Some employers have expressed some confusion about whether the EEOC requires employers to resurvey their workforces for EEO-1 reporting purposes, particularly after the 2007 EEO-1 filing. DCI has confirmed directly with the EEOC that there is no requirement to resurvey.
According to a senior attorney in the EEOC’s Office of Legal Counsel, there is no requirement for employers to resurvey their workforces, although the EEOC “strongly” encourages employers to do so.
The EEOC attorney explained to DCI that “the aim in not mandating resurveying was to give employers flexibility to change to the new EEO-1 report format in a way that makes sense operationally for their particular organization.” However, the attorney also pointed out that the agency’s EEO-1 implementation FAQs state…”[o]pportunities to resurvey should be used as soon as possible.”
Additionally, the EEOC attorney pointed out that the agency’s written preamble to the final EEO-1 revision makes the same point, stating: “Employers should keep in mind, however, that opportunities to further resurvey without additional burden should be utilized as much and as soon as possible, for example, using routine updates of employees’ personal information to obtain updated EEO-1 data. Employers also should seek self-identification of new employees under the new ethnic and racial categories as soon as possible.”
DCI will continue to report on further clarifications.
by Patricia A. Schaeffer, Vice President-Regulatory Affairs