OFCCP to Reconsider Use of EEO-1 Component 2 Data
September 09, 2021
The U.S. Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) has announced that it plans to rescind a November 2019 notice regarding EEO-1 Component 2 data. EEO-1 Component 2 data was required to be submitted in 2019, and consists of aggregated employee wage and hours worked data, categorized by EEO-1 classification, race, ethnicity, and sex. The2019 notice provided OFCCP would not “request, accept, or use Component 2 data, as it [did] not expect to find significant utility in the data given limited resources and [the data’s] aggregated nature.” Now, the OFCCP has announced its 2019 decision was “premature and counter to the agency’s interests in ensuring pay equity.” As such, the agency intends to evaluate the Component 2 data’s utility in investigating potential pay discrimination, noting the data may offer “insight into pay disparities across industries and occupations and strengthen Federal efforts to combat pay discrimination.” It is important to note that OFCCP has not stated definitively whether it will request, accept, or use Component 2 data in the future. The announcement only provides that OFCCP is reconsidering its November 2019 decision not to request, accept, or use the data.