Press Releases

Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC), chairwoman of the Committee on Education and the Workforce, and Rep. Bradley Byrne (R-AL), chairman of the Subcommittee on Workforce Protections, issued the following joint statement after the Office of Management and Budget rescinded changes to the EEO-1 form:

“Every American deserves the opportunity to earn a paycheck in a workplace free of discrimination. That’s why we were concerned when the EEOC spent its time and resources creating a convoluted reporting regime instead of addressing an unacceptable backlog of unresolved discrimination charges.

“This decision was the right thing to do since the Obama administration’s expansive changes to the EEO-1 form simply didn’t make sense and would likely do nothing to combat pay discrimination. We’ll continue to hold the EEOC accountable to ensure our nation’s non-discrimination laws are properly enforced and the rights of workers are protected.”

 BACKGROUND: In 2016, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued expansive revisions to the EEO-1 form, increasing by 26 times (from 128 data points to 3,360) the amount of employee information employers are required to file. At a recent Subcommittee on Workforce Protections hearing, concerns were raised over the burden to small businesses, the privacy threat to workers and employers, and the ability of the EEOC to effectively utilize this data to identify pay discrimination. In addition, there are concerns this regulatory scheme diverted resources from the agency’s enforcement efforts.

• At the end of 2016, the EEOC had more than 73,000 unresolved cases.
  
  
• The average annual backlog of unresolved charges at the EEOC was approximately 90 percent higher under the Obama administration than the previous administration.
  
  
• The new EEO-1 report was estimated to cost $1.3 billion and more than 8 million hours of paperwork annually. 

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