On August 29, 2017, the Office of Management and Budget (“OMB”) directed the EEOC to suspend its implementation of its new EEO-1 Reporting guidelines. During the Obama Administration, the EEOC revised its EEO-1 Reporting guidelines to require employers with over 100 employees to submit hours worked and pay data in addition to the standard employment data regarding race/ethnicity, gender and job category. The purpose of the revision was to aid the EEOC in its efforts to initiate targeted discrimination investigations. However, OMB halted the implementation of the revised EEO-1 Reporting Guidelines citing concerns over the “lack of practical utility” of the information, the “unnecessary burden” it imposes, and concerns that the revised guidelines do not “adequately address privacy and confidentiality issues.”
For now, employers are permitted to use previously approved EEO-1 forms for Fiscal Year 2017 which runs from October 1, 2016 through September 30, 2017. This development is welcome news to employers given the significant burdens the revised guidelines were likely to impose with respect to EEO-1 data collection. The EEO-1 reports remain due by March 31, 2018. If you have any questions about EEO-1 Reports, please contact a member of Stock and Leader’s Employment Group.