The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) requires certain companies to submit a report categorizing their employees by race or ethnicity, gender, and job category. This demographic survey, called the EEO-1, is due by September 30, 2016. Private employers that meet one or more of the following criteria are required to file the report:

Employs 100 or more employees (excluding primary and secondary school systems, institutions of higher education, Indian tribes, and certain tax-exempt private membership clubs)
Employs fewer than 100 employees if the company is owned by or affiliated with another company and the entire enterprise employs a total of 100 or more employees
Is a federal contractor with 50 or more employees, is not exempt under 41 CFR 60-1.5, and: a. Is a prime contractor or first-tier subcontractor with a contract, subcontract, or purchase order amounting to $50,000 or more; or b. Serves as a depository of government funds in any amount; or c. Is a financial institution that is an issuing and paying agent for U.S. Savings Bonds and Notes.
If required to file the report, here are some things for employers to keep in mind:

The EEOC would prefer online filings.
Single-establishment companies (one office location) are required to submit only one EEO-1 data report. Multi-establishment companies are required to submit a separate report for each location of your company.
Employees must be given the opportunity to self-identify their ethnicity. If they refuse to self-identify, then use employment records or visual observation.
Pull employment data from one pay period in July, August, or September.
Report on all employees, whether full-time, part-time, temporary, per diem, etc.
Include employees who work from home or telecommute in the survey for the location to which they report (not where they live).
Do not include applicant data.
Be sure to click the “certify report” button—if you don’t, the EEOC will not receive the report!


Proposed Revisions Still Pending

Last February, a proposed change to the annual EEO-1 report, which would require that employers with more than 100 employees report pay data in addition to the information they currently provide on race, ethnicity, sex, and job category. The proposed rule was published and went through a comment period, but a final rule has not yet been announced.

If a final rule is published that matches the proposed rule, private employers and federal contractors with over 100 employees would be required to submit data on employees’ W-2 earnings and hours worked. Federal contractors with 50-99 employees would continue to report on race or ethnicity and sex by job category, but would not report earnings data; private employers with fewer than 100 employees would continue to be exempt from EEO-1 reporting.