EEOC Delays EEO-1 Data Collection Due to Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Author: Michael Cardman, XpertHR Legal Editor

May 7, 2020

The US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) today announced that it will delay the opening of the 2019 EEO-1 Component 1 data collection due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Covered filers should begin preparing to submit data next year. The EEOC said it expects to begin collecting the 2019 and 2020 EEO-1 Component 1 in March 2021, pending approval from the White House. It will notify filers of the date the surveys will open as soon as it is available.

In a statement, the agency said:

The EEOC recognizes the impact that the current public health emergency is having on workplaces across America and the challenges that both employers and employees alike are now facing. Filers ... are dealing with unique and urgent issues. Delaying the collections until 2021 will ensure that EEO filers are better positioned to provide accurate, valid and reliable data in a timely manner.

Each year, covered employers are required to file an EEO-1 Report providing the EEOC data on its workforce. The report is made up of two components: Component 1, which reports on the gender, racial and ethnic makeup of an employer's workforce, and Component 2, which reports on employee compensation and hours worked from covered employers sorted by job category, pay band, race, ethnicity, and gender. (However, the EEOC has announced it would not collect Component 2 data this year.)

The EEOC also announced that it will delay the 2020 data collections for the EEO-3 report (which covers Local Referral Unions with 100 or more employees) and the EEO-5 report (which covers all public elementary and secondary school districts with 100 or more employees in the United States) because of the coronavirus (COVID-19) public health emergency.