The EEOC recently announced that the 2021 EEO-1 Component 1 data collection is tentatively scheduled to open on Tuesday, April 12, 2022. The EEO-1 Component 1 report is a mandatory data collection that requires all private-sector employers with 100 or more employees, and federal contractors with 50 or more employees meeting certain criteria, to report on the race/ethnicity and gender of their workforce by job categories. Covered employers are required to submit their data annually to the EEOC, collecting employment data between any period from October through December.
Traditionally, Component 1 data must be filed by March 31 of the following year. However, the EEOC has announced collection of the 2021 Component 1 data is scheduled to begin in April 2022. Notably, the EEOC has not yet established a deadline for collecting the data, indicating updates will be posted on the agency’s website as they become available.
The coronavirus pandemic is a potential cause of the delay in the data collection opening. In 2020, the 2019 EEO-1 Component 1 data collection was postponed due to COVID. As a result, covered employers were required to submit both 2019 and 2020 data in 2021. However, the filings experienced additional delays due to the pandemic, and the final deadline to submit the 2019 and 2020 data was on October 25, 2021. The EEOC is currently working through a backlog of issues, attempting to address the myriad of questions employers had regarding their filings this year.
At this point, the EEOC help desk is no longer accepting new requests for assistance. The Filer Support Team will resume normal operations immediately prior to the opening of the 2021 EEO-1 Component 1 data collection next year. The EEO-1 Component 1 data collection portal is closed now for new submissions. Filers can still access their accounts on the portal to retrieve historical data (previously submitted and certified EEO-1 reports), but they cannot submit new filings.
We will keep you informed of any new developments from the EEOC. If you have any questions or require assistance with your 2021 EEO-1 filings, please contact the authors of this Alert, Nancy Holt, partner in our D.C. office at nholt@fordharrison.com, Jill Harrison, partner in our Atlanta office at jharrison@fordharrison.com, or Erica Johnson, associate in our Memphis office, at ejohnson@fordharrison.com, all of whom are members of FordHarrison’s Affirmative Action/OFCCP practice group. Of course, you can also contact the FordHarrison attorney with whom you usually work.