The EEOC recently announced that the 2023 EEO-1 data collection period will open on April 30, 2024. Employers with 100 or more employees must report data about their workforce, including job category and sex and race or ethnicity of their employees. Federal contractors must also report this data if they have 50 or more employees, are a prime contractor or first tier subcontractor, have a contract, subcontract or purchase order amounting to $50,000 or more, and are not otherwise exempt.

The EEOC also announced updates to the 2023 EEO-1 Component 1 Instruction Booklet that employers should use to make sure their reporting is compliant. This instruction manual will be in effect until November 30, 2026. The updated instruction booklet includes a new “Failure to File” section, which provides that if an employer does not file by this year’s June 4, 2024 deadline they will receive a failure to file notice from the EEOC. The notice will inform employers that they are out of compliance and alert them to file by July 9, 2024. No additional EEO-1 Component Reports will be accepted after the July 9, 2024 deadline.

In addition to the instruction booklet, the EEOC has released the 2023 EEO-1 Component 1 Data File Upload Specifications that filers of the EEO-1 Component 1 Reports should use to navigate the filing process. The first section of the specifications summarizes the changes from last year, which primarily involves field name and number changes. While technical, these specifications should be used by filers to avoid mistakes.

Further, the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has recently announced changes to its Standards for Maintaining, Collecting, and Presenting Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity, including removing the difference between race and ethnicity and adding Middle Eastern or North African (MENA) as an option. These recent updates have not yet trickled down to the EEOC’s reporting forms and federal agencies have until March 2029 to incorporate these changes. Employers should note this new development but wait until the EEOC updates its reporting characteristics to update their voluntary reporting forms in order to avoid mismatches.

If an employer is not sure whether they are required to file an EEO-1 Component report, or are not sure what information they need to do so correctly and timely, they should seek out employment law counsel who are experienced filing this form.

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