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OMB Halts New Pay Data Collection Requirements, Follows AGC Regulatory Recommendations

On August 29, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) informed the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) that it is initiating a review and immediate stay of the effectiveness of the pay data collection aspects of the EEO-1 form that was revised on September 29, 2016, in accordance with its authority under the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA). OMB’s decision follows AGC’s regulatory recommendations, specifically that the new EEO-1 requirements were unnecessary and burdensome. “Among other things, OMB is concerned that some aspects of the revised collection of information lack practical utility, are unnecessarily burdensome, and do not adequately address privacy and confidentiality issues,” the office said in its memo to the EEOC.

OMB’s action does not completely rescind the revised EEO-1 Report, but it does relieve employers of their obligation to file the new “Component 2” (W-2 pay and FLSA hours worked information). The previously approved EEO-1 form which collects data on race, ethnicity and gender by occupational category will remain in effect. Employers should plan to comply with the earlier approved EEO-1 (Component 1) by the previously set filing date of March 2018.

Component 1 is simply the “old” format that employers used to file the last round of reports in September 2016. Those reports tally ethnicity, race, and gender data, by EEO-1 category for each physical location. A link to EEOC’s Frequently Asked Question about the EEO-1 filing can be found here.

AGC opposed the new data collection, calling upon the Trump administration and Congress to rescind the Obama administration Presidential Memorandum ordering the new EEO-1 form, and the form itself. AGC submitted comprehensive comments explaining its position to the EEOC in April and August 2016. AGC also testified against this new requirement before Congress in September 2016. 

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