Dive Brief:
- Federal contractors required to file VETS-4212, which collects information on contractors’ affirmative actions for veterans, will be permitted to use the same data collection window they use for the new EEO-1 report, according to law firm Jackson Lewis.
- The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) generally requires that contractors use data from between July 1 and Aug. 31 for VETS-4212, the firm says. And new EEO-1 requirements from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) have employers collecting data between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31.
- To alleviate some of the burden, an employment law group asked DOL whether it would accept data from that later window, and DOL assented.
Dive Insight:
New EEO-1 compensation reporting requirements are set to begin in March and the business community is preparing — but also trying to stop the mandate.
The EEOC’s acting chair, a Republican, doesn’t have enough votes to undo the Obama-era requirements. Some business groups have asked the White House to step in and block the new form. And lawmakers have included a rider on an appropriations bill that would prohibit the commission from using any funds to move forward with the new form.
If the new EEO-1 sticks around, however, and employers find themselves subject to the new requirements, this concession should at least alleviate some of the burden, allowing employers to streamline their data collection efforts.
