Agency Information Collection Activities: Existing Collection

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Since 1973, the EEOC has required EEO-4 filers to submit workforce demographic data. All state and local governments that are covered by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended (Title VII) and that have 100 or more employees are required to file the workforce demographic data.

Pursuant to the PRA and OMB regulations found at 5 CFR 1320.8(d)(1), the Commission solicits public comment on its intent to seek a three-year approval of revisions to the currently approved EEO-4 to: (1) Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the Commission's functions, including whether the information will have practical utility; (2) Evaluate the accuracy of the Commission's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of information, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions used; (3) Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and (4) Minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are to respond, including the use of appropriate automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic submission of responses.

Based on data from the most recent EEO-4 data collection reporting year ( i.e., 2023), as well as ongoing updates by the EEOC to the EEO-4 frame ( i.e., filer roster or master list), the EEOC anticipates the total number of filers submitting an EEO-4 report may increase to 6,607 per biennial collection. Accordingly, the burden estimates in this Notice are based on this revised estimate of the number of filers.

Overview of Information Collection

Collection Title: State and Local Government Information Report (EEO-4).

OMB Number: 3046-0008.

Frequency of Report: Biennial.

Type of Respondent: State and local governments that have 100 or more employees and meet certain criteria.

Description of Affected Public: State and local governments that have 100 or more employees and meet certain criteria.

Reporting Hours: 18,094 hours per biennial collection.

Respondent Burden Hour Cost: $563,868.27 per biennial collection.

Federal Cost: $327,440.12 per biennial collection.

Number of Filers: 6,607 per biennial collection.

Number of Responses: 6,607 per biennial collection.

Number of Forms: 1.

Form Number: EEOC Form 164.

Abstract: Section 709(c) of Title VII requires employers to make and keep records relevant to the determination of whether unlawful employment practices have been or are being committed, to preserve such records, and to produce reports as the Commission prescribes by regulation or order. Pursuant to this statutory authority, the EEOC issued regulations prescribing the reporting and related record retention requirements for state and local governments. The regulations require state and local governments to make or keep all records necessary for completion of an EEO-4 submission and retain those records for three years, and also require EEO-4 filers to retain a copy of each filed EEO-4 report for three years. These recordkeeping requirements are part of standard administrative practices, and as a result, the EEOC believes that any impact on burden would be negligible and nearly impossible to quantify. Additionally, the regulations require state and local governments to file executed copies of the EEO-4 in conformity with the directions set forth in the form and accompanying instructions. Under this authority, state and local governments with 100 or more employees are required to report biennially the number of individuals they employ by job category and by sex, salary band, and race or ethnicity.

Please note that on March 28, 2024, OMB published revisions, the first since 1997, to its Statistical Policy Directive No. 15: Standards for Maintaining, Collecting, and Presenting Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity.” See https://spd15revision.gov/. The revisions include, for example, using a single combined race and ethnicity question and adding Middle Eastern or North African (MENA) as a new minimum reporting category. Federal agencies, including the EEOC, are required to bring their data collections into compliance with these standards by March 28, 2029. Because the EEOC's current EEO-4 PRA clearance expires January 31, 2025, the agency is not proposing updates to its collection of race and ethnicity data under this Notice in order to provide filers with sufficient notice of the revised standards and to give the EEOC sufficient time to implement the revisions across its EEO collections.

The EEOC currently collects EEO-4 data electronically through a web-based data collection application ( i.e., portal) referred to as the EEO-4 Online Filing System ( OFS ). Filers must submit their data electronically to the web-based portal by either manual entry or by uploading a data file. The individual EEO-4 reports are confidential. The EEOC uses EEO-4 data to investigate charges of employment discrimination against state and local governments and to publish periodic reports on workforce demographics.

Burden Statement: The EEOC's Office of Enterprise Data and Analytics (OEDA) administers the agency's data collections, including the EEO-4. Since OEDA's creation in 2018, the EEOC has undertaken several efforts to modernize the agency's data collections and improve the quality of data collected. OEDA has also streamlined functions, such as providing additional self-service options, resource materials, and an online support message center.

As part of these ongoing modernization efforts, OEDA has undertaken measures to enhance the agency's existing EEO-4 data frame of potentially eligible filers and make the EEO-4 filing process more user-friendly and less burdensome. By comparing the EEOC's 2023 EEO-4 frame to the U.S. Census Bureau's Census of Governments, OEDA identified approximately 1,220 additional state and local governments that may be eligible to file during the next biennial data collection. With the addition of these filers to the EEO-4 frame and considering response rates during the 2023 EEO-4 data collection, OEDA now estimates 6,607 potential respondents to the agency's next EEO-4 data collection.

Additionally, the EEOC proposes to update the salary bands in the next biennial EEO-4 data collection to keep pace with inflation and account for an increasing portion of employees falling into the highest salary bands. The EEOC reviewed several other federal data collections involving salaries and wages and determined that the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) program most closely aligns with the EEO-4. Therefore, the EEOC proposes adopting the OEWS salary bands and will periodically update them as appropriate. The EEOC recognizes there may be a one-time increase in burden as filers need to update their systems to produce reports in the new categories, but this increase is expected to be negligible. The proposed pay bands for the next biennial data collection are listed in the table below.