As employers are well aware, the pay and hours worked data component of the EEO-1 (known as “Component 2”) is, due to a court ruling, now in effect, and employers have until September 30 to submit 2017 and 2018 Component 2 data to the EEOC. Our prior blog posts about Component 2 are available here.

Some employers held out hope that because the court ruling has been appealed that some last minute court action may save the day and relieve them of their Component 2 burden.  Today, at the National Industry Liaison Group’s annual conference, EEOC Commissioner Victoria Lipnic put those hopes to rest.  Speaking to the conference participants, Commissioner Lipnic recognized the burden the court’s ruling has imposed on employers, but made clear that “nothing will stop” employers’ obligation to submit Component 2 data by September 30.  She did state that after the data is submitted, the EEOC should conduct an “honest assessment of what we learn from the data” in an “open process,” that includes an assessment of the true burden the submission places on employers.

As such, any employers that have been postponing their Component 2 preparations in the hopes of a last-minute reprieve should begin those preparations in earnest.