On March 4, a Washington, D.C., federal judge ordered the EEOC to reinstate the EEO-1 form's pay-data reporting provisions, which were suspended in 2017 by the Trump administration. The controversial provisions require covered employers to report pay information by race, ethnicity, and sex.  Importantly, the federal judge's mandate's effective date was not made clear by the March 4 Order

By way of background, businesses with 100 or more employees, and federal contractors with 50 or more employees, are required to submit Employer Information Reports (EEO-1 reports) to the EEOC.  The EEO-1 identifies on an annual basis the number of employees by job category, race, sex, and ethnicity.

In 2016, the EEOC announced changes to require employers to include pay data and the number of hours worked for their workforces in their EEO-1 reports.  The stated purpose for the change was to identify pay gaps and investigate pay discrimination practices.

The Office of Management and Budget stayed the expanded collection in 2017 citing concerns with the reporting requirements.  Specifically, it identified that "some aspects of the revised collection of information lack practical utility, are unnecessarily burdensome, and do not adequately address privacy and confidentiality issues." But that explanation doesn't pass muster, the federal judge said in her March 4 order.

Despite this March 4 Order, the EEOC unveiled its 2019 EEO-1 reporting system that failed to include any request for such pay data on March 18.  The deadline to submit EEO-1 data has been extended until May 31, 2019.  In a Statement on the EEOC's website posted on March 18, the EEOC said, "The EEOC is working diligently on next steps in the wake of the court's order" that "vacated the OMB stay on collection of Component 2 EEO-1 pay data. The EEOC will provide further information as soon as possible."

However, just this past Wednesday, March 19, the same federal judge that resurrected the requirement that employers turn over pay data ordered that the EEOC has until April 3 to say how it will implement her order. 

It appears as though employers will not have to provide information about their employees' 2018 compensation for the time being - although employers should still be prepared for this to change at a moment's notice.  

Employers should review their internal reporting systems to ensure they can produce the pay data that they may be required to report.  Remember - we are here to help!

Back to News & Resources