[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 100 (Wednesday, May 26, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28340-28342]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-11072]


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EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION


Agency Information Collection Activities: Extension Without 
Change of an Existing Collection; Comments Request

AGENCY: Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the 
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC or Commission) announces 
that it intends to submit to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 
a request for a three-year extension without change of the existing 
recordkeeping requirements under its regulations. The Commission is 
seeking public comments on the proposed extension.

DATES: Written comments on this notice must be submitted on or before 
July 26, 2021.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods--
please use only one method:
    Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the

[[Page 28341]]

instructions on the website for submitting comments.
    Mail: Comments may be submitted by mail to Rachel See, Acting 
Executive Officer, Executive Secretariat, Equal Employment Opportunity 
Commission, 131 M Street NE, Washington, DC 20507.
    Fax: Comments totaling six or fewer pages may be sent by fax 
machine to (202) 663-4114. (This is not a toll-free number).) Receipt 
of fax transmittals will not be acknowledged, except that the sender 
may request confirmation of receipt by calling the Executive 
Secretariat staff at (202) 663-4070 (voice), (800) 669-6820 (TTY), or 
(844) 234-5122 (ASL Video Phone).
    Instructions: All comments received will be posted without change 
to http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information you 
provide. However, the EEOC reserves the right to refrain from posting 
inappropriate comments, including those that contain obscene, indecent, 
or profane language; that contain threats or defamatory statements; 
that contain hate speech directed at race, color, sex, national origin, 
age, religion, disability, or genetic information; or that promote or 
endorse services or products.
    Although copies of comments received are usually also available for 
review at the Commission's library, given the EEOC's current 100% 
telework status due to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) public 
health emergency, the Commission's library is closed until further 
notice. Once the Commission's library is re-opened, copies of comments 
received in response to this notice will be made available for viewing 
by appointment only at 131 M Street NE, Suite 4NW08R, Washington, DC 
20507, between the hours of 9:30 a.m. and 5 p.m.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kathleen Oram, Assistant Legal 
Counsel, at (202) 921-2665 or [email protected], or Erin Norris, 
Senior Attorney, at (980) 296-1286 or [email protected]. Requests 
for this notice in an alternative format should be made to the Office 
of Communications and Legislative Affairs at (202) 663-4191 (voice), 
(800) 669-6820 (TTY), or (844) 234-5122 (ASL Video Phone).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission 
(EEOC) enforces Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII), 
Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and Title II of 
the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (GINA), which 
collectively prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, color, 
religion, national origin, disability, or genetic information. Section 
709(c) of Title VII, section 107(a) of the ADA, and section 207(a) of 
GINA authorize the EEOC to issue recordkeeping and reporting 
regulations that are deemed reasonable, necessary or appropriate. The 
EEOC has promulgated recordkeeping regulations under those authorities 
that are contained in 29 CFR part 1602. These regulations do not 
require the creation of any particular records but generally require 
employers and labor organizations to preserve any personnel and 
employment records they make or keep for a period of one year or two 
years, and possibly longer if a charge of discrimination is filed.
    Pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, and OMB regulation 
5 CFR 1320.8(d)(1), the Commission solicits public comment to enable it 
to:
    (1) Evaluate whether the collection of information is necessary for 
the proper performance of the Commission's functions, including whether 
the information will have practical utility;
    (2) Evaluate the accuracy of the Commission's estimate of the 
burden of the collection of information, including the validity of the 
methodology and assumptions used;
    (3) Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to 
be collected; and
    (4) Minimize the burden of the collection of information on those 
who are to respond, including the use of appropriate, or other 
technological collection techniques or other forms of information 
technology, e.g., permitting electronic submission of responses.
    The EEOC seeks an extension without change of OMB's clearance under 
the PRA of the recordkeeping requirements in 29 CFR part 1602.

Overview of Current Information Collection

    Collection Title: Recordkeeping Under Title VII, the ADA, and GINA.
    OMB Number: 3046-0040.
    Description of Affected Public: Employers and labor organizations 
subject to Title VII.
    Number of Respondents: 989,379.
    Number of Reports Submitted: 0.
    Estimated Burden Hours: 162,223.
    Cost to Respondents: $0.
    Federal Cost: None.
    Number of Forms: None.
    Abstract: Section 709(c) of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 
1964, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 2000e-8(c), section 107(a) of the ADA, 42 
U.S.C. 12117(a), and section 207(a) of GINA, 42 U.S.C. 2000ff-6(a), 
direct the Commission to establish regulations pursuant to which 
entities subject to those Acts shall make and preserve certain records 
to assist the EEOC in ensuring compliance with the Acts' prohibitions 
on employment discrimination. Accordingly, the EEOC issued regulations 
setting out recordkeeping requirements for private employers (29 CFR 
1602.14); employers, labor organizations, and joint labor-management 
committees that control apprenticeship programs (29 CFR 1602.21(b)); 
labor organizations (29 CFR 1602.28(a)); state and local governments 
(29 CFR 1602.31); elementary and secondary school systems or districts 
(29 CFR 1602.40); and institutions of higher education (29 CFR 
1602.49(a)). Any of the records maintained which are subsequently 
disclosed to the EEOC during an investigation are protected from public 
disclosure by the confidentiality provisions of section 706(b) and 
709(e) of Title VII, which are also incorporated by reference into the 
ADA at section 107(a) and GINA at section 207(a).
    Burden Statement: The estimated number of respondents subject to 
this recordkeeping requirement is 989,379 entities, which combines 
estimates from private employment,\1\ the public sector,\2\ colleges 
and universities,\3\ apprenticeship programs,\4\ and referral 
unions.\5\ An entity subject to the recordkeeping requirement in 29 CFR 
part 1602 must retain all personnel or employment records, records 
relating to apprenticeship, or union membership or referral records 
made or kept by that entity for one year (private employers and 
referral unions) or two years (public sector, colleges and 
universities,

[[Page 28342]]

apprenticeship programs), and must retain any records relevant to 
charges of discrimination filed under Title VII, the ADA, or GINA until 
final disposition of those matters, which may be longer than one or two 
years. This recordkeeping requirement does not require reports or the 
creation of new documents, but merely requires retention of documents 
that an entity has already made or kept in the normal course of its 
business operations. Thus, existing employers and labor organizations 
bear no burden under this analysis, because their systems for retaining 
these types of records are already in place. Newly formed entities may 
incur a small burden when setting up their data collection and 
retention systems to ensure compliance with EEOC's recordkeeping 
requirements. We assume some effort and time must be expended by new 
employers or labor organizations to familiarize themselves with Title 
VII, ADA, and GINA recordkeeping requirements and explain those 
requirements to the appropriate staff. We estimate that 30 minutes 
would be needed for this one-time familiarization process. Using 
projected business formation estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau for 
2020 and the number of new apprenticeship programs established in 2020 
provided by the Department of Labor, we estimate that there are 324,446 
entities that would incur this start-up burden.\6\ Assuming a 30-minute 
burden per entity, the total annual hour burden is 162,223 hours (.5 
hour x 324,446 new entities = 162,223 hours).
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    \1\ Source of original data: 2017 Economic Census. (https://www.census.gov/content/census/en/data/datasets/2017/econ/susb/2017-susb.html). Local Downloadable CSV data. Select U.S. & states, 6 
digit NAICS. The original number of employers was adjusted to only 
include those with 15 or more employees.
    \2\ Source of original data: 2017 Census of Governments: 
Employment. Individual Government Data File (https://www.census.gov/data/tables/2017/econ/apes/annual-apes.html), Local Downloadable 
Data zip file ``Individual Unit Files''. The original number of 
government entities was adjusted to only include those with 15 or 
more employees.
    \3\ Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for 
Education Statistics, IPEDS, Fall 2017. Postsecondary Institutions 
and Cost of Attendance in 2017-18; Degrees and Other Awards 
Conferred: 2016-17; and 12-Month Enrollment: 2016-17: First Look 
(Provisional Data), See Table 1, ``Number and percentage 
distribution of Title IV institutions, by control of institution, 
level of institution, and region: United States and other U.S. 
jurisdictions, academic year 2017-2018'' (https://nces.ed.gov/pubSearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2018060REV).
    \4\ Source: U.S. Department of Labor. Registered Apprenticeship 
National Results Fiscal Year 2020. Number of active apprenticeship 
programs in 2020 (https://www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/apprenticeship/about/statistics/2020).
    \5\ EEO-3 Reports filed by referral unions in 2018 with EEOC.
    \6\ Sources: Business Formation Statistics from the U.S. Census 
Bureau (https://www.census.gov/econ/bfs/index.html). Total projected 
business formation statistics (series BF_PBF4Q) for 2020, across all 
industries, for the US, not seasonally adjusted.; Department of 
Labor, New Apprenticeship programs for 2020 (https://www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/apprenticeship/about/statistics/2020).

    For the Commission
    Dated: May 20, 2021.
Charlotte A. Burrows,
Chair.
[FR Doc. 2021-11072 Filed 5-25-21; 8:45 am]
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