Note: The 2022 EEO-1 Component 1 data collection is set to open October 31, 2023 and run through December 5, 2023.
As your company grows, so do the operational complexities. For employers with 100 or more employees, or federal contractors with 50 or more employees, filing an EEO-1 report is required and can be a headache for HR operators.
In this article, we’ll help you understand the basics of an EEO-1 report: how to fill them out correctly and how to ensure your approach to data collection is inclusive.
The EEO-1 report is mandated by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1967, as amended by the Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972. It requires that employers report on the racial and gender composition of their workforce by specific job categories, referred to as component 1 data.
EEO-1 reports are filed annually, usually by March 31, with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
The goal of collecting EEO-1 data is for the EEOC to prepare a report on fair treatment for workers, regardless of their origin, how they identify, and any physical or mental disabilities.
Employers or federal contractors are required to file EEO-1 reports if they meet the following criteria:
The EEOC expects businesses to recruit and operate fairly. By requiring businesses to self-assess and report employment demographics of their workforce by job category, the EEOC is able to identify harmful and exclusionary workplace practices.
The report that the EEOC generates as a result of EEO-1 filings helps employers create a more diverse workforce that benefits both them and their employees.
Go to the EEOC’s website and complete this form to register for your first submission. Make sure to do this before the filing period begins, so you have plenty of time to run data collection and complete the Standard Form 100.
To submit your EEO-1 report, you’ll need to run a survey for your employees (full-time, part-time, apprentice, and trainees) to self-identify their gender, ethnicity, nationality, and race. We’ll cover running an inclusive data collection survey below.
If an employee chooses not to disclose, you have the right to complete the information for them. We strongly encourage using internal documents like W-2 forms or workforce data in your human resource information systems (HRIS) to supplement your survey data, and NOT trying to visually identify or guess.
Reporting salary data (formerly EEO-1, Component 2) is NOT required this year, but experts predict it will be required in 2024.
You’ll be able to submit your report starting on October 31st through the EEOC website. Check to make sure you’ve assigned each employee to the correct race/ethnicity, gender, and job type. Note: due to how data is collected by the US Census, you can only assign employees to one category (while this is not an inclusive approach, it is unfortunately the requirement for now).
There are two pages in the EEO-1 report. Page one covers Sections A-C:
Page two covers Sections D-G:
Don’t skip these two steps:
If your report is incomplete or inaccurate, you could be fined, lose your federal contracts, or be banned from entering into future federal contract agreements.
Collecting demographic data can be a daunting task. Identities are deeply personal, and some employees distrust how their employer will use the information.
To set yourself up for a clean, easy EEO-1 reporting season, there are best practices we recommend to help you improve both the inclusiveness of your survey, and the likelihood that your employees will respond.
One of the biggest challenges with collecting demographic data is employee mistrust. In our experience, survey responses go up when you use a third-party service to collect the information.
A word: over-communicate. At the beginning of your survey and in the Self-ID campaign messaging, make a case for why employees should trust you with their information. Give approachable examples of how the data will be used. Make it clear that self-identifying is voluntary and ask for consent to use of their personal data:
“As an employer with over 100 employees, we are legally required to collect and report employee demographic data to the EEOC. This data is also crucial to helping us identify opportunities to craft a workplace where everyone can thrive such as improving our employee benefits and ensuring that promotions are rewarded fairly.”
While the EEOC only allows you to mark employees as belonging to one identity, it’s essential for inclusive data collection that you allow employees to select all options that apply to them.
Any employees who select more than one race/ethnicity would be combined into the “Two of More Races” category for the EEO-1 report.
The EEOC uses race/ethnicity categories that haven’t evolved with inclusive data collection practices. Do an audit of the race/ethnicity terms being used and make sure you’re using the most inclusive versions.
Our partners at Peoplism, a leading DEI consulting firm, recommend the following for inclusive race/ethnicity categories:
Note that reporting on whether your employees identify as non-binary is not required in the EEO-1 report this year, however, we still recommend including non-binary in your multi-select option for gender. You can report non-binary employee data in the comments section of your report, but remember to remove these employees from the race, ethnicity, and age counts so that your report is accurate.
Peoplism recommends using an option that says “Prefer to self-describe” instead of “I do not wish to answer” in addition to making the question optional to reduce the amount of missing data.
Make sure that any demographic data you collect is stored separately from your employee records. You can choose to do this with physical copies or by using a reliable cloud-based service, although your HRIS is usually the most efficient choice.
Whether it’s your first time filing, or you’re looking for a little extra support this year, we can help you collect and format the data you need for a smooth EEO-1 report. Above all, remember: you got this!
