EEO Reporting: What Employers Need to Know

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has proposed rescinding federal EEO reporting and recordkeeping requirements for covered employers and other entities. Published July 22, the proposal would eliminate requirements associated with EEO-1 through EEO-6 reports. The public comment period closed Aug. 24.

For now, nothing has changed. Existing EEO reporting and recordkeeping requirements remain in effect unless and until a final rule is issued and becomes effective.

Importantly, the proposal concerns reporting requirements, not employers’ underlying EEO obligations. Rescinding the reporting requirements would not change employers’ responsibilities under Title VII or other federal equal employment opportunity laws, and the EEOC would retain other tools to obtain workforce demographic information as part of its enforcement activities.

Within its regulatory comment, SHRM supported a “rescind-and-replace” approach. SHRM’s position is that workforce demographic data remains valuable, but the current reporting framework can be improved to provide more meaningful and actionable information while giving employers greater clarity about their obligations.

SHRM research reflects the complexity of the issue. While 59% of HR professionals say current workforce demographic reporting requirements are sufficient and appropriate as-is, only 6% of organizations subject to mandatory reporting say the data is very useful for compliance and workforce analysis. At the same time, 60% say organizations should use workforce demographic data to evaluate recruiting, hiring, and promotion practices and to identify potential workforce trends or disparities.

For now, employers should continue to comply with existing requirements and avoid getting ahead of the rulemaking process.

What’s next? Join SHRM at BLUEPRINT, Nov. 15-18 in Nashville, for timely insights and practical strategies for navigating the evolving workplace landscape.