Murray Urges EEOC to Keep Collecting Data to Combat Wage Discrimination in Light of COVID-19 Pay Inequities

In March 2020, the EEOC gave notice to OMB that it would no longer collect data on employees pay and hours sorted by race, sex, and more

Decision comes as coronavirus crisis exacerbates existing pay inequities for women and people of color, who are overrepresented amid essential workers

Senator Murray: “Without the transparency of this pay data, the EEOC is eliminating a critical tool for workers and employers to address pay inequity.”

(Washington, D.C.) – U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), ranking member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP), urged Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) Chairwoman Janet Dhillon to reverse her notice to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) that the EEOC would no longer require employers to report their employee’s pay and hours sorted by race, sex, ethnicity, and job category. The notice comes despite the coronavirus crisis exacerbating existing pay inequities for women and people of color, who are overrepresented amid essential workers.

“As COVID-19 unfolds, women are most likely to experience economic hardship and additional pay inequity. Given the significant economic challenges women, especially women of color, continue to face during this pandemic, we need more tools—not less—to ensure the pandemic does not widen the pay gap for women,” wrote Senator Murray in a letter to Chairwoman Dhillon.

“Without the transparency of this pay data, the EEOC is eliminating a critical tool for workers and employers to address pay inequity. I urge you to reverse this decision and continue the important task of collecting Component 2 pay data from employers,” continued Senator Murray.

This notice—a requirement of the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) which necessitates that agencies obtain OMB approval before collecting data from the public—follows a 2019 regulation omitting this crucial data from EEOC’s data collection, which Senator Murray urged the EEOC to reconsider.

In her letter sent to EEOC, Senator Murray highlighted the need to continue collecting the data, so that the EEOC can carry out its mission of protecting workers by combatting harassment in the workplace, addressing the gender pay gap, and enforcing federal anti-discrimination laws. If the EEOC stops collecting this data, workers across the country will be harmed because of the EEOC’s inability to identify workplaces where inequity exists and hold employers accountable for pay discrimination.

The shortsighted decision by the EEOC comes amid a global pandemic which has exacerbated existing pay inequities for women and people of color. Women, particularly women of color, are overrepresented in jobs on the frontlines of COVID-19, many of which are underpaid and have limited benefits.

The full text of the letter is below and HERE.

April 22, 2020

The Honorable Janet Dhillon

Chair

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

131 M Street, NE

Washington, DC 20507

Dear Chairwoman Dhillon,

I write to oppose the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC) Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) notice to discontinue collecting Component 2 data on the Employer Information Report (EEO-1) form. Component 2 requires employers to report their employees’ pay and hours worked sorted by race, sex, ethnicity, and job category. This information helps the EEOC carry out its mission of combatting harassment in the workplace, addressing the gender pay gap, and enforcing federal anti-discrimination laws. Discontinuing the collection of Component 2 data with only a 30-day comment period undermines the agency’s critical mission of identifying industries and workplaces where inequity exists and holding employers accountable for pay discrimination. The EEOC’s decision will result in workers continuing to be discriminated against while employers are left unaccountable.

In 2016, after multiple rounds of stakeholder engagement and based on extensive analysis, the EEOC updated its EEO-1 form to add Component 2, which requires companies with 100 or more employees to submit additional data on wages paid to their employees, sorted by job category, gender, race, and ethnicity.[1] In 2017, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) decided, based on minimal and conclusory analysis, to stay the revised Component 2 pay data collection. In 2019, the EEOC announced that it would not renew its request to OMB to continue to collect EEO-1 Component 2 data.[2] In 2019, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia determined that “OMB’s stay of EEOC’s pay data collection was illegal.”[3] The court ordered the revised EEO-1 form go into effect, mandating the agency “take all necessary steps” to complete the 2017 and 2018 Component 2 data collection by January 31, 2020.[4] In February 2020, the court found that the EEOC had completed its collection of the EEO-1 Component 2 data.[5] Yet, in March 2020, the EEOC sought Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) authorization to eliminate the collection of Component 2 data.[6]

Pay inequality poses a significant problem for women and people of color. Women in the United States are paid just 82 cents for every dollar paid to men.[7] The pay gap is wider for women of color: Black, Native American, and Latina women are paid only 62 cents, 57 cents, and 54 cents, respectively, for every dollar paid to a white man. Although Asian American women typically make 85 cents for every dollar paid to white, non-Hispanic men, certain communities of Asian American and Pacific Islander women make significantly less. As we find ourselves in the middle of a global pandemic, the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has exacerbated these existing pay inequities for women of color.

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed a power structure that continues to underestimate and undervalue the work that women, especially women of color, contribute to the economy.[8] Women, particularly women of color, are overrepresented in jobs on the frontlines of COVID-19. For example, 93 percent of child care workers, 66 percent of grocery store workers, and 70 percent of waiters are women.[9] Many of these jobs are underpaid and have limited benefits. As COVID-19 unfolds, women are most likely to experience economic hardship and additional pay inequity.[10] Given the significant economic challenges women, especially women of color, continue to face during this pandemic, we need more tools—not less—to ensure the pandemic does not widen the pay gap for women.[11]

This PRA notice is a poorly reasoned attempt to circumvent a critical tool to address pay discrimination. This notice does not take into account the significant benefits of the Component 2 data collection for workers, including advancing the EEOC’s pay inequity efforts and promoting employer compliance with existing pay discrimination laws. This notice spends a significant amount of time discussing the burden on employers, but it avoids discussing the utility of the data for employees.[12] The EEOC has also taken steps to make sure that the Component 2 data that was collected cannot be shared with state and local enforcement agencies.[13] Despite the extensive stakeholder analysis conducted for the 2016 regulation that found that “the burden of reporting pay data would be minimal for EEO-1 filers,” the agency misleadingly argues the burden of the pay data collection on employers outweighs the benefits to workers. The elimination of this pay data collection during the COVID-19 pandemic will leave more workers vulnerable to pay discrimination.

This Component 2 pay data is crucial in understanding the full scope of compensation discrimination and enforcing existing laws on pay discrimination. Without the transparency of this pay data, the EEOC is eliminating a critical tool for workers and employers to address pay inequity. I urge you to reverse this decision and continue the important task of collecting Component 2 pay data from employers.

Sincerely,

Patty Murray

United States Senator

Ranking Member, Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee

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