EEOC Proposes to Collect Pay Data and Hours from Employers

Executive Summary
Overview:   Proposed changes to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s EEO-1 report would have employers with at least 100 employees submitting all employees’ W-2 earnings data and actual hours worked beginning with the 2017 EEO-1 reporting cycle.

Coverage:  Employers, including federal contractors, with 100 or more employees would be required to submit data about pay and hours.

Effective Date: If the proposal is finalized, employers would submit pay and hours data as of the September 30, 2017 EEO-1 filing deadline.
Action Required:   We will keep clients informed of any new developments.  Contact your Human Resources Business Partner if you have any questions regarding these developments.

The Details

What will EEOC do with the pay data?

The EEOC states that the enforcement agencies will use the employer pay data to “assess complaints of discrimination, focus investigations, and identify employers with existing pay disparities that might warrant further investigation.” According to the EEOC, the agencies will develop software that allows investigators to conduct statistical analyses and compare particular employers’ pay disparities with aggregated “benchmark” data by industry and geography.


What data is collected on the current EEO-1?

The current EEO-1 directs certain federal contractors with 50 or more employees and other private employers with 100 or more employees to report annually, by September 30th, the number of individuals they employ by job category and by race, ethnicity, and sex.  The data include seven race and ethnicity categories and ten job categories, by sex.

·         The ten EEO-1 job categories are: Executive/Senior Level Officials and Managers; First/Mid Level Officials and Managers; Professionals; Technicians; Sales Workers; Administrative Support Workers; Craft Workers; Operatives; Laborers and Helpers; Service Workers.

·         The seven race and ethnicity groups are: Hispanic or Latino, White (Not Hispanic or Latino); Black or African American (Not Hispanic or Latino); Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander (Not Hispanic or Latino); Asian (Not Hispanic or Latino); American Indian or Alaska Native (Not Hispanic or Latino); and Two or More Races (Not Hispanic or Latino).

What type of pay data would impacted employers be required to collect and report?

The proposal requires employers to identify and report the number of employees who fall into each of 12 “pay bands” based on W-2 earnings within each of the 10 EEO-1 categories. For each employee, employers must identify the applicable EEO-1 category and pay band.

Which employers would be required to submit data about pay and hours on the proposed EEO-1?

·         Employers, including federal contractors, with 100 or more employees would submit data about pay and hours;

·         Federal contractors with 50-99 employees would not report pay or hours data but would continue to report ethnicity, race, and sex by job category;

·         Consistent with current practice, employers with 1-99 employees and federal contractors with 1-49 employees would not be required to file the EEO-1 report.

By what date would impacted employers submit pay data and hours for the first time?

Employers would submit pay and hours data as of the September 30, 2017 EEO-1 filing deadline.

As always, please contact your Human Resources Business partner if you have questions.