Over the past 50 years, larger employers have been required by the federal government to file an annual EEO-1 report to provide demographic data about their business. Given the unprecedented circumstances the COVID-19 pandemic has recently presented millions of businesses, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced they have delayed the 2020 deadline to file the 2019 EEO-1 report by a year, now due in March 2021. DM Payroll Solutions explores this delay, giving you background on the report, what this delay means for employers and any next steps you can proactively take now.

What is the EEO-1 Report?

If you’re an employer with at least 100 employees, you are federally required to file an annual EEO-1 report with the EEOC. These reports contain demographic data of your workforce, including gender, race, ethnicity and number of employees per job category – known as “Component 1” data. Additionally, if you’re a federal government contractor or subcontractor, you must file an annual EEO-1 report if you have at least 50 employees and either:

1. Are a prime contractor or first-tier subcontractor, and have a contract, subcontract or purchase order amounting to at least $50,000
2. Serve as a depository of government funds of any amount
3. Are a financial institution considered an issuing and paying agent

The EEOC issued new regulations during the Obama administration requiring EEO-1-filing employers to include “Component 2” data, consisting of employee pay and their hours worked. 2019 reports were required to contain Component 2 data (covering 2017 and 2018), but the EEOC revoked this in 2019 and now Component 2 data is no longer required in the future.

Information to Submit in March 2021

Originally, the EEOC was expected to have employers submit 2019’s EEO-1 Component 1 data later this year. Now that the filing deadline is pushed to March 2021, employers must file Component 1 data for both 2019 and 2020 at that time. Component 2 data is not required.

Next Steps

Employers anticipating to submit their EEO-1 report this year are given some relief now that they have more time to collect and prepare their data. However, the EEOC’s announcement of the delay does not eliminate the necessity to file a report for 2019 Component 1 data, it only postpones it. As a proactive measure, employers should consider reviewing their report data far in advance to ensure its accuracy and avoid forgetting about the report until the deadline sneaks up.

DM Payroll Solutions offers EEO reporting features to help compile the data quickly. Contact us today to start preparing your EEO-1 reporting data for 2019, so you’re ready come the filing deadline.