The US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced the opening today of the 2024 EEO-1 Component 1 data collection. In a message to EEO-1 Component 1 filers, EEOC Acting Chair Andrea Lucas reaffirmed the agency’s commitment to protecting the civil rights of all Americans, advancing individual equal opportunity for all, and relentlessly combatting private sector and public sector discrimination.
Message from EEOC Acting Chair Andrea Lucas:
Current EEOC regulations require covered entities to annually report on the sex and race or ethnicity of their employees via the EEO-1 Component 1 data collection process. The EEOC, together with other federal civil rights law enforcement agencies, is committed to preventing and combatting unlawful race and sex discrimination; expanding individual, merit-based opportunity for all; and ensuring even-handed civil rights enforcement. As you report data on your employees’ race, ethnicity, and sex, I want to take this opportunity to remind you of your obligations under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 not to take any employment actions based on, or motivated in whole or in part by, an employee’s race, sex, or other protected characteristics. Your company or organization may not use information about your employees’ race/ethnicity or sex—including demographic data you collect and report in EEO-1 Component 1 reports—to facilitate unlawful employment discrimination based on race, sex, or other protected characteristics in violation of Title VII. Title VII’s protections apply equally to all workers, regardless of their race or sex. Different treatment based on race, sex, or another protected characteristic can be unlawful discrimination, no matter which employees or applicants are harmed. There is no “diversity” exception to Title VII’s requirements. For more information, please see the recently released technical assistance Q&A document “What You Should Know About DEI-Related Discrimination at Work.”