EEO Compliance Dispatch

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act requires employers to “make such reports . . . as the [Equal Employment Opportunity] Commission shall prescribe by regulation or order. . . .”

Since 1966, the report required of private employers by the EEOC has been the EEO-1 Report, officially the Equal Employment Opportunity Standard Form 100.

Last Thursday, the EEOC submitted a plan to the White House, seeking to end employers’ annual reporting requirements. In addition to eliminating the EEO-1 Report, the EEOC would scrap the EEO-3 (local unions), EEO-4 (state and local governments), and EEO-5 (public schools) reports.

The EEO-1 Report requires private employers with 100 or more employees to submit race, ethnicity, sex, and occupational categories of employees by location. Federal contractors are required to submit the EEO-1 Report if they have 50 or more employees.

This move by the EEOC comes after Russell Vought, acting director of the Consumer Protection Bureau, “chided” the EEOC “for asking federal agencies about gender identity and diversity and inclusion for annual reports on their equal employment opportunity programs.” (A paid subscription may be required to access the link.) As reported by Law360,

Vought said aspects of the EEOC's [report required for federal agencies] conflict with executive orders President Donald Trump has issued, pointing to orders that directed federal agencies to end diversity, equity and inclusion policies, preferences and programs, and to recognize only males and females as two distinct biological sexes.

From the other side of the aisle, Rep. Lauren Underwood (D-IL) had attempted to amend an appropriations bill to require that EEOC funding be used for collecting employee demographic information from employers. This effort failed, however, when it received no Republican support.

Three things employers should NOT do in response to the EEOC’s proposal

No.1: Don’t assume that you can relax about EEO-1 reporting in 2026. The EEOC has not yet notified employers of a deadline for submitting EEO-1 Reports for the 2025 reporting year.

However, current law requires employers to submit EEO-1 reports annually by September 30. Considering the amount of time needed to complete the administrative process to rescind the reporting mandate, it is entirely possible that the process will not be complete as of this coming September 30. Thus, employers should treat EEO-1 reporting obligations as in full force and effect until the requirement is officially rescinded.

No. 2: Don’t stop soliciting demographic information from employees. Even if the obligation to report employee data to the federal government goes away, Title VII’s recordkeeping provisions remain in place.

Specifically, the Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures require employers to maintain data that will disclose whether employment procedures have a disparate impact based on race, ethnicity, or sex. To comply, employers should continue to request race and sex information at the time of hire to ensure that they have the appropriate data.

No. 3: Don’t forget about state reporting requirements. Some states, such as California and Illinois, require employers to submit regular reports that include information regarding employee demographics and other metrics.

In addition, if the EEO-1 Report is eliminated, the State of Massachusetts may modify its statute, which currently requires employers to submit their most recent EEO-1 Reports.

And with an absence of action at the federal level, other states may enact similar reporting requirements.

Finally, organizations that contract with state governments may have commitments to develop affirmative action plans or submit reports that rely on employee demographic data.

We will keep you updated regarding the EEOC’s proposal to rescind the EEO-1 Report and its effect on 2026 reporting deadlines. For questions about EEO-1 reporting requirements, please contact any member of Constangy’s EEO/Contractor Compliance, Reporting & Analytics Practice Group.