DCI Consulting Blog

BLOG OVERVIEW: DOL's new Section 503 rule rescinds the requirement to invite applicants and employees to self-identify, concluding that pre-offer disability inquiries conflict with the ADA, but stops short of prohibiting the practice, telling...

BLOG OVERVIEW: DOJ's $21.5 million Deloitte settlement, announced August 25, 2026, is the second False Claims Act resolution this year built on the theory that a federal contractor's equal opportunity certification can convert discrimination...

By Zhuang Liu

BLOG OVERVIEW: The EU Pay Transparency Directive sets no fine levels of its own, leaving those to the 27 member states, and the resulting national regimes vary enormously. Many member states are folding pay transparency violations into...

By Don Lustenberger

BLOG OVERVIEW: The EU Pay Transparency Directive requires employers to group workers into categories performing the same work or work of equal value, formed in a non-arbitrary manner on objective, gender-neutral criteria....

A Note from DCI: Compliance obligations for federal contractors, grant recipients, and employers have been rewritten faster than most organizations can absorb. FedAssure™ exists because our clients needed a defensible way to assess and document...

By Joanna Colosimo and Fred Satterwhite

BLOG OVERVIEW: On July 21, 2026, the EEOC voted 2-1 to advance a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that would rescind the EEO-1 and its related EEO reports. The vote authorizes the Commission to publish the...

By Dave Sharrer

BLOG OVERVIEW: In 2025–2026, the Illinois Department of Labor (IDOL) issued several updates to the Equal Pay Registration Certificate (EPRC) program. Key changes include adding a "Middle Eastern or North African" (MENA) demographic...

By Zhuang Liu

BLOG OVERVIEW: Italy has officially transposed the EU Pay Transparency Directive through Legislative Decree No. 96/2026, effective June 7, 2026. Employers must now base pay and classification systems on objective, gender-neutral...

By Murray Simpson, Ph.D.

BLOG OVERVIEW: Justifying a gender pay gap of at least 5% under the EU Pay Transparency Directive means identifying objective, gender-neutral factors that explain the gap and confirming that it falls below the 5% threshold...

By Fred Satterwhite

The collection of disability status from applicants and employees by federal contractors has been extended for another three years. On July 16, 2026, the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) approved, without...

By Cassie Alfheim and Fred Satterwhite

BLOG OVERVIEW: On June 26, 2026, EEOC announced a $2.8 million sex discrimination settlement with LeachGarner, a Berkshire Hathaway metallurgical company, over allegations that it segregated jobs by sex and...

By Fred Satterwhite

BLOG OVERVIEW: Federal regulators have extended approval for employers to continue collecting applicant race, ethnicity, and sex self-identification data under the Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures (UGESP)...