DOL Rescinds WIOA Outreach Mandate, Signals Narrower View of Nondiscrimination

June 23, 2026

What's New

The Department of Labor (DOL) has rescinded a regulation that required recipients of Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) funds to conduct affirmative outreach to demographic groups. The Department concluded that it lacked statutory authority to mandate such outreach and that nondiscrimination laws do not require proactive efforts to expand participation based on protected characteristics.

What It Means

The Department draws a sharp distinction between nondiscrimination, defined as avoiding intentional disparate treatment, and affirmative outreach, which it treats as a separate, voluntary activity.

At the same time, the Department expresses concern that government-mandated outreach tied to protected characteristics may raise constitutional issues by requiring race- or sex-conscious decision making.

Importantly, the Department does not discourage outreach. It says voluntary outreach may help “promote inclusivity” and “raise awareness” of WIOA services, but leaves decisions about whether and how to conduct such outreach to recipients rather than treating it as a legal mandate.

What You Should Do

This rule is best understood as a policy signal about how DOL is likely to approach nondiscrimination and outreach concepts going forward. While the rule has no direct impact beyond WIOA recipients, it may be useful to revisit how outreach efforts are framed internally and ensure they are designed with clear objectives and appropriate legal guardrails.

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