Employers with 100 or more employees, and federal contractors with 50 or more employees, have until September 30, 2019 to comply with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's (EEOC) revised EEO-1 reporting requirements by disclosing to the EEOC how much they paid workers of different sexes, races and ethnicities in 2018. The deadline was set by a U.S. District Court judge in Washington, DC, in connection with a lawsuit challenging the suspension of the data collection requirement by the Trump administration in 2017.
The new reporting rule, which was finalized in 2016 under the Obama administration, was originally set to begin with the March 2018 reporting period. In August 2017, the Trump administration's Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued a stay of the new requirements under the Paperwork Reduction Act. A lawsuit challenging the stay, filed by the National Women’s Law Center and the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement, followed in November 2017.
On March 4, 2019, the U.S. District Court vacated the OMB’s stay, finding that it was arbitrary and capricious, and that the OMB failed to adhere to its own regulations in implementing the stay. Last week, by setting a September 30, 2019 deadline for employers, the court resolved uncertainty about when affected employers would be required to submit the sex, race and ethnicity pay data component of the EEO-1 form.
In light of the ruling, employers should immediately begin preparing for the September 30 submission deadline. Given that the process is new and may be quite time consuming and technical, employers should consult with legal counsel to ensure that reports are being prepared properly. For assistance with these and other labor and employment matters, please contact a member of Foster Swift’s employment law practice group.
