By Fred Satterwhite
BLOG OVERVIEW: Federal regulators have extended approval for employers to continue collecting applicant race, ethnicity, and sex self-identification data under the Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures (UGESP) through June 30, 2029. Despite a separate EEOC proposal to rescind EEO-1 and related reporting requirements, this extension confirms that U.S. employers must keep inviting applicants to voluntarily self-identify and analyze that data to ensure compliance with Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The renewal reinforces UGESP's role in detecting barriers to equal employment opportunity and supporting EEOC investigations of disparate treatment pattern-or-practice cases.
On June 24, 2026, the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) approved an extension without change of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC) approved information collection (IC) under the Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures (UGESP). The IC is now approved through June 30, 2029.
EEOC’s information collection request (ICR), which originated during the Biden administration with the Federal Register notice published on October 29, 2024, did not receive any feedback from the public during the ensuing 60-day comment period. EEOC submitted the ICR and a supporting statement to OIRA on January 6, 2025.
For U.S. employers, this extension reinforces that collecting, maintaining, and analyzing race/ethnicity and sex self-identification data for applicants is necessary to assure compliance with Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq.).
In the ICR's supporting statement, EEOC described the purpose and use of the covered information:
"The information collection provisions contained in UGESP only involve data collection and recordkeeping, as described at 29 C.F.R. § § 1607.4, 1607.15. This information is used by the federal agencies that issued UGESP in investigating, conciliating, and litigating charges or complaints of employment discrimination; by complainants in establishing violations of federal equal employment opportunity laws; and by respondents in defending against allegations of employment discrimination. UGESP does not include any reporting requirements. However, EEOC, DOL, and DOJ can demand and inspect those records under their respective investigative authorities (for example, in connection with any investigation of an employment discrimination charge, EEOC has the right to access and copy any relevant documents, 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000e-8(a) and 2000e-9)."
EEOC further stated, "In support of the UGESP requirements, the regulations require [emphasis added] that employers collect and keep race, sex, and ethnicity information about each of their applicants." The collection, maintenance, and analysis of such data are crucial to EEOC’s investigations of disparate treatment pattern-or-practice cases, which the Commission has emphasized as an enforcement priority in its recently published National Enforcement Plan for Fiscal Years 2025-2029.
EEOC emphasized the importance of using this information: “The collection of accurate applicant flow data enhances each employer’s ability to address deficiencies in recruitment and selection processes, including detecting barriers to equal employment opportunity.”
As justification for requiring the sensitive questions, EEOC stated, "This demographic data is necessary for covered employers to assure that they are complying with Title VII [of the Civil Rights Act]" and "by the federal agencies that enforce Title VII." The statement further said, "Employers should advise applicants that identification by race, gender and ethnicity is sought, not for employment decisions, but for recordkeeping in compliance with federal law. Self-identification forms should be kept separately from the employment application and must not be a basis for employment decisions. Self-identification is voluntary."
Even while EEOC is working on a proposed rule that would rescind the EEO-1, EEO-2, EEO-3, EEO-4, and EEO-5 reporting requirements, the extension of the UGESP IC approval for three more years makes clear that employers must continue to invite applicants to self-identify race/ethnicity and sex information and analyze the data to ensure they remain in compliance with Title VII.
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