Key Points

• The EEOC's proposed rule would rescind EEO workforce demographic reporting requirements for private employers, federal contractors, unions, and government entities — a potentially historic elimination of a 60-year-old compliance obligation.
• Employers should continue collecting workforce demographic data and preparing for the 2025 EEO-1 data filing cycle, as the proposed rule must still complete OIRA review, public comment and final rulemaking before taking effect.
• If federal EEO-1 reporting is ultimately eliminated, states may impose their own workforce data collection mandates, creating a patchwork of compliance obligations that employers should monitor closely.

For 60 years, large employers have collected and reported workforce demographic data to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) as part of the agency’s enforcement infrastructure. That longstanding obligation may soon come to an end. On May 14, 2026, the EEOC submitted a proposed rule to the Office of Management and Budget that would rescind the EEO-1 report and related employer data collection requirements under federal anti-discrimination law. While the proposal must still navigate a multi-step rulemaking process before taking effect, it represents a potentially seismic shift in how the federal government monitors workplace equity.

At this point, employers should continue tracking demographic data and preparing for the 2025 data filing cycle, while monitoring the rulemaking process to ensure they are in compliance. Before we dig deeper into the practicalities, let’s review how we got here, and what comes next.

The EEOC’s Role and Enforcement Authority

The EEOC is the principal federal agency responsible for enforcing federal workplace anti-discrimination laws. Congress has charged the agency with preventing and remedying unlawful employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability and genetic information under a suite of federal statutes, including Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) and the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA). The EEOC investigates charges of discrimination, conducts enforcement litigation, issues regulatory guidance, and engages in outreach and education for both employers and employees. As part of its enforcement mission, the agency has long relied on employer-reported workforce data to identify potential disparities, target investigations, and analyze employment trends at the national, regional and industry level.

EEOC Employer Data Collection Programs

Since 1966, the EEOC has required certain employers to submit periodic demographic reports about their workforces. These reports are organized under a family of related instruments:

The EEO-1 is most well-known. This report must be filed annually by all private-sector employers with 100 or more employees, as well as federal contractors with 50 or more employees meeting certain criteria. The EEO-1 requires employers to report workforce data on race, ethnicity, and sex across 10 job categories. Although current regulations require the EEO-1 to be submitted on or before September 30, in recent years the EEOC has announced varying filing window deadlines.

EEO-2 historically covered certain joint labor-management apprenticeship programs. While it remains in the regulations, it is currently effectively inactive. EEO-3 covers local referral unions, EEO-4 covers state and local government employers, and EEO-5 applies to public elementary and secondary school systems. Together, these instruments give the EEOC a broad view into the demographic composition of the American workforce across the private sector, government, educational institutions, and organized labor.

The EEOC has used this data to identify disparities across demographic groups and job categories within specific employers, guide investigations, and analyze workforce composition on a national and industry-specific basis. The EEOC also includes claims in its lawsuits against employers based on failure to comply with reporting requirements.

The New Proposed Rule: Rescission of All EEO Reporting Requirements

On May 14, 2026, the EEOC submitted a proposed rule to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), an agency within the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The proposal is titled, “Rescission of EEO-1, EEO-2, EEO-3, EEO-4, EEO-5, and Reporting Requirement Under Title VII, the ADA, GINA, and the PWFA.” The proposed rule is classified as “economically significant,” meaning OMB has determined it could affect the economy by $100 million or more on an annual basis. The rule has been assigned Regulation Identifier Number (RIN) 3046-AB37.

The full text has not yet been made public, so the precise details of the EEOC’s rationale remain unknown. However, based on its title and context, the proposal appears to eliminate the annual EEO-1 workforce demographic filing requirements as well as all related EEO reports currently required of labor unions, state and local governments and school systems.

It will be several months before any final rule eliminating reporting requirements may go into effect. OIRA has up to 90 days — with the possibility of an extension — to review the proposed rule. After OIRA completes its review, the rule would be published in the Federal Register as a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for public comment. The proposal would become final only after the EEOC considers and responds to those comments and issues a final rule.

If federal EEO-1 reporting is ultimately rescinded, individual states may seek to fill the gap by imposing their own workforce demographic data collection requirements, potentially creating a patchwork of compliance obligations for multistate employers. Additionally, even if the EEOC publishes a final rule ending EEO-1 reporting, Congress could act under the Congressional Review Act to overturn the agency’s action.

Practical Takeaways

• Continue preparing for the 2025 data filing cycle. Current regulations still require the EEO-1 report to be filed, although the EEOC has not yet announced the 2026 filing deadline window for 2025 data. Employers should maintain their existing data collection and retention processes and be prepared to marshal reporting data quickly, as the EEOC could announce a filing window at any time, potentially with a compressed deadline. The EEOC generally does not permit extensions, and recent reporting cycles have provided no grace period. Consequences for failing to file timely include increased scrutiny by the EEOC, potential issues in federal contractor compliance reviews, non-compliance notices from the EEOC and enforcement lawsuits in federal court.
• Do not abandon workforce demographic data collection yet. Even without an EEO-1 mandate, employers may have independent legal and practical grounds to maintain workforce demographic data. Disparate impact liability under Title VII and other anti-discrimination statutes remains a risk, and statistical analyses of workforce composition continue to serve as critical proactive risk management tools. Employers should also anticipate that some states may enact their own reporting requirements if the federal mandate is eliminated. Other states, however, may discourage employers from collecting demographic data, or even seek to prohibit it.
• Monitor the rulemaking process. The proposed rule must still clear the review and notice process, and be published as a final rule before taking effect. Employers should track developments at reginfo.gov to ensure timely compliance adjustments.
• Assess broader compliance implications. Employers should evaluate how the potential loss of federal EEO reporting intersects with other workplace compliance obligations, such as any current state-level reporting mandates. Employers should use this period to audit their current data governance practices and ensure they are positioned to respond to whatever framework ultimately emerges.

We will continue to monitor developments related to the EEOC’s proposed rule change. Employers with questions about the impact of this development should consult with experienced labor and employment counsel.

For additional information about workforce data reporting and other issues, contact the author Renee Sheyko at rsheyko@foxrothschild.com, or another member of the firm’s Labor & Employment Department.

This information is intended to inform firm clients and friends about legal developments, including the decisions of courts and administrative bodies. Nothing in this alert should be construed as legal advice or a legal opinion. Readers should not act upon the information contained in this alert without seeking the advice of legal counsel. Views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily this law firm or its clients