2022 EEOC-01 Reports Due Soon
Nov 17, 2023In case you missed it, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) finally opened the 2022 EEO-1 data collection portal on October 31, 2023. All employers with 100 or more employees — and federal government contractors and subcontractors with at least 50 employees and a federal government contract of $50,000 or more — must file their EEO-1 reports by December 5, 2023.
Employers with accounts from the prior reporting period(s) may need to update their passwords and profiles. New filers must set up an account to access the online filing system.
What does the EEOC want to know?
The EEOC’s stated purpose of collecting fundamental workforce demographic data is to support the agency’s enforcement activities, facilitate research on employment patterns, and encourage an employer’s “self-assessment.”
EEO-1 Report filers must select a pay period during the fourth quarter (October 1, 2022 – December 31, 2022, and provide detailed employee demographic data for that pay period. Employers are asked to report on an employee’s job category, sex, and race or ethnicity for all employees employed during this “workforce snapshot period.”
As described in the EEO-1 instruction booklet, the EEOC uses specific categories of job, race, and ethnicity classification and provides instructions for how employers should assign these categories to their employees.
What about non-binary employees?
The EEOC’s categories for sex provide only binary options. Employers may voluntarily report data for non-binary employees by adding comments to the report.
For single-establishment employers, these comments may be added under the “Certification Comments” of the report. This information may be added in the “Headquarters or Establishment-Level Comments” section for multi-establishment employers.
All employers are encouraged to preface such comments with the phrase “Additional Non-Binary Employee Data.” If employers include the number of non-binary employees in the comments, these employees should not be included in the male or female categories indicated in the report.
Changes for federal contractors
Beginning with the 2022 EEO-1 Component 1 report, federal contractors will not be required to provide the DUNS (Data Universal Numbering System) numbers associated with their headquarters and establishments. Now, federal contractors are required to provide their “Unique Entity ID” (UEI). Federal contractors can create their UEI at www.sam.gov.
The federal government announced its decision to stop using the DUNS to identify federal contractors, and start using the UEI, on April 4, 2022.
Are you prepared?
Employers who do not submit and certify their required report(s) by the December 5, 2023 deadline will receive a “Notice of Failure to File” from the EEOC. These employers have until January 9, 2024, to submit their reports before they will be considered out of compliance. Reports will not be accepted after this date.
If an employer is out of compliance, the EEOC may then file an application with the United States District Court, which can compel the employer to file unless there are special circumstances. Employers who cannot comply because compliance would create an undue hardship may submit a written application for an exemption. This written exemption application must be mailed to the EEOC and postmarked on or before December 5, 2023.
Employers with questions about the 2022 EEO-1 Component 1 data report are encouraged to consult with experienced counsel. Feel free to contact Orr & Reno for assistance in avoiding the risk of noncompliance.
About the authors: Steven L. Winer and Lynnette V. Macomber
