The EEOC prefers that these reports be filed on-line through the EEO-1 Online Filing System on its website – www.eeoc.gov. There is a sample EEO-1 Report available on the EEOC’s website as well. However, this cannot be printed off to use to file a hard-copy report. Blank EEO-1 Report forms must be requested by phone or in writing from the EEOC.

Those employers with only one location obviously only need to file one EEO-1 Report. However, those with multiple locations must file (1) a report covering their headquarters or principle office, (2) a separate report for each location with more than 50 employees, and (3) either a separate report for each location with less than 50 employees or an Establishment List which reflects the company name, address and total employment for each location with less than 50 employees. For those multi-location employers who file their EEO-1 Reports on-line, all of these separate reports will automatically transfer over to a consolidated report. (Those filing hard-copy reports will need to create a separate consolidated EEO-1 Report which combines the totals reflected on reports (1)-(3) above.)

For those who are not familiar with/have never filed an EEO-1 Report, these reports reflect the breakdown of your workforce by position groupings (executives, professionals, technicians, sales, laborers, etc.) by race/ethnicity and gender.

The reason for our sending out this alert two months before these reports are due is that the EEOC prefers that regarding race/ethnicity employees be permitted to “self-identify” rather than the employer simply “guessing” as to which racial/ethnic group to count each employee in in their EEO-1 Reports. This means for employees hired since last September and certainly for employers who have never before filed an EEO-1 Report, you will need to send out a voluntary survey to these new (or to “all” for those “virgin filers”) employees asking them which racial/ethnic group they prefer to be identified with. Accordingly, collecting and then processing the data for your EEO-1 Report(s) may take some time.