[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 227 (Monday, November 25, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 64932-64933]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-25458]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs


Intention Not To Request, Accept, or Use Employer Information 
Report (EEO-1) Component 2 Data

AGENCY: Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs.

ACTION: Notice.

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[[Page 64933]]

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Federal Contract 
Compliance Programs (OFCCP) and the Equal Employment Opportunity 
Commission (EEOC) collect workforce data through the Employer 
Information Report (EEO-1) (currently OMB Control No. 3046-0007) under 
the Joint Reporting Committee. The EEOC's legal authority to collect 
this data derives from Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, and OFCCP's 
authority derives from Executive Order 11246. The EEO-1 collects 
information from private employers and federal contractors regarding 
the number of employees by job category, and by sex, race, and 
ethnicity (Component 1). This information is shared between the two 
agencies to avoid duplicative information collections and minimize the 
burden on employers. A recent court decision, National Women's Law 
Center v. Office of Management and Budget, 358 F. Supp. 3d 66 (D.D.C. 
2019), appeal docketed, No. 19-5130 (D.C. Cir. May 8, 2019), ordered 
reinstatement of the approval by the Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB) of a 2016 revision to the EEO-1 that requires filers to 
additionally submit aggregated employee pay and hours worked (Component 
2). However, EEOC, the agency responsible for securing OMB approval of 
the EEO-1 data collection under the Paperwork Reduction Act, has now 
given notice that it does not intend to submit to OMB a request to 
renew Component 2 under the current OMB control number, and it has 
requested that Component 1 be assigned a new OMB control number. OFCCP 
will not request, accept, or use Component 2 data, as it does not 
expect to find significant utility in the data given limited resources 
and its aggregated nature, but it will continue to receive EEO-1 
Component 1 data.

DATES: This action is effective immediately.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Harvey D. Fort, Deputy Director, 
Division of Policy and Program Development, Office of Federal Contract 
Compliance Programs, Room C-3325, 200 Constitution Avenue NW, 
Washington, DC 20210. Telephone: (202) 693-0103 (voice) or (202) 693-
1337 (TTY) (these are not toll-free numbers). Copies of this notice may 
be obtained in alternative formats (large print, braille, audio 
recording) upon request by calling the numbers listed above.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:  OFCCP administers and enforces Executive 
Order 11246, as amended (E.O. 11246), which applies to federal 
contractors and subcontractors. Executive Order 11246 prohibits 
employment discrimination and requires affirmative action to ensure 
equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, religion, sex, 
sexual orientation, gender identity, or national origin. It also 
prohibits federal contractors and subcontractors from discriminating 
against applicants and employees for asking about, discussing, or 
sharing information about their pay or the pay of their co-workers, 
subject to certain limitations.
    OFCCP has reviewed the parameters of the EEO-1 Component 2 data 
collection and has determined that it does not find Component 2 data 
necessary to accomplish its mission to ensure federal contractors are 
not engaged in unlawful pay discrimination. This data is collected in a 
format that is highly aggregated. Although the data could potentially 
inform OFCCP's scheduling process for compliance evaluations, it is too 
broad to provide much utility to OFCCP. The data is not collected at a 
level of detail that would enable OFCCP to make comparisons among 
similarly situated employees as required by the Title VII standards 
that OFCCP applies in administering and enforcing Executive Order 
11246. OFCCP receives up-to-date, employee-level pay data from 
contractors that are selected for compliance evaluations. This data 
enables OFCCP to identify disparities in pay that may violate Executive 
Order 11246 by comparing the pay of employees who are similarly 
situated under the contractors' pay practices. Therefore, OFCCP does 
not need the EEO-1 Component 2 pay data for that purpose.
    Analyzing EEO-1 Component 2 pay data would therefore put an 
unnecessary financial burden on OFCCP. The agency's limited resources 
do not support the enhanced scope of review of employer practices or 
provide the human capital and technical capacity that would be required 
to make use of the data.
    Given the limited utility of the data for OFCCP's purposes within 
the constraints of OFCCP's available resources, OFCCP will not request 
or accept EEO-1 Component 2 data. OFCCP will continue to receive EEO-1 
Component 1 data from covered contractors and subcontractors through 
the Joint Reporting Committee for purposes of reviewing their 
compliance with Executive Order 11246 and its implementing regulations, 
including the reporting requirements at 41 CFR 60-1.7.

Harvey D. Fort,
Deputy Director, Division of Policy and Program Development, Office of 
Federal Contract Compliance Programs.
[FR Doc. 2019-25458 Filed 11-22-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4510-CM-P