In connection with the publication of the NPRM on the pay data reporting tool last week, today the proposed Equal Pay Report (Equal Pay Report) and Instructions, as well as a Supporting Statement, were released to the public.  The Equal Pay Report is to be filled annually by employers through a yet-to-be released online filing system.

As set forth in the proposed regulations, the form is designed to collect summary pay data by EEO-1 category for males and females by race/ethnicity. Race, ethnicity and job categories are the same as in the EEO-1 Report.

Additional details are as follows:

• The filing period for the Report is January 1 to March 31 of each year.  The Report must be submitted annually to OFCCP no later than March 31 of each year.

• The Report must include total W-2 Wage and Tax Statement (W-2) earnings and total work hours for the calendar year, January 1 – December 31, for all employees included in your most recent EEO-1 Report.

• The Report must include all employees whether or not they are still employed on December 31st.

• Total work hours means all work hours for each employee in each race/ethnicity and job category during the calendar year.

Work hours are calculated as follows:

• For salaried workers actual hours of work must be provided, if available.  Otherwise, you may use 2,080 hours for full-time employees and 1,040 for part-time employees.

• For hourly workers, provide actual hours of work.

• Reported hours may also be adjusted for part year work using date of hire or dates of absence (e.g., vacation or leave), but this is not required.

As with the EEO-1 Report, the EPR will require employers to provide Dun and Bradstreet numbers as well as North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) codes.  OFCCP has indicated its plans to make data received in the EPRs public by industry.

Similar to the EEO-1 Report, employers have the option to file a single-establishment report or multiple-establishment reports for each establishment “regardless of the establishment’s size” as well as a headquarters report.  There is no “consolidated report” requirement as is the case with the EEO-1.

The report will also require employers to certify the accuracy of the report prior to submission.

The window to submit public comments on the NPRM and associated form and instructions will remain open until early November.