EEOC Announces Second Opportunity for Public to Submit Comments on Proposal to Collect Pay Data

Public Can Submit Comments on Proposed Update of EEO-1 Report Through August 15, 2016

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) today announced the publication of its revised proposal to collect pay data through the Employer Information Report (EEO-1), a longstanding joint information collection of EEOC and the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP). The proposed revision would include collecting summary pay data from employers, including federal contractors, with 100 or more employees. The pay data will assist the agencies in identifying possible pay discrimination and assist employers in promoting equal pay in their workplaces.

For over 50 years, employers have completed the EEO-1 form to provide EEOC and OFCCP with workforce data by race, ethnicity, sex and job category. This proposal would add summary data reported by pay ranges and hours worked. Under the updated proposal, the report on 2017 employment information would be due by March 31, 2018. The revised proposal may be reviewed on the Federal Register website and will be published on July 14, 2016. Members of the public will have 30 days from that date - until Aug. 15, 2016 - to submit written comments to the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB), which approves federal information collections.

This notice follows an initial public comment period from Feb. 1, 2016 through April 1, 2016 and a public hearing held at EEOC headquarters on March 16, 2016. EEOC considered the oral and written testimony of those witnesses and over 300 public comments from individual members of the public, employers, employer associations, members of Congress, civil rights groups, women's organizations, labor unions, academics, industry groups, law firms and human resources organizations and professionals. EEOC also considered academic literature on compensation practices and on discrimination, as well as studies about trends in compensation and collecting pay information.

EEOC adopted specific suggestions made by commenters, such as moving the due date for the EEO-1 survey from Sept. 30, 2017 to March 31, 2018, to simplify employer reporting by allowing employers to use existing W-2 pay reports, which are calculated based on the calendar year.

"More than 50 years after pay discrimination became illegal, it remains a persistent problem for too many Americans," said EEOC Chair Jenny R. Yang. "Collecting pay data is a significant step forward in addressing discriminatory pay practices. This information will assist employers in evaluating their pay practices to prevent pay discrimination and strengthen enforcement of our federal anti-discrimination laws."

U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez added, "Better data means better policy and less pay disparity. As much as the workplace has changed for the better in the last half century, there are important steps that we can and must take to ensure an end to employment discrimination."

EEOC enforces federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination, including the Equal Pay Act of 1963 and the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibit discrimination based on pay. More information about the proposed revisions to the EEO-1 report, including the proposed form, a Fact Sheet for Small Business and a question-and-answer document are available on EEOC's website at https://www.eeoc.gov/employers/eeo1survey/2016_eeo-1_proposed_changes_revised.cfm.