It prohibits discrimination in the workplace based on race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age, disability, and marital or familial status.

[5] The version of the bill reported out of the House Committee on Education and Labor would have decreased the threshold to eight employees; however, some senators, including Norris Cotton (R-NH), Paul Fannin (R-AZ), and John C. Stennis (D-MS), expressed concern for the impact on small businesses.

[9] A 1998 study based on Current Population Survey data found that there were "large shifts in the employment and pay practices of the industries most affected" by the 1972 Act, and concluded that it had "a positive impact" on African Americans' labor market status.

The 60-year-old executive order had merely required federal contractors to implement affirmative action plans to engage with the government.

[11][12] Since the presidential directive aimed to ensure equal employment opportunity, several media outlets briefly and mistakenly reported it as a repeal of the 1972 Act.