EEO-1 Update
Yesterday (August 29, 2017), the Office of Regulatory Affairs of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) announced that the employer pay data reporting obligations, Component 2 of the annual EEO-1 report, are suspended indefinitely. The pay data reporting obligations, included in the revised EEO-1 Form, included new requests for wage and hour data for employees, broken down by race/ethnicity and gender. These new obligations dramatically increased the amount of information employers were required to collect and report to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Applicable employers should use the previously approved EEO-1 Form in order to comply with their 2017 reporting obligations.
In explaining its decision, OMB pointed out that the EEOC's data file specifications for employers to use in submitting the new report had not been included in any Federal Register and, thus, the public had not had the opportunity to comment, and the EEOC's burden estimates for the new report did not take into account these specifications. Further, the OMB found that there was reason to stay the effective date of the report "for cause" because it was concerned that portions of the new report "lack practical utility, are unnecessarily burdensome, and do not adequately address privacy and confidentiality issues."
The EEOC issued a press release announcing OMB's decision: https://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/newsroom/wysk/eeo1-pay-data.cfm
The OMB's letter can be found here: http://www.affirmativeactionlawadvisor.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/602/2017/08/Review-and-Stay-Memo-for-EEOC-8-29-17_FINAL.pdf
Background
On September 29, 2016, the EEOC had issued a press release and related materials that made final the revised proposal to modify the annual EEO-1 report to include W-2 earnings and hours worked, by race, ethnicity, and gender. Employers with 100 or more employees were going to be required to file the new EEO-1 report in March 2018 for the 2017 calendar year. Details on the changes can be found in a previous Eye on Washington, .
What does this mean for employers?
Since changes to the form are suspended, the EEOC will revert back to the previous version of the EEO-1 Form. Applicable employers must still comply with Component 1 of the EEO-1 and submit data on race, ethnicity, and gender by occupational category. Generally, employers with 100 or more employees, and federal government contractors subject to Executive Order 11246 with 50 or more employees and a contract amounting to $50,000 or more, must submit the EEO-1 Form.
The next filing date is March 1, 2018.
The EEOC remains committed to enforcing the federal Equal Pay Act (EPA). The EPA prohibits sex-based wage discrimination between men and women in the same establishment who perform jobs that require substantially equal skill, effort, and responsibility under similar working conditions. In addition, several states and local jurisdictions have pay discrimination-related laws, which employers should monitor and take actions to comply with.
ADP Compliance Resources
ADP maintains a staff of dedicated professionals who carefully monitor federal and state legislative and regulatory measures affecting employment-related human resource, payroll, tax and benefits administration, and help ensure that ADP systems are updated as relevant laws evolve. For the latest on how federal and state tax law changes may impact your business, visit the ADP Eye on Washington Web page located at www.adp.com/regulatorynews.
ADP is committed to assisting businesses with increased compliance requirements resulting from rapidly evolving legislation. Our goal is to help minimize your administrative burden across the entire spectrum of employment-related payroll, tax, HR and benefits, so that you can focus on running your business. This information is provided as a courtesy to assist in your understanding of the impact of certain regulatory requirements and should not be construed as tax or legal advice. Such information is by nature subject to revision and may not be the most current information available. ADP encourages readers to consult with appropriate legal and/or tax advisors. Please be advised that calls to and from ADP may be monitored or recorded.
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Updated on August 30, 2017
