Employers with 100 or more employees and employers that are federal contractors with 50 or more employees and federal contracts valued at $50,000 or greater are familiar with the annual requirement that by each May 31st, they file a Form EEO-1 with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). This form reports what is referred to as “Component 1” data, consisting of the race, ethnicity, and gender of the employer’s workforce.

On May 8, 2020, the EEOC placed a notice in the Federal Register that, due to the ongoing COVID-19 public health emergency and consistent with delays in other federal reporting requirements, no Component 1 data collection will take place until 2021. The notice indicates that the EEOC anticipates that it will collect 2019 Component 1 data along with 2020 Component 1 data, each in March 2021. Accordingly, employers who ordinarily would be required to file their Form EEO-1 for 2019 by May 31, 2020 will not have to do so until they file that form for 2020 beginning sometime in the first quarter of next year. The EEOC stated that it will issue a notice as well as inform eligible Form EEO-1 filers when the 2019 and 2020 collection period begins, as well as advise of the new deadline for filing of 2019 and 2020 Form EEO-1s. Employers who file that form therefore should monitor this issue in order to comply with the deferred deadline when announced.