The deadline for employers to submit and certify 2019 and 2020 EEO-1 Component 1 Data to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is Monday, August 23, 2021. Covered employers therefore have a little over one month to complete and submit an EEO-1 Report containing their respective workforce data in accordance with the reporting requirement. The original deadline of July 19, 2021 was extended to August 23 by the EEOC in late June 2021.

What is required?

Pursuant to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the EEOC annual Employer Information Report (“EEO-1 Report”) is a mandatory annual data collection that requires certain employers to submit basic demographic workforce data, including the number of individuals employed by the employer, organized by job category, race, ethnicity and sex. The data includes seven race/ethnicity categories and ten job categories. This information is referred to as “Component 1” data. EEO-1 Component 1 data is used by the EEOC to investigate charges of employment discrimination against employers and to provide information about the employment status of minorities and women. Importantly, EEO-1 Reports and the information contained therein are confidential and may not be made public by the EEOC prior to the institution of any proceeding under Title VII involving the EEO-1 Component 1 data. As such, the EEOC may only publish aggregated data in a manner that does not identify any particular filer or reveal any individual employee’s personal information.

Once complete, EEO-1 Reports must be submitted online via the EEOC’s EEO-1 Component 1 Online Filing System. Covered employers who received a 2019 and 2020 EEO-1 Component 1 notification letter from the EEOC may create an online user account using the “Company ID” and “Passcode” provided in the notification letter and submit their 2019 and 2020 EEO-1 Component 1 Report(s) by either entering their data into a secure data entry form, or uploading their data files directly through the EEO-1 Component 1 Online Filing System. The latest filing updates and current information regarding EEO-1 Component 1 Data is available on the EEOC’s EEO-1 Component 1 Data Collection website.

*NOTE: There is no EEO-1 Component 2 (hours worked and pay data) reporting requirement for 2019 or 2020.

What employers are impacted?

The annual Employer Information Report (EEO-1), Standard Form 100, Component 1, must be filed by:

1. Private employers who are subject to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and have (a) 100 or more employees or (b) fewer than 100 employees if the company is owned or affiliated with another company, or there is centralized ownership, control or management (such as central control of personnel policies and labor relations) so that the group legally constitutes a single enterprise, and the entire enterprise employs a total of 100 or more employees; and
2. Federal contractors who (1) are not exempt as provided for by 41 CFR 60-1.5; (2) have 50 or more employees meeting certain criteria; (3) are prime contractors or first-tier subcontractors; and (4) have a contract, subcontract, or purchase order amounting to $50,000 or more; OR serve as depositories of Government funds in any amount; or are financial institutions which are issuing and paying agents for U.S. Savings Bonds and or savings notes.

EEO-1 Component 1 reporting requirements do not apply to State and local governments, public primary and secondary school systems, institutions of higher education, American Indian or Alaska Native tribes and tax-exempt private membership clubs other than labor organizations.

Takeaway

EEO-1 reporting is mandatory. If an employer fails or refuses to file its EEO-1 report, the EEOC may compel an employer to file this form by obtaining an order from the U.S. District Court. The penalties for failure by a federal contractor or subcontractor to comply may include termination of the federal government contract and debarment from future federal contracts. In addition, making a willfully false statement on an EEO-1 report is punishable by fine and/or imprisonment. Given these stakes, covered employers should start taking steps as soon as possible to compile the necessary workforce data and complete their EEO-1 Reports, if they have not already done so, to ensure they are timely submitted to the EEOC by August 23.

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