EEOC Delays EEO Data Collections Due to COVID-19 Public Health Emergency

Opening of the 2019 EEO-1 Component 1 data has been delayed

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) will delay the anticipated opening of the 2019 EEO-1 Component 1 data collection and the 2020 EEO-3 and EEO-5 data collections because of the COVID-19 public health emergency, the agency announced in a Federal Registrar notice.

The EEO surveys collect data from employers in different sectors of the workforce. The EEOC was planning to open the following EEO surveys in 2020: the 2019 EEO-1 Component 1 (Employer Information Report); the 2020 EEO-3 (Local Report); and the 2020 EEO-5 (Elementary-Secondary Staff Information Report).

Filers of the EEO-1, EEO-3, and EEO-5, which include private sector employers, local referral unions, and public elementary and secondary school districts, are dealing with unique and urgent issues. Delaying the collections until 2021 will ensure that EEO filers are better positioned to provide accurate, valid, and reliable data in a timely manner.

Filers should begin preparing to submit data in 2021. Pending approval from the Office of Management and Budget under the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA), the EEOC would being collecting the 2019 and 2020 EEO-1 Component 1 in March 2021, and will notify filers of the precise date the surveys will open as soon as it is available. The EEOC would expect to begin collecting the 2020 EEO-3 and the 2020 EEO-5 in January 2021 and will notify filers of the precise date the surveys will open as soon as it is available.

In addition to updates to the agency website, the EEOC will be reaching out directly to EEO-1, 3, and 5 filers regarding the delayed opening of surveys.