The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently announced a special “failure to file” extension to their EEO-1 Component 1 Report submission deadline. Though the main deadline of May 17 remains in place, the additional brief extension allows late filers some leniency. Employers will need to make the deadline to remain compliant with EEO-1 Component 1 Report obligations. The EEOC continuously looks for ways to improve and expand reporting and data collection. Earlier this year, the EEOC discontinued EEO-1 Type 6 Establishment List Reports, eliminating redundancy and improving data accuracy.
Overview of EEO-1 Component 1 Data Collection
An EEO-1 Component 1 Report is a mandatory annual data collection for eligible employers. Employers are required to file the report under section 709(c) of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Chiefly, the report applies to private employers with 100 or more employees and federal contractors with 50 or more employees. In brief, the EEOC uses the report to collect demographic workforce data including:
- race or ethnicity,
- sex, and
- job categories.
The EEOC uses EEO-1 Component 1 Report data to investigate charges of employment discrimination of protected classes. In addition, it provides information about the employment status of minorities and women. Data from the report remains confidential. In fact, the EEOC uses the data to only publish aggregated statistics, without anything that could reveal an employer’s personal information. The official deadline for submitting the 2021 EEO-1 Component 1 Report is Tuesday, May 17th, 2022.
Special Extension “Failure to File” Phase
After the EEOC’s official deadline for EEO-1 Component 1 Report submission, the process will enter a special “failure to file” phase. This will be a brief extension to the published deadline for submission. In brief, it will give late filers, who failed to meet the actual deadline, an official notice of failure to file. Next, the notice will direct them to submit and certify their EEO-1 Report as soon as possible. For all “failure to file” employers, the special extended deadline to submit and certify is Tuesday, June 21st, 2022.
Immediately after the June 21st, 2022, deadline, the EEOC will no longer accept 2021 EEO-1 Component 1 Reports. Eligible filers will be out of compliance with their mandatory EEO-1 reporting obligations at that time.
Additional Information
In order to remain compliant with the law, prudent employers should submit and certify 2021 EEO-1 Component 1 Reports sooner than later. Allow enough time to, ideally, make the published deadline with the EEOC. Otherwise, submit no later than the “failure to file” extended deadline of June 21 to avoid non-compliance. Eligible filers may visit the EEO-1 Component 1 website to access the online filing system. Filers may also find new updates and helpful resources there.