EEO-1 Data Collection

Merciful heavens, there must be an easier way to find this information and create a form that meets, not a strict policy, but the guidelines from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

We have been adding a few EEO collection forms to some of our employers applicant tracking packages with us and every company's form is a bit different. Of course, they can be because the government doesn't specifically say how you must collect the data, but simply that:

• Employers with federal government contracts of $50,000 or more and 50 or more employees; and
• Employers who do not have a federal government contract but have 100 or more employees

must collect that data to complete the EEO-1 Report.

If you don't have either qualification, you can stop reading. However, if you do, qualifying employers must submit this demographic data each year by September 30th. This data tells the government the makeup of your workforce by sex and race/ethnicity. This is further divided into occupational categories called EEO-1 Groups.

In the fall of 2007, the ethnic and racial categories were updated to reflect our diverse workforce and changed on the EEO-1 Report, but not truly required until employers submitted the September 30, 2008 report. So going forward, if you have not already included the new EEO-1 categories on your form, now is the time to make the change. For this post, I'm going to focus on the ethnic and racial categories, but do note that the job categories have also been updated. You can see all of the changes to this report on the following link - Questions and Answers: Revisions to the EEO-1 Report.

My biggest frustration is that it is nearly impossible to find an example form. I have looked at SHRM, searched via Google and mainly come up with a law office's post, and other HR sites. Why does this have to be so hard?

Anyhow, here is what I believe the form should encompass and by all means, I'm not an attorney, just a former HR person trying to be helpful.

• Statement about why you collect this data and that the submission of the information is completely voluntary. The key is the applicant's ability to "self-identify."
  

Example from the EEOC - "The employer is subject to certain governmental recordkeeping and reporting requirements for the administration of civil rights laws and regulations. In order to comply with these laws, the employer invites employees to voluntarily self-identify their race or ethnicity. Submission of this information is voluntary and refusal to provide it will not subject you to any adverse treatment. The information obtained will be kept confidential and may only be used in accordance with the provisions of applicable laws, executive orders, and regulations, including those that require the information to be summarized and reported to the federal government for civil rights enforcement. When reported, data will not identify any specific individual."

• Today's Date
• Name
• Position Applied For
• Ethnicity and Race as specified by the revised EEO-1 categories -

Hispanic or Latino - A person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin regardless of race.

White (Not Hispanic or Latino) - A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa.

Black or African American (Not Hispanic or Latino) - A person having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa.

Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander (Not Hispanic or Latino) - A person having origins in any of the peoples of Hawaii, Guam, Samoa, or other Pacific Islands.

Asian (Not Hispanic or Latino) - A person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian Subcontinent, including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippine Islands, Thailand, and Vietnam.

American Indian or Alaska Native (Not Hispanic or Latino) - A person having origins in any of the original peoples of North and South America (including Central America), and who maintain tribal affiliation or community attachment.

Two or More Races (Not Hispanic or Latino) - All persons who identify with more than one of the above five races.

• Collection of Disability and/or Military Status may also be collected on this form.

I'll conclude by saying that if you have a good form in place, I would love to see it. At some level I understand why the government leaves the collection up to employers and does not specify exactly how they collect it, but I sure wish that it would be easier to find examples and make sure that our employers have the best resources available to them.

Lastly, here is a link to the EEOC's Instructions for Standard Form 100 (EEO-1) and hopefully it will provide you some more insight.

A Friday Rant (and Offer of Assistance)

Knowing what should and should not be asked on an application is common sense, right? You don't ask about all of the EEO protected statuses like race, color, age, disability, ethnicity, sex, religion, and national origin. And shouldn't it be obvious not to ask about other personal information like "Do you plan on having children?" (if you're a woman or a man) or "Are you married?" or what about birth order or the direct question of "How old are you?" Ugh. I have seen it all, and frankly, I am disappointed that some employers do not know any better.

It reminds of my time in HR when I attended a Workers Compensation seminar and someone there actually asked if they really needed to have WC insurance. What?! At least the person was there to learn the proper answer to their question. Absolutely, you should have workers compensation insurance.

In this day in age, I would hope that there would be better compliance with the laws because it is impossible to say you can't find the rules now that there are so many HR blogs and websites and government agencies on the web that provide everything you need to know to do it right.

Anyhow, my point today is that as the summer job recruiting season gets going, please feel free to utilize the group of us at CoolWorks.com to help you determine if you're doing it right. This can be anything from "Is my employment advertisement attractive enough to garner any interest?," to "Is my employment application compliant?," to improving your hiring process and job candidate's experience by using our applicant tracking system called Staffing Center, and more. Plus, I would be willing to bet that if we don't know the answer, we probably have a resource that does. We're here to help.