On Friday, January 29, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) unveiled a new proposed rule which would require companies with more than 100 employees to submit employee W-2 earnings and hours worked. Private sector employers currently have to file an EEO-1 Report, which provides the federal government with workforce profiles by race, ethnicity, sex, and job category.
According to EEOC officials, collecting more data would assist in enforcing equal pay laws, assess complaints of discrimination, and provide better insight into the gender pay gap across industries and occupations. The EEOC and the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) would jointly have access to the new pay data for enforcement purposes.
Comments on the pay data reporting proposal are due by April 1, 2016. EEOC plans to hold a public hearing concerning the proposed changes at a place and time to be announced. To request an opportunity to speak at the hearing, a written request must be submitted to the EEOC Executive Secretariat no later than February 22, 2016.
The rule is expected to be finalized by September, with the first reports collecting this new data due in the fall of 2017. To view a copy of the proposal, go to https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2016/02/01/2016-01544/agency-information-collection-activities-revision-of-the-employer-information-report-eeo-1-and#h-4
For additional information, contact Stephanie Salmon, AFS Washington Office, ssalmon@afsinc.org