This month, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission extended the 2022 EEO-1 Component 1 or EEO-1 reporting deadline to a tentative date in Fall 2023. The EEOC previously announced it would begin accepting EEO-1 reports in mid-July. However, this deadline now extends past the summer. Thus, employers have a little more time to prepare for filing ahead of an official deadline. The EEOC uses the annual report to identify employment patterns, worker representation, and to inform enforcement priorities. In June 2023, the EEOC began enforcing the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) and released its updated Know Your Rights: Workplace Discrimination is Illegal poster, which includes a section reflecting protections for pregnant workers.
Overview of Mandatory EEO-1 Reporting
Federal law requires covered employers to conduct EEO-1 reporting on specific equal employment opportunity data annually. Specifically, the required reporting falls under section 709(c) of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. EEO-1 reporting requirements apply to private employers with 100 or more employees and federal contractors with 50 or more employees. The EEOC uses the report to collect demographic workforce data, including:
- race or ethnicity,
- sex, and
- job categories.
In other words, covered employees use EEO-1 reporting to disclose a headcount of their employees to determine race, ethnicity, and gender-based statistics according to job type. Overall, the EEOC uses EEO-1 reporting data to investigate charges of employment discrimination of protected classes. It also provides information about the employment status of minorities and women. Data from the report remains confidential. The EEOC uses the data to publish aggregated statistics without anything that could reveal an employer’s personal information.
Meeting the EEO-1 Reporting Deadline
As the EEOC announced its tentative Fall 2023 deadline, employers should prepare now to meet it. EEO-1 reporting requires covered employers to first gather the relevant employee data to complete the report. Required data include the following:
- a full headcount of all full and part-time employees during the specific workforce snapshot pay period selected by an employer;
- the sex, race, and ethnicity of all employees in the report;
- the job categories of all reported employees;
- an Employer Identification Number (EIN); and
- a Data Universal Number System (DUNS) number (if a federal contractor).
Employees may self-identify their gender and race/ethnicity for EEO-1 reporting purposes. However, if employees do not wish to self-identify, employers may either conduct a visual identification of race and ethnicity or review reliable employment documents, except for Forms I-9. Once the EEOC’s 2022 EEO-1 portal opens, employers will typically have only four to six weeks to comply before the deadline. Therefore, it is prudent for employers to begin gathering relevant data as soon as possible.