The clock is ticking.
On February 1, 2016, the EEOC published its first notice to revise the EEO-1 employer information report. Revisions are intended to support EEOC’s pay discrimination investigations by requiring employers that meet certain criteria to submit pay data with their EEO-1 submissions.
What is the EEO-1 Report?
The standard EEO-1 report requires employee counts by location, job category, and race/gender. This is Component 1 and it remains unchanged.
The first notice of proposed changes describe an additional submission referred to as Component 2. Component 2 would require reporting pay data by pay bands as well as hours worked, also further separated by race/gender.
The public was invited to submit comments during the 60-day notice and 322 comments were received in total.
On March 16, 2016, a public hearing was held to hear 15 witnesses and learn more about their support of or opposition to the first notice. The EEOC has considered and reviewed all the comments and submissions from the public hearing. And on July 14, 2016, it published the final proposal (and 30-day notice) to revise the EEO-1.
The public now has 30 days from the publishing date to submit their comments on the final proposal, on or before August 15, 2016.
Highlights of the Proposed Revisions
Who will report on pay data in the revised EEO-1?
The EEOC did not change this definition.
- All employers with 100 or more employees will continue to be subject to Component 1 and 2.
- Federal Contractors with 50-99 will not file Component 2, but will still be required to submit Component 1.
- All federal contractors with fewer than 50 employees and all other employers with fewer than 100 employees will be exempt from filing the EEO-1 altogether.
When do we need to file?
The 2016 EEO-1 submission remains unchanged.
- The 30-day notice proposed to change the filing deadline to March 31 of the year following the reporting year. This means the 2017 EEO-1 reports would be due on March 31, 2018.
- The workforce snapshot for the 2017 reporting year would be a pay period between October 1 and December 31, as proposed.
What pay data do we need to include in the report?
The 30-day notice proposes that employers use Box 1 of the W-2 for pay. That means that the pay data will represent income received between January 1st and December 31st of the relevant year for Component 2.
Which data do we use for hours worked?
For exempt employees, the employer can choose a proxy of 40 hours for full-time and 20 hours for part-time or provide actual hours worked by exempt employees. For nonexempt employees, employers will report “total hours” as recorded by FLSA for nonexempt employees in Component 2.
How will this impact employers and compliance processes?
Employers will need to ensure they have a bridge between their HRIS and payroll systems so that W-2 pay data and hours worked can be reported for Component 2.
Employers must proactively review and analyze their pay data in advance of their EEO-1 submission.
The EEOC will use data analytical tools to flag significant disparities in pay. These results will be used to determine where the agency will focus its investigations and requests for additional information from the employer. Therefore, it’s critical that employers analyze their pay practices in advance of EEOC’s analysis and subsequent actions.
Under current OFCCP requirements, federal contractors should be analyzing their pay practices on an annual basis.
About the Author
Bruce Kile oversees technology at Affirmity in his role as Co-Managing Director. He has direct responsibility for technology operations, support, and software product development. He leads a team of developers and quality assurance engineers who deliver affirmative action, EEO, and diversity planning products to clients. He also manages support and operations for Affirmity software products and data centers. With more than 35 years in technology leadership and 20 years focused on affirmative action and diversity, Mr. Kile helps clients achieve their goals using Affirmity technology.