The EEO-1 Survey is scheduled to open in just six days, but last week, a federal judge issued a ruling that requires employers to submit pay data broken down by sex, race, and ethnicity.

Revised EEO-1 Background

In September 2016, after months of public comment, the EEOC announced that starting in March 2018, it would begin collecting summary employee pay data through the annual Employer Information Report (EEO-1) to improve investigations of possible pay discrimination.  The revised EEO-1 form was approved by the Office of Management and Budget (“OMB”) under the Obama administration.  In August 2017, however, the Trump Administration’s OMB informed the EEOC that it had initiated a review and immediate stay of the pay data collection requirements on the revised EEO-1 form.  Employers were advised to use the old EEO-1 form.

The Lawsuit

A lawsuit was filed challenging the OMB’s stay of the pay data collection.  In an opinion filed on March 4, 2019, a D.C. federal court determined that “OMB’s stay of EEOC’s pay data collection was illegal” and ordered the reinstatement of the revised EEO-1 form previously approved in 2016.

Now What?

As of the writing of this article, the EEOC’s website states that the EEO-1 Survey will open on March 18, 2019, and is due by May 31, 2019.  No announcements have been made as to whether OMB will appeal the decision or if the EEOC will delay the opening and due date of the EEO-1 yet again.