EEOC Wants to Ax Employee Reporting. What Would This Mean for You?

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently proposed an end to six decades of federally mandated workforce demographic data collection.

If the rule change is implemented, employers with 100 or more employees and federal contractors with 50 or more employees would no longer be required to collect and submit annual data on their employees’ race or ethnicity, sex, and job category — known as EEO-1 reporting.

It also would end similar reporting requirements for local referral unions (EEO-3), some state and local government entities (EEO-4), public elementary and secondary schools (EEO-5), and certain apprenticeships (EEO-2), although the EEO-2 reporting process is currently inactive.

“This data has been a tool that’s been around for 60 years and has helped organizations identify patterns of workforce segregation, compensation disparities and pay inequity,” said Allan Schweyer, a principal researcher at The Conference Board, a business and economic research think tank. “Without it, the government will lose its main mechanism for detecting systemic discrimination across industries, and lawyers will lose a source of evidence.”

Let’s delve into this situation a bit deeper.

Access bonus Workspan Daily Plus+ articles on this subject:

• With EEO-1 Reporting Up in the Air, Here Are Some Recommended Actions
• Beyond EEO-1: Why Demographic Data Will Still Matter

The Path to This Point

According to Schweyer, the EEOC proposal is the latest in a series of steps toward unraveling regulatory and judicial precedence related to workforce discrimination. Previous steps have included:

• An April 2025 executive order deprioritizing emphasis on “disparate impact” or “adverse impact” in employment discrimination assessments.
• A 2025 EEOC statement that using EEO-1 data for diversity initiatives is, in itself, discriminatory, even if that data indicates employer policies adversely impact certain groups.
• A June 2026 Department of Justice opinion calling the EEOC’s long-established disparate-impact guidelines unconstitutional.

What Happens Next

The EEOC submitted the proposed rule change, titled “Rescission of EEO-1, EEO-2, EEO-3, EEO-4, EEO-5 and Reporting Requirements under Title VII, the ADA, GINA and the PWFA,” on May 14 to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), which falls under the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

At a more granular level:

• Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation and transgender status) and national origin. It applies to hiring, firing, compensation and workplace harassment.
• The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), enacted in 1990, prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities in all areas of public life, including employment.
• The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA), passed in 2008, protects Americans from being treated unfairly by health insurers and employers based on their DNA or family medical history.
• The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA), finalized in 2024, requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations for employees’ known limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions.

Once the OMB reviews a proposed rule, the initiating agency publishes it in the Federal Register. The OIRA website indicates this initial review concluded on June 9. Generally, a comment period follows, allowing the general public, advocacy groups, employers and other stakeholders to submit written comments, shared Camille Olson, a partner at the Seyfarth Shaw law firm and a trustee at The Conference Board.

After reviewing the comments, the agency will submit the final rule to the OMB for approval.

As the process is ongoing, updates can be found on the OIRA website, the Federal Register and the EEOC website.

What Employers Should Know

According to Schweyer and Olson, key items that employers should keep in mind include:

• Since the rule change process is incomplete and can take months, employers should prepare to report as usual by the annual deadline, which has varied in recent years.
• The end of EEOC reporting doesn’t mean employers cannot, or should not, continue to collect demographic data. Some states will continue to require it, and it can still serve as a defense in discrimination claims.

“I’d expect to see a reallocation of HR compliance resources that are currently being devoted to gathering, validating and submitting the EEO-1 aggregated workforce demographics data each year to a future-looking set of demographic data that will be perhaps more relevant to the company,” Olson said. “Maybe it will focus employers on more specifically collecting and analyzing data that actually makes sense for their workforce and employment practices.”

Editor’s Note: Additional Content

For more information and resources related to this article, see the pages below, which offer quick access to all WorldatWork content on these topics:

• Equitable and Diverse Workplaces
• Organizational Performance
• People Analytics