Washington, DC – Today, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) voted to issue a proposed rule that would rescind its longstanding regulations that required large employers to submit crucial workforce demographic data through the EEO-1 Component 1 data collection (EEO-1). As NWLC’s new resource explains, if the rule is finalized, the agency will stop collecting and publishing EEO-1 data, something it has done for the past sixty years. EEO-1 is just the beginning as the EEOC is proposing to rescind other data collections, including information from unions and state and local governments.  

“Today’s vote opens the door for discrimination to be swept under the rug. The EEOC’s decision to stop collecting information about who is in the workforce is a grave attack on civil rights enforcement,” said Katie Sandson, senior counsel at the National Women’s Law Center. “Eliminating data about the demographics of the workforce not only makes discrimination harder to identify and address; it also makes it easier for the EEOC to justify enforcement priorities driven by politics rather than facts. There is still time for the public to push back against this harmful proposal through public comments, and NWLC will continue to fight to preserve this critically important source of data. The agency will be hearing from us.”

Since the 1960s, the EEOC has required employers with 100 or more employees to submit workforce demographic data annually. Through EEO-1 data collection, employers were required to report on the racial, ethnic, and sex makeup of their workforce  across ten job categories, ranging from executive-level managers to service workers. The collection of this information helped the EEOC and state and local civil rights enforcement agencies combat workplace discrimination.

To speak with an expert about the impacts of this rescission, please contact Serena Zets at [email protected]. 

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