Significant Changes for EEO-1 Form

The EEOC also modified the job categories employed in the EEO-1 Form by subdividing the current “officials and managers” category into three sub-categories: Executive/Senior Level Officials and Managers; Mid-Level Officials and Managers; and Lower-Level Officials and Managers. The EEOC provides brief descriptions for each proposed category in the proposed regulations.

Conclusion

There is no doubt, if enacted, that these regulations will significantly change the way EEO data are collected and reported. What remains unknown is the extent to which these new definitions and categories will impact the litigation of EEO claims.

The EEOC has proposed significant changes in the way EEO-1 forms are to be completed, including revisions to the scope of the race/ethnicity categories and in the definition of job categories. The proposed revisions were published on June 11, 2003 in Volume 68, No. 112, pages 34965-69 of the Federal Register. Comments on the proposed revisions will be accepted until August 11.

The EEOC proposal includes modifications of the race/ethnicity categories, most notably by eliminating Hispanic or Latino as a race category, and instead treating it as an ethnicity. Hispanic employees would not be included in race categories. Employees must be categorized under the following races: White; Black or African American; Asian; Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander; American Indian or Alaskan Native; or two or more races.

The latter designation, two or more races, is new. If an employee fits that category, he or she would be included only in that category, and not in the individual race categories.

The EEOC also modified the job categories employed in the EEO-1 Form by subdividing the current “officials and managers” category into three sub-categories: Executive/Senior Level Officials and Managers; Mid-Level Officials and Managers; and Lower-Level Officials and Managers. The EEOC provides brief descriptions for each proposed category in the proposed regulations.

Conclusion

There is no doubt, if enacted, that these regulations will significantly change the way EEO data are collected and reported. What remains unknown is the extent to which these new definitions and categories will impact the litigation of EEO claims.