Affirmative action for federal contractors in 2026: what is still required, and what a well-run outreach program looks like

Few areas of employment law changed as much in the last two years as affirmative action for federal contractors. Many employers now assume the obligations are gone. Some are. The ones that remain are worth doing well, and doing them well has nothing to do with lowering a hiring standard.

My view is simple. A good affirmative action program never changes a merit-based hiring policy. It is entirely about fishing in more ponds and developing talent. The company hires the best person for the job, and works hard to make sure the best people know about the job and are ready for it.

What changed

• Executive Order 11246 is gone. Executive Order 14173 revoked it in January 2025. The Department of Labor’s final rule rescinding its implementing regulations, including the race- and sex-based written affirmative action programs and the placement goals that went with them, takes effect October 26, 2026.
• Section 503 was narrowed. As of September 21, 2026, contractors no longer invite applicants and employees to self-identify as having a disability, Form CC-305 is retired, and the 7 percent disability utilization goal is gone.
• VEVRAA is largely unchanged. The obligations for protected veterans remain, with technical updates.
• Scrutiny of preferences increased. A March 2026 executive order directs agencies to add a contract clause prohibiting “racially discriminatory DEI activities” and treating compliance as material to payment, which raises False Claims Act exposure. And in 2025 the Supreme Court held unanimously in Ames that Title VII protects every employee under the same standard.

What is still required

The veterans and disability obligations come from statutes, the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act and Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act, not from the revoked executive order. For covered contractors, generally those with 50 or more employees and a federal contract or subcontract above the current dollar threshold, that still means:

• Written affirmative action programs for protected veterans and for individuals with disabilities, updated every year.
• Outreach and recruitment efforts, with an annual written assessment of whether they worked.
• Listing job openings with the state employment service. In Texas, that is the Texas Workforce Commission’s job system, WorkInTexas.com.
• Inviting applicants to self-identify as protected veterans, before and after an offer.
• Measuring veteran hiring against the national benchmark, most recently about 5 percent. It is a yardstick, not a quota. Falling short is not a violation, but it is a reason to look harder at outreach.
• The equal opportunity clause in subcontracts and purchase orders, the required notices, the annual VETS-4212 report, and records kept for three years.
• Accommodation procedures and a review of physical and mental job qualifications, so requirements are tied to the job.

Coverage thresholds, deadlines, and some details differ between the two programs and have been adjusted for inflation, so confirm them for your contracts.

Merit stays. The funnel gets wider.

Here is the line a well-run program never crosses: the selection decision is made on the same job-related criteria for everyone. No preferences, no tie-breakers, no demographic requirements for a slate, no program that is closed to anyone because of a protected trait. Those are the practices that create legal risk under Title VII and the new contract clause.

Everything before the decision is fair game for improvement. If a company only recruits from the two places it has always recruited from, it will keep hiring the same profile of candidate and miss qualified people who never saw the posting. Fishing in more ponds is not a compromise on quality. It is how you find more quality.

What a well-run outreach program looks like

1. Know where your hires come from

Track the source of every applicant and every hire. Most companies discover that a handful of channels produce nearly all their applicants, and that some paid channels produce almost none of their hires. That data is the base of the annual assessment the rules require, and it is just good recruiting.

2. Add ponds that fit your jobs

Central Texas has deep pools of talent that many employers never touch:

• Veterans and transitioning service members. Fort Cavazos in Killeen is about an hour north of Leander. Build relationships with its transition programs, the Department of Defense SkillBridge program, the Texas Veterans Commission, and student veteran groups at local colleges.
• People with disabilities. Texas Workforce Solutions Vocational Rehabilitation Services works directly with employers to place qualified candidates, and local independent living centers can help.
• Community colleges, trade schools, and apprenticeships. Austin Community College and registered apprenticeship programs train people for exactly the skilled roles that are hardest to fill.
• Workforce boards. The local Workforce Solutions boards connect employers with job seekers and training funds.

A relationship beats a posting. One contact at a transition office who knows your company and your jobs is worth more than a hundred automated listings.

3. Open the door wider

Look at the job requirements themselves. A degree requirement for a job that does not need one, or a physical requirement that is not an essential function, screens out qualified people for no business reason. Accurate job descriptions, an accessible application process, and a clear accommodation statement widen the pool without lowering the bar.

4. Develop the talent you have

Internships, apprenticeships, mentoring, internal job postings, and training paths open to every employee build the bench for the next opening. Developing people is the half of affirmative action that most programs forget, and it is the half that pays back fastest.

5. Keep selection structured and the same for everyone

Use structured interviews, the same questions and scoring for every candidate, and decision-makers trained to evaluate job-related criteria only. A consistent process protects the company in an EEOC charge and produces better hires.

6. Measure, adjust, and write it down

Once a year, look at which outreach produced qualified applicants and hires, drop what did not work, and try something new. Write the assessment down, because the rules require it and because it is the record that shows the program is real.

A quick self-check

Building outreach that finds more qualified people, and the talent programs that develop them, is the heart of what Crawford Law does for employers. I write the programs, set up the relationships, train recruiters and hiring managers, and prepare the annual assessments. See EEO and outreach services.