Webinar Recap: Employment Law Shifts: First 120 Days of Trump Administration

GovDocs’ Webinar Employment Law Shifts: First 120 Days of Trump Administration tackles several of the notable employment law changes initiated by President Trump’s Second Administration. As stated by Presenter Jana Bjorklund, GovDocs Senior Counsel and Director, the Trump Administration has been “wildly busy” over the last four months, and much of it has been directed towards employment law.  

In the webinar, Bjorklund identifies several key employment law shifts – including DEI, disparate impact liability, and federal contractor compliance – and discusses how these changes impact employers. 

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion 

There should be no surprise to employers that DEI has been a “hot button” since the start of Trump’s second term, as indicated by Bjorklund. Notably, she discusses two executive orders signed by President Trump earlier this year that had immediate impact to DEI: 

Executive Order 14151 – Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing

• • Directs Office of Management and Budget to terminate “discriminatory programs” programs including “illegal DEI” in federal government

Executive Order 14173 – Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity

• • Ends DEI practices promoting diversity and implementing race and sex-based affirmative action programs in federal government
  • Revokes E.O. 11246, and subsequent orders, stopping OFCCP enforcement 

Due to the rescinded executive orders, Bjorklund describes on the one hand a shift in enforcement by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ). And while these DEI executive orders are not specifically directed towards private employers, there is potential risk if using a protected characteristic as a factor for employment decisions. On the other hand, there are several legal challenges making their way through the court system claiming that these executive orders are vague, violate First Amendment free speech rights, exceed executive authority, and so on. 

So, what’s an employer to do? Bjorklund considers – “I think we are at the point where most companies value and understand the benefits of a diverse workforce and you can still have that.” The webinar provides several recommendations in handling these policy shifts, including a review of company DEI-related policies, programs, and training as well as ensuring that employment decisions are not based on race, sex, or other protected characteristics. Employers should also keep Employee Resource Groups open to everyone, focus on merit-based employment practices, and look out for reverse discrimination cases.  

Bjorklund finally suggests revisiting the original business reason for DEI by asking, “What was your mission? Where did it start? Is that still pertinent? Do you need to tweak it?”