On Jan. 29, 2016, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced a proposed rule expanding the data that is collected from certain employers on the Employer Information Report (EEO-1). Currently, certain federal contractors with 50-99 employees and private employers with more than 100 employees must report annually the number of individuals they employ by job category and race, ethnicity, and sex on the EEO-1. Under the proposed rule federal contractors and private employers with 100 or more employees would have to report pay data and hours worked on the EEO-1 in addition to the current reporting requirements, beginning on Sept. 30, 2017. Employers would report this information using 12 “pay bands” determined by the EEOC.    

The proposed rule continues the current obligation of federal contractors with 50-99 employees to report information on ethnicity, race, and sex by job category. Consistent with current practice, the EEOC will not require federal contractors with 49 or fewer employees and private employers with less than 99 employees to file an EEO-1.  

The public is invited to submit written comments on the proposed rule by April 1, 2016. For more information on the proposal, see EEOC’s Questions and Answers and Small Business Fact Sheet.