The initial March 31, 2020 deadline for employers to file EEO-1 reports has now passed without action by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to open the filing portal or otherwise collect EEO-1 filings.  This is because the EEOC has not yet received approval from the Federal Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to collect Component 1 Data.

In September 2019, the EEOC sought approval under the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA), to collect EEO-1 Component 1 survey data for 2019, 2020, and 2021. On March 23, 2020, the EEOC filed a second request for OMB approval, this time with a new control number separating EEO-1 Component 1 information from EEO-1 Component 2 information and announcing its decision not to apply for approval to collect Component 2 compensation and hours worked data. The public has 30 days, until April 22, 2020, to comment on the EEOC’s request for approval before OMB can approve it.

Given this timeline, we do not expect to see the EEO-1 portal open until at least June 2020. After it receives OMB approval, the EEOC will announce the opening of the collection and a new deadline for employers to submit their 2019 data.

Importantly, given the EEOC’s announcement that it does not intend to collect EEO-1 Component 2 data, employers do not need to plan to report the compensation or hours worked information that was required in 2019.

To stay ahead of the curve for EEO-1 Component 1 reporting, employers should begin to prepare their EEO-1 reports using workforce data from one payroll in the fourth quarter of 2019.  Other recommended practices for employers preparing their EEO-1 reports include:

• Using visual survey or other available information to identify the sex and race or ethnicity of employees that choose not to self-identify. Employers are not permitted to omit employees of unknown status from the EEO-1 report;
• Determining the most appropriate payroll period from which to pull the workforce snapshot; and
• For federal contractors, making sure that their EEO-1 establishments properly align with their affirmative action plan establishments.