Background: In March, the District Court reinstated the EEOC's annual pay data collection requirement that was put in place at the end of the Obama administration but suspended by the Trump administration in 2017 before it was implemented. The reinstated pay data report would require employers to report the total number of employees and total number of hours worked for 12 different pay bands (pay ranges), 10 different EEO-1 job categories, and 14 different gender and race/ethnicity groups.
The EEOC has told the court it could begin collecting pay data beginning July 15, 2019, but the National Women’s Law Center wants the Commission to immediately collect the data before May 31, 2019.
The Court conditionally granted the amicus brief submitted by HR Policy and other trade associations that says “preparing to gather data prospectively will require approximately 18 months’ lead time” and gathering pay data retroactively for 2018 “is simply impractical.”
The latest Justice Department response noted the court only restored OMB’s approval for the EEOC to collect pay data, but the EEOC retains the authority under Title Vii to decided when to begin collecting it.
Outlook: Given the current uncertainty over the status of the EEO-1 report, employers are hoping for further guidance from the Court and the EEOC before implementing any changes to their HRIS and payroll systems.
