As a reminder, employers with 100 or more employees and most federal contractors with 50 or more employees are required to submit an EEO-1 Report annually.
If EEO-1 reporting applies to your company, you may recall that due to the recent partial government shutdown, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has delayed the opening of the 2018 EEO-1 submission period until March 18th. It has also extended the deadline to file the report to May 31, 2019.
Historically, the EEO-1 Report has required covered employers to submit employment data by race, ethnicity, and sex. In 2016 the EEOC announced, in a step toward the promise of equal pay, that the EEO-1 Report would also require summary pay data collections. However, in 2017, under new administration, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) placed a stay on this pay data reporting requirement.
Soon after this stay, the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC) and the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement filed a lawsuit against OMB. In short, the suit stated that OMB unlawfully interfered with the EEOC’s right to enforce civil rights laws.
On March 04, 2019, a U.S. Federal District Court ruled on this lawsuit, finding that OMB did not have the authority to issue the stay on the EEOC’s reporting requirements. As a result of this finding, the court vacated the stay and reinstated the 2016 EEO-1 summary pay data reporting requirements.
It is currently unknown whether OMB will appeal this ruling. With that, employers should be aware that pay data will presumably be required on the May 31, 2019 deadline – although another extension from the EEOC is likely.
Cascade will continue to monitor and update you on this evolving EEO-1 story. If you have any questions, please let us know!