EEOC Signals a Potential End to Annual Race and Sex Reporting Requirements

On July 21, 2026, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC” or “Commission”) voted 2-1 to issue a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NPRM”) that would rescind the requirement for employers and other covered entities to file annual reports summarizing aggregate workforce data on employees’ race, ethnicity, and sex - the EEO-1 through EEO-6 reports (collectively, the “EEO Data Reports”) - along with the recordkeeping and record-preservation requirements tied to those reports. The NPRM, published in the Federal Register on July 23, 2026, marks one of the most significant proposed shifts in federal workforce reporting obligations since the EEO-1 report was first adopted in 1966.

What the EEOC Proposed

The proposed rule would amend 29 C.F.R. Part 1602 to eliminate the filing requirements for all six EEO Data Reports, which currently apply to private employers with 100 or more employees (and certain federal contractors with 50 or more employees), as well as unions, state and local governments, school systems, and institutions of higher education. In support of the proposal, the Commission preliminarily determined that the reports are “inconsistent with equal employment opportunity law and potentially unconstitutional,” and that the data collected is not narrowly tailored to the agency’s enforcement needs. The Commission also emphasized the compliance burden, estimating that the current data collection costs employers nearly $275 million each year, in addition to roughly $4 million in annual administrative costs to the agency. Notably, employers must file these reports annually regardless of whether any discrimination charge has ever been filed against them.  The NPRM is subject to a 30-day public comment period, and the Commission has scheduled a public hearing for August 11, 2026.

What Employers Should Do Now

If finalized, the rule would relieve covered employers of a long-standing annual compliance obligation - a welcome development for most employers.  Employers should keep the following in mind before making any changes to their current practices, however:

• The rule is not final. This is a proposed rule only. Until the EEOC completes the rulemaking process and issues a final rule, existing EEO Data Report filing and recordkeeping obligations remain in effect, and employers should continue to comply. Legal challenges to any final rule are also possible.
• State reporting obligations are unaffected. Several states impose their own workforce demographic and pay data reporting requirements that exist independently of the EEOC’s rules. These obligations will continue regardless of what the EEOC does. For example, California requires private employers with 100 or more employees (and at least one California employee) to file annual pay data reports with the state’s Civil Rights Department; Illinois requires covered employers to obtain an Equal Pay Registration Certificate and to submit EEO-1-style demographic data with their annual corporate reports; and Massachusetts requires large employers to submit workforce demographic reports each year. Employers operating in these and similar states should not assume that a change in federal policy relieves them of state-level compliance.

Key Takeaway

Employers who wish to weigh in on the proposal may submit comments during the 30-day comment period. We will continue to monitor rulemaking - including whether EEO-1 reporting will be required for the current reporting year - and will note further developments as they occur. In the meantime, for additional background on the reporting obligations discussed, see our prior client alerts, including our alert on Illinois EEO-1 reporting, our alert on California pay data, and our 2025 employment law developments and 2026 compliance summary. For more information or assistance, please contact one of Honigman's Employment and Labor Attorneys here.