On July 13, 2016, the EEOC unveiled a revised version of its proposal to expand the collection of compensation data from certain employers. The revised proposal applies to employers including federal contractors and employers with more than 100 workers. The update comes with a fresh 30-day comment period, ending August 15, 2016. The revised proposal retains the majority of the provisions of the original version, making only a handful of concessions in response to commenter suggestion. Specifically, the revised proposal changes the due date for the EEO-1 survey from September 30, 2017 to March 31, 2018 to better coordinate with the date range covered by existing W-2 reports. This change extends the deadline and eliminates the requirement for employers to report W-2 wages over two partial calendar years. Nevertheless, the revised proposal still poses a variety of problems for employers, including confidentiality concerns and the anticipated administrative burden of compiling this additional information.
For decades, employers have completed the EEO-1 form to provide the EEOC and OFCCP with data by race, ethnicity, sex, and job category. The proposed change requires applicable employers to continue reporting on this data, and add a “Component 2” which covers two additional streams of information: (1) W-2 wage data, and (2) hours worked. Component 2 requires covered employers to report aggregate W-2 wages as well as hours worked for each of the 10 EEO-1 job categories as associated with the 14 gender, race, and ethnicity categories on the current form.
The proposed rule change is intended provide access to company-wide compensation data for the EEOC and the OFCCP to, according to EEOC Chair Jenny R. Yang, "focus agency investigations, assess complaints of discrimination, and identify existing pay disparities that may warrant further examination." The EEOC’s continued push to obtain this data sends a message that it intends to increase its enforcement efforts in the area of pay inequality. Employers should carefully audit their current pay practices with these changes in mind.
The revised proposal was published July 14, 2016 on the Federal Register Website. The period for submission of comments on the proposal ends on August 15, 2016.
