On May 3, 2019, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) announced that it would collect EEO-1 Component 2 pay data from required EEO-1 filers (“Filers”) for the calendar years 2017 and 2018 by September 30, 2019.
This announcement was a result of a federal district court’s decision in a case titled National Women’s Law Center, et al. v. Office of Management and Budget, et al..
By way of background, in September 2016, the EEOC proposed expanding the EEO-1 reporting to include compensation data, called “Component 2” data. In August 2017, the Office of Management and Budget (“OMB”) stayed (or paused) the EEOC’s obligation to collect Component 2 pay data. In November 2017, the National Women’s Law Center and other plaintiffs sued to challenge the OMB’s decision to stay.
In April 2019, the federal district court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs and ordered the EEOC to (1) select two years for which it would collect the Component 2 pay data and (2) to issue a Press Release announcing its obligation to collect data and the two years for which it would collect. Thus, the EEOC made its announcement on May 3.
What does this mean for us?
This announcement only applies to required Filers, which are:
- private employers with 100 or more employees; or
- private employers with fewer than 100 employees if that employer is owned by or affiliated with a company that employees over 100 employees; or
- federal contractors with 50 or more employees that are not otherwise exempt.
What do I have to file?
If you are a Filer, you are required to report:
- annual compensation data based on Box 1 of the Form W-2 for all employees by race, ethnicity and sex and within the 12 proposed pay bands for the 10 EEO-1 job categories for the calendar years 2017 and 2018.
- all hours worked for the same categories for the same calendar years.
It should be noted that the United States Department of Justice filed an appeal of the federal district court’s decision on May 3. Despite the appeal, the EEOC will move forward with collecting the data. We will keep you updated of any developments.