In welcome news for employers, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) placed an immediate stay on compensation data collection in the new EEO-1 form. This means that employers will not be required to submit compensation data with the March 2018 EEO-1 form.
Employers with more than 100 employees and certain federal contractors will still be required to submit an EEO-1 form by March 31, 2018. Rather than submitting compensation data, however, these employers will only need to complete the long-standing EEO-1 form sections on race, ethnicity, and gender by occupational category. The OMB suspension of the pay reporting requirements does not change the upcoming September 30, 2017, VETS 4212 filing deadline for certain federal contractors and subcontractors.
The OMB is also initiating a review of the effectiveness of evaluating employer compensation practices in relation to the burden placed on employers to collect and report data regarding pay and hours worked. Many business groups have been outspoken about the burden on employers of reporting compensation data, and have also raised privacy and confidentiality concerns regarding the proposed data collection.
Acting EEOC Chair Victoria A. Lipnic stated that she hopes the stay “will prompt a discussion of other more effective solutions to encourage employers to review their compensation practices to ensure equal pay and close the wage gap.” The OMB’s review does not stop the new requirements entirely or prevent the EEOC from requiring such information in the future. For now, however, it certainly seems that employers will not be facing these requirements anytime soon.
If you have questions relating to the EEO-1 form or other federal compliance obligations, please contact George Yund, Jay Schoeny, or Jennifer Rulon in Frost Brown Todd’s Labor and Employment Practice Group.