In September 2016, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) released a new version of the EEO-1 reporting form. The new form, which would require employers to supply employee pay and hours data, was to go into effect in March 2018 for reporting year 2017. The EEOC indicated that the inclusion of pay data would facilitate the agency’s investigations into gender, race, and ethnicity pay discrimination.
However, on August 29, 2017, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued a memorandum prohibiting the EEOC from requiring employers to use the new EEO-1 form until the form undergoes a review.
How does this impact 2017 EEO-1 reporting requirements?
As a result of the OMB’s memorandum, 2017 EEO-1 reporting will be completed using the prior version of the form. This means that employers will not be required to include summary pay and hours of work information as part of 2017 reporting, and will instead include only the previously-requested data categorized by race/ethnicity, gender, and job category. Importantly, the OMB’s prohibition on use of the new form does not change the EEOC’s timeline for 2017 reporting. In other words, 2017 EEO-1 reporting will be due by March 31, 2018, not September 30, 2017.
What action should employers take?
Employers should be aware of the following:
- Private employers with 100 or more employees, and federal contractors and subcontractors with 50 or more employees, are required to complete the annual EEO-1 report.
- The report requires employers to provide the EEOC with information related to employee race/ethnicity, gender, and job category.
- 2017 EEO-1 reporting will continue to use the same form that was used in prior reporting years, and will not require additional data on summary pay and hours worked.
- The deadline for 2017 EEO-1 reporting is March 31, 2018.
- The deadline for VETS-4212 federal contractor reporting (formerly VETS-100) is unchanged; the report must be submitted by September 30, 2017.
Direction regarding requirements that may impact future reporting years will be forthcoming from the EEOC and OMB.
