The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently announced a pair of major changes to the EEO-1 filing process. The most recent was on May 7, 2020, when the EEOC announced that due to the COVID-19 pandemic it was filing a notice in the Federal Register delaying collection of the 2019 EEO-1 report this year and requesting approval to collect both 2019 and 2020 EEO-1 data beginning in the first quarter of 2021. The EEOC also announced in the notice that it is delaying the collection of EEO-3 (Local Report) and EEO-5 (Elementary-Secondary Staff Information Report) data.

This means that employers are not required to submit their 2019 EEO-1 data during 2020. While the EEOC still awaits approval as to the timing for collecting the 2019 and 2020 EEO-1 reports, the current expectation is that this will happen in the first quarter of 2021. While this action gives employers breathing room, it appears that based on the likely workplace changes between now and the first quarter of 2021, it may benefit employers to nail down their 2019 EEO-1 data now.

In an earlier move, on March 23, 2020, the EEOC provided notice of its decision to end collection of Component 2 EEO-1 pay data. The EEOC did this by publishing a 30-day notice in the Federal Register requesting the Office of Management and Budget to approve ending EEO-1 pay data collection and to only collect the traditional or Component 1 EEO-1 data for the next three years. As a result of the lawsuit National Women’s Law Center, et al. v. Office of Management and Budget, et al., employers were required to file Component 2 pay data for 2017 and 2018 with that data collection ending on February 10, 2020. The EEOC based its decision to end the pay data filings on a determination that the practical utility of the collected pay data is far outweighed by the burden imposed by the collection of the pay data.

While these two EEOC actions have provided clarity for EEO-1 filers, government contractors required to file the 2020 VETS-4212 report still do not know if the traditional September 30, deadline remains in place or will be moved. The Veterans’ Employment & Training Service, which handles the VETS-4212 filings, has not yet made a statement about the September 30, 2020, deadline. Based on this uncertainty, government contractors may want to continue preparing their VETS-4212 data.