Update: On May 2, 2019, the EEOC announced that employers must also submit 2017 pay data along with the submission of 2018 pay data as part of the EEO-1 Component 2 forms by the Sept. 30, 2019 deadline. This decision comes after a federal judge ordered the EEOC to collect 2018 pay data by Sept. 30, 2019, and gave the EEOC the option of collecting 2019 data instead of 2017 pay data. However, the EEOC has elected to forgo that option.

It is unclear at this point what, if any, future requirements the EEOC may establish for reporting the pay data, but employers should start reviewing their pay data to determine generally if they have the required pay data for the 2017 and 2018 years readily available to report by the Sept. 30, 2019 deadline.

On April 25, 2019, a federal judge in Washington, D.C. ordered the EEOC to collect 2018 pay data from mid-size and large employers according to employees’ sex, race, and ethnicity. Affected employers have until Sept. 30, 2019 to provide the requisite data to the EEOC. The Court also ordered the EEOC to collect a second year of pay data, giving it a choice between collecting employers’ 2017 data or 2019 data; the EEOC must elect between year 2017 or 2019 by May 3, 2019. (In the event that the EEOC decides to collect 2017 data, it will also be due by Sept. 30, 2019.)

This decision resolves prior uncertainty and clarifies that employers must submit not only Component 1 EEO-1 reporting (race, ethnicity, and gender) by May 31, 2019, but also Component 2 EEO-2 reporting (total hours worked and W-2 wage information broken down by race, ethnicity, and sex, and job category) by Sept. 30, 2019. Employers should familiarize themselves with these requirements, and prepare to submit Component 2 data for 2018, and potentially 2017, in the fall. 

Information regarding the Court’s order, as well as the EEOC’s collection, will be available on the EEOC’s website. For questions regarding employer EEO-1 reporting requirements, please contact one of Taft’s Employment and Labor Relations attorneys.