The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has announced that its proposal to collect pay data through the Employer Information Report (EEO-1) includes a change in the due date for the EEO-1 survey.
The revised proposal, published in the July 14 Federal Register, moves the deadline for employers to submit the EEO-1 survey from September 30, 2017, to March 31, 2018. According to the EEOC’s announcement, the change is to simplify reporting by allowing employers to use existing W-2 pay reports, which are calculated based on the calendar year. Employers will have until August 15, 2016, to submit written comments on the revised proposal.
A January 29 EEOC announcement stated the agency was proposing to use the EEO-1 survey to collect summary pay data from employers with 100 or more employees, including federal contractors. The due date change came as a result of comments the agency received after the January 29 announcement.
The EEOC and the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) say they want to collect pay data to help identify possible pay discrimination. The agencies also say including pay data will help employers promote equal pay in their workplaces.
The current EEO-1 survey requires employers to report demographic data, including employee race, ethnicity, sex, and job category. The revision would require covered employers to also report aggregate data on employees’ pay ranges and hours worked. Employers wouldn’t be required to list the salaries of individuals. Instead, they would report aggregate W-2 data in 12 pay bands for the 10 current EEO-1 job categories.
Effects of revision
Employers need to be ready for the new requirements if the proposed rule becomes final. In the March 2016 issue of Indiana Employment Law Letter, Amanda Shelby, an attorney with Faegre Baker Daniels LLP in Indianapolis, warned employers that if the proposal becomes final, the EEOC and the OFCCP will “be more willing than ever to file charges alleging discriminatory pay practices.”
Shelby wrote that the EEOC said it plans to use statistical tests as a starting point for analyzing W-2 data to be reported on EEO-1s. The EEOC also said it would join the OFCCP in developing a software tool to help investigators analyze pay data and compare information across industries and geographic areas. Those plans may cause employers concern.
“Regardless of the sophistication of the federal government’s statistical analysis and software developments, the EEO-1 omits valuable information that may be relevant to any pay disparity the EEOC or the OFCCP identifies,” Shelby wrote in the March article. “For example, the proposed EEO-1 will not request information about employees’ seniority with the company, years of experience in the field, past performance ratings, production levels, or other bona fide job-related factors important to determining pay.”
To help employers prepare to file their 2016 EEO-1 reports, join us on July 27 for an in-depth webinar presented by attorneys with Skoler, Abbott & Presser, P.C., in Springfield, Massachusetts: EEO-1 Reporting Deadline: HR’s Step-by-Step Guide to Ensuring Compliance.