Navigating the New EEOC Guidelines on Harassment

If your harassment policy hasn’t been revisited in a while, it’s officially behind the curve. In April 2024, the EEOC issued its updated “Enforcement Guidance on Harassment in the Workplace,” consolidating and replacing older guidance documents from the late 1980s and 1990s. The stated goal was to reflect modern workplaces: remote teams, messaging apps, social media spillover, and newer statutory protections.

But there’s an important wrinkle: in May 2025, a federal court vacated portions of the EEOC’s harassment guidance relating to the agency’s expanded interpretation of “sex” under Title VII, and the EEOC now labels/shades the vacated text on its website. That means employers need to treat the guidance as what it is: a highly influential enforcement roadmap, but not a clean “checklist” you can blindly adopt.

Below is what matters, what changed, and what you should do now.

What These “Guidelines” Really Are (And Why They Still Matter)

First, a reality check: EEOC guidance does not have the force of law and is not meant to bind the public; it’s the agency’s view of how existing laws apply.

That said, it still matters because:

• EEOC investigators and mediators use it as a framework when evaluating charges against you.
• Plaintiffs’ lawyers cite it as persuasive authority when arguing what “reasonable prevention” and “reasonable corrective action” should look like.
• Your ability to win early (or settle cheaply) often depends on whether your policies, training, and response processes look credible on paper and in practice.

What The Updated Guidance Emphasizes

A. Harassment isn’t confined to the physical workplace anymore

The guidance squarely addresses “virtual work environments.” Conduct conveyed through work systems (email, chat, videoconference platforms, intranets, official social media, etc.) can be “within the work environment.” Harassment can occur in group chats, video meetings, or even through what’s visible on camera.

More importantly for employers: even off-duty conduct (including on personal devices and personal social media) can contribute to a hostile work environment if it impacts the workplace—i.e., it gets brought into work, targets coworkers, causes workplace conflict, or otherwise affects the terms and conditions of employment.

Employer takeaway: “It happened off the clock” is not a complete defense if it bleeds into the workplace.

B. The guidance is extremely practical

The final guidance includes a large set of hypotheticals (over 70 examples) designed to show how the EEOC analyzes specific fact patterns. Investigators and lawyers will use these examples to benchmark whether your response was prompt, proportionate, and effective.

C. Liability rules employers can operationalize

The guidance summarizes a point many employers learn the hard way: the liability standard depends on who the harasser is and what the employer did once it had notice.

• If harassment results in a tangible employment action by a supervisor, liability can be automatic/vicarious.
• If it’s a hostile work environment without a tangible employment action, employers often fight about whether they exercised reasonable care and whether the employee used reporting mechanisms.
• For coworker or third-party harassment, liability typically turns on negligence: whether the employer failed to act reasonably once it knew or should have known.

Employer takeaway: The “investigation step” and “remedial action step” are not HR formalities. They’re future evidence.

The 2025 Court Decision: Why Part of the Guidance is Shaded

What this does NOT mean: It does not repeal Title VII. It does not eliminate all risk around harassment complaints involving sexual orientation or gender identity.

What it DOES mean: You should not treat every sentence in the EEOC’s 2024 guidance as “safe to adopt” as a definitive statement of what Title VII requires. Employer takeaway: Avoid policy language that is lifted verbatim from guidance sections now marked as vacated; rely on counsel to align your policy with binding law in your jurisdiction.

What Employers Should Do Now (A Compliance Playbook)

1. Update your anti-harassment policy so it actually fits 2025 workplaces

Your policy should be readable, usable, and realistic. Make sure it addresses:

• Remote/virtual harassment (video meetings, group chats)
• Harassment via electronic communications (work systems and impacted personal systems)
• Third-party harassment (customers, vendors, contractors)
• A strong anti-retaliation statement

2. Fix reporting channels so employees can bypass the problem person

Many harassment cases explode because the reporting structure is naïve. At minimum, employees need more than one option for reporting (HR, a second manager, a hotline, etc.).

3. Train managers like they’re part of the compliance system

Manager failure is the most expensive failure. They often ignore issues or “handle it informally.” Train them on how to recognize prohibited conduct, how to document, and most importantly, how to escalate.

4. Tighten your investigation protocol

An investigation doesn’t need to be perfect, but it must be defensible. A defensible protocol includes immediate intake, interim measures (safety), documented interviews, preservation of digital evidence (Slack/Teams), and documented findings.

5. Treat “off-duty” conduct as a risk issue

Your policy can (and usually should) prohibit harassment that affects work, even if it began off-site. If employees are targeted online and it spills into the workplace, you need a plan—fast.

6. Document corrective action and follow-up

Employers often stop at “we investigated.” That’s not the finish line. The finish line is: “We stopped it, we prevented recurrence, and we monitored.” If the same issue pops up again, the next claim is worse.