EEOC Announces Approval of Revised EEO-1
September 30, 2016
On September 29, 2016, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced approval of its revised Employer Information or EEO-1 report, which employers must file with the EEOC annually to report demographic information about their workforces. On March 31, 2018, private employers, including federal contractors, with 100 or more employees must include summary compensation and hours-worked data in their annual EEO-1 report. Specifically, covered employers will be required to report employees’W-2 earnings and hours-worked data, broken down by gender, race, ethnicity, and by 12 pay bands in each of the 10 EEO job categories.
The new reporting requirements do not affect employers’ 2016 EEO-1 report due on September 30, 2016. However, beginning in 2017, the annual filing deadline will be pushed back from September 30 of the reporting year, to March 31 of the following year. Accordingly, the first time employers’ must file the EEO-1 reports containing the new data is by March 31, 2018.
To accommodate the EEO-1’s new filing schedule, employers’ annual EEO-1 “workforce snapshot” period (the time period during which employers survey their employees) will shift from the third quarter to the final quarter of the calendar year, beginning with the EEO-1 report due on March 31, 2018.
Since last February when the EEOC published its initial proposal to collect this additional data, the employer community has repeatedly voiced strong objections and concerns regarding the use of W-2 data; the ability to accurately track employees’ hours-worked; the utility of the information being collected; the increased burden and costs that were not accurately considered in the EEOC’s proposal; and insufficient safeguards to protect the privacy of the data. Unfortunately, these genuine concerns largely have gone unheeded. Aside from changing the EEO-1 reporting schedule so that employers will not have to issue an additional W-2, in the final EEO-1 the EEOC made no other substantive changes from the agency’s initial proposal.
Although the EEOC has posted an assurance on its website that the agency “maintains robust cybersecurity and privacy programs,” and will require employers to choose a new password to access their next report, these warning will do little to allay employer concerns regarding the security of their data.
For federal contractors, it is important to note that EEOC shares EEO-1 data with the Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP). The EEOC is prohibited by Title VII from releasing any individual EEO-1 data, with EEOC employees subject to criminal penalties if they are involved in such a release. However, the EEO-1 Report data shared with OFCCP has more limited protections under the exemptions to the Freedom of Information Act.
Next Steps
The EEOC will be offering webinars on October 20 and 26 and providing technical assistance through email and the agency’s hotline to help businesses comply with the new requirements.
Additionally, employers should consider the following steps in 2017 as they prepare for the new EEO-1 reporting requirements:
- Assemble a team with the necessary subject matter expertise that typically includes legal, HR, compensation, timekeeping, payroll, and other affected areas. The assessment team should evaluate the company’s current capabilities promptly, so that there is sufficient time to undertake necessary updates and changes to systems and reporting capabilities.
- Review the payroll and HRIS systems to determine where the earnings and hours-worked data are maintained, and whether the new, expanded data requirements can be met from the current systems. Typically, modifications may be required in order to be able to collect hours worked data.
- If the company uses a separate system for payroll, then consult with the company’s IT representatives to complete any necessary updates of their HRIS systems to accommodate and integrate the additional data.
- Employers who rely upon outside vendors to generate W-2 forms, and do not maintain the information internally (specifically the individual employee earnings reported in Box 1) will need to review their contracts and confer with their vendor to determine the most efficient way to import the W-2 data to the system(s) that are used for preparing the new EEO-1 report.
- Determine whether the company will use the permitted default entries of 40 hours (full time) and 20 hours (part-time) for exempt employees or will provide exempt employees’ actual hours, either by tracking hours worked or determining whether the employees’ work hours are available from other records, e.g., log-ins, federal contracting billing reports, etc..
- Employers should ensure that all reasonable steps are taken to protect the confidentiality of their data once it is in the agencies hands.
Please contact either the FortneyScott attorney with whom you work or Leslie Silverman, Esquire from FortneyScott for additional information or advice on complying with the new EEO-1 reporting obligations.
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The regulatory landscape continues to shift – both the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) and the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) have announced regulatory changes relating to independent contractors and joint employment. Overview DOL has proposed largely returning to the independent contractor rule issued in the first Trump Administration that includes a streamlined five factor economic‑reality test. The NLRB has proposed reinstating the 2020 joint employer regulation. Both of these proposed regulatory changes are positive developments for employers and, if finalized, will provide greater clarity and certainty for employer compliance. More Detailed Information DOL Rulemaking : The DOL issued a significant proposed rule to determine employee versus independent contractor status under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). DOL’s proposed rule will reinstate, with modifications, the streamlined economic‑reality test adopted during the first Trump Administration in the January 7, 2021 final rule. Under the 2021 rule, the DOL applied a streamlined economic‑reality test that focused on whether a worker is economically dependent on the employer or is operating an independent business. The 2021 rule identifies five factors to apply with the first two factors carrying more weight : (1) the nature and degree of control over the work; (2) the worker’s opportunity for profit or loss; (3) skill required for the work; (4) permanence of the working relationship; and (5) whether the work is part of an integrated unit of production. The DOL’s modifications to the 2021 standard seek to clarify whether a worker depends on the company to provide work, as opposed to depending on their own business to generate work opportunities. The analysis focuses on the source of work, not the percentage of income the worker earns from a particular company. The DOL also proposes to extend this updated analysis to the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act (MSPA), both of which rely on the FLSA’s definition of “employment.” Key Takeaways for DOL IC Rule: The DOL’s 2024 rule, which established a six-factor test that created significant uncertainties when applied, will be rescinded. The DOL proposes returning to the 2021 rule’s five-factor test, with certain updates. The same analysis would apply under the FMLA and MSPA, aligning worker classification standards across these laws to reduce compliance and enforcement risks. The proposed changes support employer interests and will enable employers to assess independent contractor relationships and mitigate compliance and enforcement risks. If finalized, this rule should have wide-reaching implications for employers, contractors, gig economy platforms, and industries that rely on flexible labor models. NLRB Withdraws and Replaces its Joint Employer Regulation: The National Labor Relations Board will issue a final rule withdrawing its 2023 Joint Employer Rule in the Federal Register on Friday, February 27, 2026. This is following a March 8, 2024 decision by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. Chamber of Commerce v. NLRB , 723 F.Supp. 3d 498, 519 (E.D. Tex. 2024) vacated the 2023 Rule before it took effect. As a result, the Board is reinstating the prior 2020 Joint Employer Status Under the National Labor Relations Act, codified at 29 C.F.R. § 103.40, as the governing standard for determining joint‑employer status under the National Labor Relations Act. We will continue to monitor these rulemakings closely. Please reach out to FortneyScott, if you would like to submit comments to the agencies or conduct a proactive assessment of the existing independent contractor or joint employerrelationships.
Having been fully funded for FY2026 and with new leadership in place, employers can expect much more from the Department of Labor in the second year of Trump 2.0. Join FortneyScott attorneys on Tuesday, March 3, 2026 at noon EDT to learn DOL’s priorities for 2026 and how to ensure compliance. Key Topics to be Covered Include: Overview of DOL Trump 2.0 officials Budget for FY2026 Next Steps from Wage & Hour Status of regulations PAID Program Return of Opinion Letters Child Labor enforcement FY2025 recovery Project Firewall Joint project with DOJ, EEOC and USCIS over H-1Bs Future of OFCCP – What to expect from the agency now that it has been funded Key Takeaways to ensure compliance This webinar is the second in a three-part series designed for compliance professions, in-house counsel, HR and inclusion leaders, and other business leaders responsible for labor and employment law compliance. To register for FortneyScott’s Workplace Legal Compliance training series, please click here .
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As we move further into 2026, employers should review notable changes to DC employment laws that may impact workplace policies and compliance obligations. Minimum and Living Wage Rates : From January 1, 2026, through June 30, 2026, any DC contract or government assistance recipient receiving $100,000 or more, as well as their subcontractors receiving at least $15,000 for contracts or $50,000 for government assistance, must pay at least the living wage rate of $17.95 per hour. Starting July 1, 2026, both the minimum wage rate and the living wage rate will increase to $18.40 per hour. For tipped employees, the base minimum wage increases to $10.30 per hour on July 1, 2026. Non-Compete Restrictions : Starting January 1, 2026, employers are banned from entering non-compete agreements with employees earning less than $162,164, and with medical specialists earning less than $270,274 Pay Stub Transparency : Starting January 1, 2026, employers must itemize all sources of compensation on employees’ pay stubs, including wages, bonuses, commissions, tips, service charges, etc.
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