EEOC proposes September 30 deadline for pay data reporting

As previously reported, a federal judge recently reinstated the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC) rules for the collection of pay information (Component 2), in addition to the collection of demographic information (Component 1), on the annual EEO-1 Survey. Although the federal judge concluded that the EEOC could proceed with the collection of pay information, the ruling left employers in the dark with respect to the deadline for submitting the pay information. Due to the federal government shutdown, the EEOC had already postponed the collection of the demographic information until May 31, 2019. The court ordered the EEOC to provide employers with guidance regarding the deadline for submission of pay information by April 3,2019.  

In keeping with the court order, this week, the EEOC advised that it will extend the deadline for collecting pay information, or Component 2 of the EEO-1 Survey, to September 30, 2019. The plaintiffs in the case have until April 8 to respond to the EEOC’s stated plans for pay data collection. Employer organizations, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, have submitted amicus curie, or “friend of the court,” briefs arguing that any pay data collection should occur in 12 to18 months, at the earliest. It is expected that the court will issue a ruling shortly after the plaintiff’s deadline and will continue to provide updates on this issue. In the meantime, the deadline to submit race, ethnicity and gender data (Component 1) remains May 31, 2019.