The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced this week that it will open the EEO-1 Component 1 Report in April 2021.  The EEO-1 requires covered employers to report by job category the race, ethnicity and gender of its employees.  Because the EEOC postponed the filing deadline for the EEO-1 in 2020, covered employers will be required to file both the 2019 and 2020 EEO-1 Component 1 Reports beginning in April 2021.

Covered employers include those with 100 or more employees and federal contractors with 50 or more employees and a federal contract of $50,000 or more.  Note that employers with less than 100 employees who are owned or affiliated with another entity such that the combined employee count is over 100 employees may also be required to file this report.

Covered employers are encouraged to confirm that all employees have had the opportunity to voluntarily self-identify their gender, ethnicity and race.  If an employer identifies employees who have not responded to this voluntary invitation, employers may re-extend the invitation and/or rely on employment documents such as an I-9 or visual observation.  If an employer needs to rely on visual observation, it will be easier to gather this information now rather than waiting until April 2021.