COMMISSION APPROVES REVISIONS TO EEO-1 REPORT

New Survey Format for Employers Would Be Effective in 2007 Reporting Cycle

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) today voted 3-1 to approve final proposed revisions to the Employer Information Report, also known as the EEO-1 Report, which would be effective for the 2007 reporting cycle.  The EEO-1 report is the principal reporting form by which certain employers provide the federal government with a count of their workforces by ethnicity, race and gender, divided into job categories.

"The proposal approved today modernizes the EEO-1 Report so that it continues to be relevant and have value, while minimizing the reporting burden," said EEOC Chair Cari M. Dominguez, noting that the report has not been significantly revised since 1966. 

Prior to today's meeting, the Commission consulted with a broad range of stakeholders and held extensive discussions with other federal agencies - including the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP).  In June 2003, the Commission published a notice of proposed revisions to the EEO-1 Report in the Federal Register, received and considered public comments, and held a public hearing on the topic in October 2003.  The final proposal approved today incorporates some of the recommendations received by the Commission during the past two years.

The final proposed changes to the EEO-1 Report's race and ethnic categories include:

 
• Adding a new category titled "Two or more races not Hispanic or Latino";
• Separating "Asians" from "Pacific Islanders";
• Adding a new category titled "Asians not Hispanic or Latino";
• Adding a new category titled "Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander not Hispanic or Latino";
• Extending the EEO-1 data collection by race and ethnicity to the State of Hawaii; and
• Strongly endorsing self-identification of race and ethnic categories, as opposed to visual identification by employers.

The final proposed changes to the EEO-1 Report's job categories include:

• Dividing "Officials and Managers" into two levels based on responsibility and influence within the organization:  "Executive/Senior Level Officials and Managers" and "First/Mid-Level Official and Managers"; and
• Moving non-managerial business and financial occupations from the "Officials and Managers" category to the "Professionals" category.

A notice about the revisions to the EEO-1 Report will be published shortly in the Federal Register, and the public will have 30 days to submit comments to OMB on the final proposal.  OMB can approve a final EEO-1 after considering the public comments -- at which time the Commission will post on its web site the final EEO-1, with valid OMB number, along with the revised Instruction Booklet.

EEO-1 reports are submitted annually to the Joint Reporting Committee for the use of the EEOC and OFCCP.  The survey must be filed annually by employers with 100 or more employees, or employers with federal government contracts of $50,000 or more and 50 or more employees.  The survey includes data on the size of employer establishments, the existence of other establishments within the company, the locations of the company's establishments, the industry of each company establishment, and the metropolitan area of the establishment.  Further information about the EEO-1 Report, including questions and answers on the final proposed revisions, is available on the agency's web site at www.eeoc.gov.

In other EEOC business today, the Commission heard reports and compelling first-hand accounts from staff on the agency's operations in New Orleans and the Gulf Region in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.  Devastation to the area rendered the New Orleans District Office temporarily inoperable -- however, many employees continued to work from remote locations, or other EEOC field offices.  The office plans to reopen Nov. 29 at 1555 Poydras Street in the city's central business district, a few blocks away from its prior location at 701 Loyola Ave. near the Louisiana Super Dome and City Hall.

Keith Hill, Acting Director of the New Orleans office, said: "The response by the agency in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina was extraordinary."  Among these actions were: locating and assisting employees in New Orleans; coordinating an internal Katrina Task Force to address operational and administrative issues; posting comprehensive information on the agency's public web site for charging parties, stakeholders, and agency staff; sending EEOC volunteers to the Gulf Region to assist the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) with civil rights issues and outreach to various local communities; and establishing an internal program called  "EEOC CARES" (Co-workers Aiding Recovery through Encouragement and Support).

The EEOC is the federal government agency responsible for enforcing the nation's anti-discrimination laws in the workplace based on race, color, sex, religion, national origin, age and disability.  Additional information about the agency is available on its web site at www.eeoc.gov.