EEO-1 Reports

Effective the end of September, covered employers must use the new EEO-1 reporting form. An employer with 100 or more employees or a federal government contractor with at least one government contract of $50,000 and 50 or more employees is a covered employer and must file an EEO-1 Report form annually.

According to the EEOC, the "EEO-1 report is the principal reporting form by which certain employers provide the federal government with a count of their workforces by ethnicity, race and gender, divided into job categories."

Changes include:

• Adding a new category titled "Two or more races not Hispanic or Latino";
  Separating "Asians" from "Pacific Islanders";
• Adding a new category titled "Asians not Hispanic or Latino";
  Adding a new category titled "Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander not Hispanic or Latino";
• Extending the EEO-1 data collection by race and ethnicity to the State of Hawaii; and
  Strongly endorsing self-identification of race and ethnic categories, as opposed to visual identification by employers.
• Dividing "Officials and Managers" into two levels based on responsibility and influence within the organization: "Executive/Senior Level Officials and Managers" and "First/Mid-Level Official and Managers"; and
• Moving non-managerial business and financial occupations from the "Officials and Managers" category to the "Professionals" category.

This is not an area or issue to take lightly, as there are penalties for noncompliance. The EEOC can obtain a court order requiring you to make a future filing and, for federal contractors, record keeping violations could lead to debarment from future contracts.