EEOC Plans to Cut Employer Data Reporting on Race, Gender (1)

The EEOC submitted a plan to the White House that cuts its longstanding requirements for large employers to report workplace demographics.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s proposal would rescind the regulations for the annual EEO-1 data collection that demand companies report on the race, sex, and national origin of their workforce, according to notice of the agency’s proposal which was sent Thursday to the White House’s regulatory office.

The proposal, which is slated for publication following review, will leave the federal government with less visibility into the makeup of private companies’ workforces. EEOC Republican Chair Andrea Lucas has criticized diversity and inclusion programs that such demographic data can inform as potentially discriminatory against White men.

Along with EEO-1 data collection, the notice said the proposal will target EEO-2, EEO-3, EEO-4, and EEO-5 disclosures, along with other unnamed requirements under federal anti discrimination laws the EEOC enforces, like the Americans With Disabilities Act and the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act.

The annual EEO-1 data collection requires companies with at least 100 employees to share data, which the commission has used as part of its workplace anti-bias enforcement.

EEO-3 reports collect similar data from unions, EEO-4 from state and local government entities, and EEO-5 from public schools.

The EEOC has yet to open its online portal for 2026 EEO-1 report filing. Last year the agency launched the portal in late May.

It’s not clear if the proposal to end EEO-1 reporting will impact this year’s window for the annual submissions.

The EEOC’s proposal will make it more difficult to identify discrimination against marginalized groups in the workplace, said Jessica Ramey Stender, policy director at gender justice organization Equal Rights Advocates, in a statement.

“Without this data, the government, watchdogs, and advocates will not be able to identify promotion disparities, job segregation, and other barriers to equal opportunity at work. We cannot change what we cannot measure,” Stender said.