By: Evan Szarenski and Joanna Colosimo
OFCCP began notifying contractors, that did not object to release of EEO-1 Type 2 reports, of a data release after January 2, 2023. However, there is a problem: contractors who did object have also received this notice.
As covered in a previous blog post, OFCCP received a request under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) for the EEO-1 Type 2 reports for all federal contractors and first-tier subcontractors from 2016 to 2020. The EEO-1 Type 2 reports show the demographic information regarding race/ethnicity and sex for the total workforce, including subsidiaries and related entities. OFCCP initially gave contractors until September 19 (later extended to October 19, to object to the release of the EEO-1 Type 2 reports on the basis that the information is a trade secret or commercial or financial information that is privileged or confidential. OFCCP stated that it would consider any contractors that did not respond to have no objection to the release of the EEO-1 Type 2 report.
If your organization did not object to the release of the EEO-1 reports, no action is necessary. As stated above, however, some organizations that did object to the release of the EEO-1 reports received this notice. If your organization received this notice despite having objected to the release of the EEO-1 reports it is important to take action to avoid OFCCP releasing the report without evaluating your objection.
The notice from OFCCP provides an email address to contact OFCCP if you believe the notice was received in error (for example, if your organization did object). If you objected to the release of your organization’s EEO-1 data but still received this notification from OFCCP, you can respond to OFCCP-FOIA-EEO1-Questions@dol.gov explaining that your organization objected. The e-mail should contain the unit number for your organization (the 7-digit number after “CO=” on the EEO-1 reports). We recommend attaching a copy of your original objection to the email.
DCI will continue to monitor developments in this space moving forward.