EEOC Proposes Eliminating EEO-1 and Other Demographic Reporting Requirements
HR and compliance leaders at employers with 100+ employees and federal contractors must weigh in on the EEOC's NPRM to scrap EEO-1 reporting before the Aug. 24, 2026 comment deadline.
The EEOC has voted to publish an NPRM rescinding the EEO-1, EEO-2, EEO-3, EEO-4, EEO-5, and EEO-6 demographic reporting regimes under 29 C.F.R. Part 1602, citing Title VII concerns, constitutional questions about mandatory race/sex classifications, and an estimated $278 million in annual compliance savings. The proposal would also drop recordkeeping provisions maintained solely to support those reports, but the EEOC's general one-year retention rule and its investigative subpoena authority would remain intact. Until a final rule issues, all existing EEO-1 and related filing obligations stay in force, and employers should continue current reporting and preservation practices. In-house counsel and HR should evaluate submitting comments, prepare for the Aug. 11 public hearing, and assess how elimination would affect internal DEI data collection, pay-equity analyses, and OFCCP overlap.