On January 27, 2006, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced the implementation of final revisions to the EEO-1 Report.
The revisions, which are the first major changes to the employer survey in four decades, set forth the format that is required for the first time for the 2007 survey. The changes are explained on the EEOC’s web site.
The revisions changed the race categories, distinguished between race and ethnicity, strongly endorsed employee self-identification of race and ethnicity, as opposed to visual identification by employers, extended the EEO-1 data collection by race and ethnicity to the State of Hawaii. The revisions also divided “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 moved non-managerial business and financial occupations from the “Officials and Managers” category to the “Professionals” category.
The revisions deleted the “Asian and Pacific Islanders” category and created the following new categories Two or More Races (not Hispanic or Latino), Asian (not Hispanic or Latino), and Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander (not Hispanic or Latino). The revisions also renamed “Black” as “Black or African American” (not Hispanic or Latino) and Renamed “Hispanic” as “Hispanic or Latino”
The EEOC directed employers to solicit ethnicity and race in a “two-question format.” The “two-question format” means that employees are first asked to report their Hispanic or Latino status and second to report the race or races they consider themselves to be. Despite several objections, the Commission retained the “two-question format. This issue is addressed in the Federal Register Notice and again in the Questions and Answers posted on the EEOC’s website regarding the Implementation of Revised Race and ethnic Categories.
Q: When collecting data for the EEO-1 report, should employers ask separate questions about ethnicity and race?
A: Yes. Employers should first ask if an employee is Hispanic or Latino (ethnicity), and second ask what race/races the employee considers himself to be. As explained in the November 28, 2005 Federal Register Notice, this approach is called the “Two Question Format.” See 70 Fed. Reg. 71297.
Employers have an option on how to solicit data regarding two or more races. Employees may be asked to identify with one or more of the five race categories or a sixth race category (two or more races) may be added with employees having the option to identify with one of the six categories. The EEOC addressed this issue in the Questions and Answers posted on the EEOC’s website regarding the Implementation of Revised Race and Ethnic Categories.
Q: May employers ask employees to specify particular races rather than simply to check the category “Two or More Races”?
A: Yes. Employers may ask employees to specify particular races rather than to check “Two or More Races,” but they are not required to do so. If employees supply detailed race data, employers must preserve it as an employment record under 29 CFR § 1602.14. For purposes of the new EEO-1 report, employers should count such employees in the “Two or More Races” category.
Questions and Answers regarding the revisions to the EEO-1 Report can be found on the EEOC’s web site. The Notice published in the Federal Register regarding the changes is available on the GPO Access website.