By: Jennifer Hagedorn, Esq. and Gabriele Wohl, Esq.

Sweeping changes at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) are officially underway. On July 15, the EEOC opened its Component 2 EEO-1 Online Filing System to employers, with the file upload process set to become available in August. This system allows employers to more effectively and efficiently report Component 2 pay data for their workforce. The big news, however, is that employers with at least 100 employees are now required to include gender and race information in their reporting.

By September 30 of this year, employers must report Component 2 data for calendar years 2017 and 2018 broken out by race/ethnicity and gender, as ordered by the United States District Court for the District of Columbia's decision in National Women's Law Center, et al., v. Office of Management and Budget, et al., Civil Action No. 17-cv-2458 (D.D.C.). As employers are now required to report how much workers are paid broken down into the categories of sex, race and ethnicity, the data is widely expected to highlight pay discrimination across several categories.

As referenced above, employers, including federal contractors, are required to submit Component 2 compensation data for 2017 if they had 100 or more employees during the 2017 workforce snapshot period (i.e., any selected pay period between October 1 and December 31 of the reporting year). Likewise, employers, including federal contractors, are required to submit Component 2 compensation data for 2018 if they had 100 or more employees during the 2018 workforce snapshot period. Additional filing requirements and pertinent information can be found online at the EEOC's FAQ page for Component 2.

It should be noted that the Department of Justice appealed National Women's Law Center, et al., v. Office of Management and Budget, et al. on May 3 to challenge the new requirements in pay data collection, but the EEOC has made it clear that, absent any court intervention, the September 30 filing deadline for Component 2 reporting will be enforced.

For more Information:
Please contact a member of the Bowles Rice Labor and Employment Law Team if you have questions or need additional information about how these changes may affect your business.