Why the US might stop collecting workplace race and gender data | Narrative Articles

In a 2-1 vote, the Republican majority of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) voted to change a sixteen-year-old law under the anti-discrimination law in the United States that requires employers to provide annual information about race and gender among their employees.

Following Tuesday’s vote, there is now a 30-day period for public comment on the proposal for final approval on August 11.

Recommended Articles

list of 4 itemsend of series

Here’s what you need to know.

What is the EEOC?

Created in 1965, the EEOC is the US federal agency responsible for enforcing anti-discrimination laws in the workplace. The agency investigates employers accused of discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, or disability. It investigates about 88,000 complaints each year.

In addition to investigating complaints, the EEOC collects information about the workforce, including racial and gender disparities, to evaluate employment practices and racial discrimination. This data is widely used by policy makers and other researchers.

The agency is currently led by Andrea Lucas, who served as EEOC commissioner before becoming chair when President Donald Trump took office. He has been an outspoken advocate for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). In 2023, he wrote a book about An article by the Reuters news agency is in dispute for companies to “take a hard look” at their DEI programs following the Supreme Court’s landmark decision to ban higher education, which limits the use of competition in college admissions.

There is only one Democrat left on the commission, Kalpana Kotagal, who was appointed by former President Joe Biden in 2022.

What is the law that the EEOC wants to remove?

That requirement is known as the EEO-1 report. It collects public information from employers representing approximately 50 million workers in the US. These reports do not identify individual employees by name; instead, they collect information such as race and gender.

Lucas said the reporting requirement “is fundamentally inconsistent with Title VII’s nondisclosure requirements,” adding that it “risks impeding enforcement and raises legal concerns,” according to a LinkedIn post. to follow the vote.

Sharon Block, executive director of the Center for Labor and a Just Economy at Harvard Law School, disputed the claims.

“EEO reports only give the government an overview of the composition of the workforce. These reports do not force employers to hire or not hire anyone. It is data – neither employers nor the federal government should be afraid to share data,” Block told Al Jazeera. He previously served on the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) – an independent agency tasked with forcing workers to organize and protest unfair practices – under former President Barack Obama, a Democrat.

Lucas said that the commission will continue to seek the number of people in the investigation of companies that have been accused of discrimination. He added that reporting costs employers $275m a year, while running the program costs the EEOC about $4m each year.

Why is data important?

The data helps researchers and policymakers better understand the U.S. workforce, measure trends over time, and identify areas where inequality remains.

“The termination of these valuable collections will undermine the EEOC’s ability to review and investigate cases filed with it, as well as improve the process of contacting factories or areas where evidence shows barriers may exist,” EEO Leaders, a coalition of former EEOC officials, said in a statement to Al Jazeera.

For example, EEOC data has documented changes in the number of women serving in senior and executive positions at large companies. In 2013, women held 29.2 percent of senior positions. By 2023, this number has risen to 34.5 percent.

The data also show that black and Hispanic men remain underrepresented in senior management. Although white men make up one-third of the US workforce, they count 52.7 percentage of senior positions.

It has also highlighted industries with significant gender gaps. The 2022 report showed that between 2014 and 2022 women made up less than 23 percent of the technology workforce. Women make up 59.6 percent of the workforce in the financial and insurance industry but hold only 33.1 percent of senior positions.

“If adopted as a final rule, the proposal will prevent employers from knowing information about their companies that could provide warning signs of potential discrimination in their workplaces,” EEO officials continued.

Can data termination affect research?

The EEOC argues that it will not. The agency said it will continue to ask for personal information during its investigation into alleged discrimination.

“In any investigation, the EEOC can issue a request for information seeking demographic information. However, if the employer does not keep the data, it may be difficult for them to provide this data,” Chai Feldblum, president of EEO Leaders and former head of the EEOC under President Obama, told Al Jazeera.

Title VII still requires employers to keep employee records if they are investigated for discrimination.

Although the EEOC cannot release individual company EEO-1 data, it can publish the information in a consolidated form.

Separately, last year, 24 companies in the S&P 100 voluntarily disclosed the number of employees.

What other job protections were eliminated under Trump?

The expected returns were not exceptional. Mr. Trump canceled the request for government contractors to comply with his requirements.

Under the new law passed in January 2025, employers are still required to comply with human rights laws, but are no longer required to develop separate employment programs or assurance plans.

The administration has also moved to end DEI programs across the federal government while pressuring employers, saying some companies’ DEI policies could violate federal anti-discrimination laws. For example, Lucas at the beginning of this year encouraged white people to submit their complaints saying that they are discriminated against because of race and gender.

“The idea of ​​the Trump administration is restoring the requirements that employers share about the race and sex of their employees is not surprising but it is still very disappointing. It is consistent with the policy of how this administration treats the working people – it seems that they do not want to know even the most important facts about the problems that the working people are facing,” said Block.

Trump has rolled back Biden-era wage protections, including rolling back a law that required most contractors to pay workers at least $17.75 an hour, which is adjusted annually for inflation. The Biden administration made the announcement after Congress failed to raise the federal minimum wage.

The Department of Labor under Trump has also moved limit group discussions rights for government employees, arguing that the changes are necessary for the government to function properly and to protect national security. Labor unions have challenged this in court, saying it undermines long-standing civil rights.

NLRB right now they do not have a quorum to function fully. Often the five-member committee does not have the minimum three members required to rule on cases and appeals, allowing it to enact new labor laws.