The federal government has collected annual EEO-1 reports from private employers since 1966. All employers with 100 or more employees and government contractors with 50 or more employees and at least one federal contract or subcontract of $50,000 or more must file this report, generally in September of each year. Through the report, the government collects data about gender, race, and ethnicity by job groupings, and the reports are shared with other federal agencies.

Why do you have to deal with these time-consuming requests every year? The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) often reviews EEO-1 reports when investigating a charge of discrimination. The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) relies, in part, on EEO-1 data to determine which federal contractors will be subject to a compliance evaluation (audit). In addition to federal agencies, plaintiffs’ attorneys and other businesses often find EEO-1 data relevant, and arguments about the report’s disclosure to outside parties are not uncommon.

Simply put, EEO-1 reports are an important enforcement tool for federal regulators, and these reports may be relied upon by private parties to support or defend against discrimination claims.

Must your company file an EEO-1 report on an annual basis? If your company has facilities in different geographical areas, how are these reported on the EEO-1 report? How do you collect gender and ethnicity/race information from your employees for this report? What are the perils and pitfalls inherent in these reports? These questions and more will be the subject of our August 28, 2012, webinar, “Best Practices for Preparing EEO-1 Reports and VETS-100A Forms.” Make sure that you have the information you need before you file your 2012 EEO-1 report!

Leigh M. Nason is a shareholder in the Columbia office of Ogletree Deakins, and she chairs the firm’s Affirmative Action Programs and OFCCP Compliance Practice Group.