EEOC Moves Forward with Proposal to End EEO-1 Reporting
In our earlier post, With the EEOC Poised to End EEO-1 Reporting, What’s Next for Employers?, we discussed the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC) anticipated effort to end mandatory EEO-1 reporting. The EEOC has now taken the next step: on July 21, 2026, it issued a proposed rule that would rescind regulations requiring EEO-1 and other workforce demographic reports.
For private employers, the key takeaway is that this remains only a proposal. Current EEO-1 obligations are still in place unless and until a final rule says otherwise. Employers should therefore continue current compliance efforts and avoid making immediate changes to demographic data collection or recordkeeping practices based solely on this development.
The proposed rule would eliminate reporting requirements for EEO-1 through EEO-6 reports and would also remove certain recordkeeping rules tied specifically to preparing those reports. That said, broader personnel record retention obligations would remain in place, particularly where a charge or other employment claim is involved.
As we noted previously, employers also should not assume that a change to federal EEO-1 reporting would eliminate all demographic data compliance considerations. Depending on the employer and jurisdiction, other federal, state, or local requirements may still apply, and some employers may still choose to collect or maintain demographic for other compliance or business purposes.
We will continue to monitor the EEOC’s rulemaking process and provide updates as developments occur.
