action withdrew an EEOC guidance document; it did not amend Title VII, other federal employment-discrimination statutes, the existing sexual-harassment regulation, or Supreme Court precedent.
The short version: the 2024 guidance is no longer current EEOC guidance. Federal protections against unlawful discrimination, harassment, and retaliation did not disappear because it was rescinded. Whether a particular workplace situation is covered still depends on the governing law and facts.What changed
The EEOC’s 2024 guidance had collected the Commission’s then-current positions on workplace harassment. The 2026 vote rescinded that document in full. It is therefore not appropriate to use the 2024 guidance as a current agency statement of the law.
The event should not be described as a repeal of Title VII or as a new federal regulation. The EEOC said in its rescission announcement that federal laws against discrimination, harassment, and retaliation, along with Supreme Court precedent interpreting those laws, remain in place.
What did not change
Title VII prohibits specified covered employers from discriminating in compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment because of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. Its anti-retaliation provision prohibits discrimination because an individual opposed a practice made unlawful by Title VII or made a charge, testified, assisted, or participated in a Title VII proceeding.
Federal regulations and current agency materials describe harassment as a fact-specific question. Unwelcome conduct can be unlawful when enduring it is a condition of employment or when it is sufficiently severe or pervasive to create an intimidating, hostile, or abusive work environment for a reasonable person. Petty slights, annoyances, and isolated incidents ordinarily do not meet that standard unless extremely serious. That description does not determine whether any particular event violates the law.
Current agency resources have limits too
As of this article’s review date, the EEOC’s current harassment page still identifies sex-based harassment as including harassment based on sexual orientation, transgender status, or pregnancy. That webpage also states that it is under review and will be revised. Readers should treat a current agency page as a helpful source of process information, not as a complete resolution of every fact pattern or jurisdictional question.
A careful note on sex, sexual orientation, and transgender status
The debate over the former guidance included topics such as access to sex-segregated facilities and names or pronouns. In 2025, the EEOC announced that a federal court had vacated portions of the former guidance nationwide. That announcement concerned portions of the guidance, not a repeal of federal harassment protections. The Commission’s full rescission came later in 2026.
In Bostock v. Clayton County, the Supreme Court held that firing an individual merely for being gay or transgender violates Title VII. The decision addressed employment discharge. It did not itself decide every workplace question involving harassment, facilities, dress, names, pronouns, or religious-liberty doctrines. Those fact patterns require consideration of the applicable law and facts.
Why the guidance was rescinded
The Commission’s January 2026 meeting record reflects different views among the Commissioners. Supporters of rescission and the Commissioner who opposed it offered differing legal and policy rationales. Those views are part of the official meeting record; they are not a substitute for statutory text or a court decision that resolves every issue formerly discussed in the guidance.
What the change may mean in practice
Readers should not rely on the rescinded 2024 document as current EEOC guidance. The rules that may apply to a workplace concern continue to depend on the protected basis, the people involved, the employer, the worker’s status, the available evidence, location, and timing.
Employer responsibility can also involve different frameworks. Current EEOC material distinguishes harassment by a supervisor that results in a negative employment action, other supervisor hostile-environment questions, and conduct by coworkers or certain nonemployees. This overview cannot determine which framework applies to a particular workplace.
If you are concerned about conduct at work
You may review the current workplace policy to understand the channels it offers for raising a concern. You may also keep a personal factual chronology of dates, events, people involved, and possible witnesses. Use only information you are authorized to access and keep. Do not make unauthorized recordings; access, copy, download, remove, alter, or share employer, coworker, customer, medical, privileged, trade-secret, or other protected workplace material.
Internal workplace procedures and external agency processes are distinct. Time limits and procedures can vary by the law, employer type, location, and facts; federal employees and applicants use a different EEO process from many other workers. Review current official agency information promptly if timing may matter. This page does not calculate a deadline or select a process for any reader.
For an individual assessment of how federal, state, or local employment rules may apply, you may contact The Spiggle Law Firm.
Official sources and update note
This article was reviewed September 15, 2026. Laws, court decisions, and agency webpages can change.