Federal contractors should be aware of a recent development that could result in the public disclosure of their EEO-1 information. The EEO-1 Component 1 report is a mandatory annual data collection requiring all federal contractors with 50 or more employees and all private sector employers with 100 or more employees to submit demographic workforce data. EEO-1 information includes the race/ethnicity and gender make-up of the workforce as well as job categories.

There is only a limited amount of time left to file an objection. Requests submitted under the federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) will result in the disclosure of EEO-1 information from 2016-2020  unless the contractor files an objection with the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) by September 19, 2022.  Notably, the report subject to disclosure does not include the contractor’s compensation data submitted pursuant to “EE0-1 Component 2.”

Full information on the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request can be found here: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2022/08/19/2022-17882/notice-of-request-under-the-freedom-of-information-act-for-federal-contractors-type-2-consolidated

In response to this FOIA request, some contractors have decided to forgo filing an objection, presumably on the basis that senior management does not have any concerns with such aggregate demographic information becoming public. Many contractors, however, will want to follow the process under to object to the disclosure of their EEO-1 reports. To do so, the contractor must demonstrate that it keeps employee composition detail private, that the government promised the information would remain confidential, and that disclosure of the information will harm the business.

OFCCP has stated that a contractor that does not file an objection by September 19, 2022, “will be considered to have no objection to disclosure of the information.”