EEO Reporting (Equal Employment Opportunity Component 1)

What is EEO-1 Reporting?

The Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Component 1 report is a mandatory annual data collection that requires all private sector employers with 100 or more employees, and federal contractors with 50 or more employees meeting certain criteria, to collect and report demographic workforce data. U.S. Equal Equal Opportunity Commission

What hiring data do I need to collect?

Component 1 requires employers to collect hiring data categorized by the following characteristics:

• Race/ethnicity
• Gender
• Job category

A sample copy of the EEO-1 form and instructions can be found here: EEO-1 data collection.

What is the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)?

It is against the law for employers to discriminate against a job applicant or employee because of race, color, religion, sex (including sexual orientation, pregnancy, gender identity), age (40 or older), disability, national origin, or genetic information. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is the agency that regulates and enforces federal anti-discrimination laws in the workplace.

What is the OFCCP?

The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP), was created to protect workers, promote diversity and enforce the law.

What is OFCCP reporting?

OFCCP reporting requires federal contractors to report the same employee EEO data as private employers.

OFCCP holds those who do business with the federal government (contractors and subcontractors) responsible for complying with the legal requirement to take affirmative action and not discriminate on the basis of race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, national origin, disability, or status as a protected veteran. In addition, contractors and subcontractors are prohibited from discharging or otherwise discriminating against applicants or employees who inquire about, discuss or disclose their compensation or that of others, subject to certain limitations. U.S. Department of Labor

Is the OFCCP the same as the EEOC?

The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs regulates and enforce non-discrimination for business contractors and sub-contractors who obtain U.S. government contracts. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is the federal agency that responds to any workplace-related discrimination (or alleged discrimination). Both agencies have the authority to file lawsuits against violating employers, contractors and sub-contractors.

How do I identigy an employee’s race and/or ethnicity for EEO reporting?

Self-identification is the preferred method of identifying race and ethnic information necessary for the EEO-1 Report. In the application, give candidates the means to self-identify demographic information. If the applicant is hired, you can give the new hire another opportunity to self-identify.

As to the method of collecting data, the EEOC recommend the following for ethnic and racial self-identification:

1. Offer employees the opportunity to self-identify and
2. Provide a statement about the voluntary nature of this inquiry for employees U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

How can I comply with the EEO and OFCCP Guidelines for Recruiting?

Compliance for recruiters and business owners includes more than tracking and reporting demographic information on workers after hire. There are also EEO applicant tracking rules for applicants not hired. Employers and hiring teams should keep records that verify hiring decisions. Decisions may include which candidates were given a phone screening interview, which candidates were interviewed and which candidates were given an assessment.

To maintain compliance, review job descriptions, applications, applicant identification, interview scorecards, and candidate assessments. Employers should keep applicant data for at least one year.

Do I need to report applicant data?

As discusses, employers are required to file EEO-1 reports annually. However, you don’t need to submit data for candidates not hired. The information will be used if a rejected candidate files a discrimination claim against your organization. In such an event, you want to have comprehensive documentation about your hiring process and the rationale for hiring decision. Applications, filtering questionnaires, assessment scores and interview evaluations can help verify if your process was fair and non-discriminatory.

What tools streamline EEO and OFCCP compliance?

Applicant tracking systems automate the entire hiring workflow. This includes job descriptions, resume organization and management, filtering questionnaires, interview scripts, candidate scorecards and applicant databases.

 

See also

• Workplace Diversity
• Diversity Hiring
• Discrimination
• Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA)

Additional resources

• Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, U.S. Department of Labor
• Root Out These 7 insidious Types of Hiring Bias, Swipeclock
• Do You Want to Increase Workforce Diversity?, Swipeclock