In addition to preparing pay data for 2018, employers should begin preparing 2017 pay data for submission as soon as possible.
This is an update to our March 12, 2019, Alert, Federal Court Reinstates EEO-1 Pay Data Reporting Requirement.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has announced that employers must submit EEO-1 pay data for 2017, in addition to 2018, by September 30, 2019. The EEO-1 filing requirement applies to employers of 100 or more employees, or employers of 50 or more employees that have federal contracts in excess of $50,000.
The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia—which as previously reported reinstated the EEOC’s rule expanding EEO-1 reporting requirements to include W-2 wages and total hours worked in the prior year for all employees in 12 proposed pay bands—gave the EEOC the option of either gathering 2017 data along with the 2018 collection, or gathering 2019 pay data during the 2020 reporting period. On May 1, 2019, the EEOC announced that it had chosen to gather 2017 data. The EEOC’s announcement was published in the Federal Register on May 3, 2019.
Employer Data Submission Requirements and Deadlines
Component 1 data from 2018, which includes the number of employees by job category, race, ethnicity and sex, and which covered employers have long been required to report, must be submitted by May 31, 2019. This deadline remains unchanged from what was in place prior to the court ruling that reinstated the EEO-1 pay data rule and reflects an extension of the original March 31, 2019, deadline due to the government shutdown in early 2019. The last day for employers to request a two-week extension of this deadline is May 31, 2019.
Component 2 data—the expanded pay data to be collected pursuant to the reinstated rule, which includes hours worked and pay information from employees' W-2 forms by race, ethnicity and sex, for both calendar year 2017 and year 2018—must be submitted by September 30, 2019.
The EEOC expects to begin collecting Component 2 data by mid-July 2019 and will notify filers of the precise date the survey will open.
What This Means for Employers
In addition to preparing pay data for 2018, employers should begin preparing 2017 pay data for submission as soon as possible. This type of data collection can present unique challenges for HR and IT departments and, as such, employers should begin the process immediately. Employers should promptly begin a careful review of pay data for accuracy and should consider conducting a pay equity analysis in consultation with legal counsel to identify any potential issues. If employers have any questions about which employees are covered in this data collection, or the scope and format of the data required to be submitted, they should consult with their attorneys.
For Further Information
If you have any questions about this Alert, please contact Christopher D. Durham, Danielle M. Dwyer, any of the attorneys in our Employment, Labor, Benefits and Immigration Practice Group or the attorney in the firm with whom you are regularly in contact.
Disclaimer: This Alert has been prepared and published for informational purposes only and is not offered, nor should be construed, as legal advice. For more information, please see the firm's full disclaimer.