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 a Fact Sheet for Small Business and a question-and-answer document are available on EEOC's website  at www.eeoc.gov.