Critics of EEOC Pay Collection Propose Lowering Employer Burden

Opponents of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s current pay data collection offered suggestions to reduce burdens on businesses while making the information gathered more useful in analyzing worker pay gaps.

Instead of collecting W-2 wage data from employers, the agency could instead seek companies’ employee base pay information, three management-side panelists told the commission at a Nov. 20 public hearing on the future of the pay reporting requirement. That data also could account for some estimate of potential bonuses or sales commissions, they said.

The suggestion was prompted by questioning from EEOC Commissioner Charlotte Burrows, the sole Democrat on ...