In recent announcements to the media and otherwise, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) provided the following information which should be of interest to all employers:

• 2023 EEO-1 Reports – The 2023 EEO-1 Component 1 data collection will open on Tuesday April 30, 2024. The DEADLINE for employers covered by the EEO-1 requirements to file their 2023 EEO-1 Component 1 report is Tuesday June 4, 2024.  The 2023 EEO-1 Component 1 Instruction Booklet is available here.

It appears that any further consideration of resurrecting the Component 2 pay data collection has been further delayed; however, the EEOC did announce a “Data Dashboard” based on the Component 2 data collection for reporting years 2017-2018 (required in 2019), which the EEOC says reflects sex and race disparities across certain industries, job positions and geographic areas. This “Dashboard” is extensive and should be given a look.

• EEOC Annual Performance Report for Fiscal Year 2023 – Late last month the EEOC published its “FY 2023 Annual Performance Report” which shows an almost 30% increase in monetary remedies for claimants over the prior fiscal year of 2022; that increase was approximately $150,000,000 (the fiscal year 2023 total was $665,000,000 which the EEOC recovered for victims of discriminatory conduct). However, it should be noted that about 30% of the 2023 fiscal year total went to federal government employees. The Report also indicates that, in fiscal year 2023, over 500,000 calls were made to the agency’s contact center and there was about a 10% increase in charges of discrimination against private sector employers. This EEOC “report card” reflects considerable increased activity by the agency, and should also be given a look.

These announcements confirm not only a much more aggressive enforcement approach by this agency (which is also being seen in the Office of Federal Contractors Compliance Programs’ (OFCCP) similar actions), but also a more sophisticated type of investigative analysis, particularly regarding compensation. Also, the EEOC has requested more than a 7% budgetary increase for fiscal year 2024-2025 to continue its efforts.

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