Federal law requires certain employers, including federal contractors, to collect and report data about the racial, ethnic, and gender composition of their workforces on a Standard Form 100, Employer Information Report EEO-1. The EEO-1 report must be completed by (1) employers with federal government contracts of $50,000 or more and 50 or more employees; and (2) employers who do not have a federal government contract but have 100 or more employees.

Prior to 2007, the EEO-1 report required workforce data to be broken down by nine job categories, using five race and ethnic categories. Recently, the Department of Labor created a revised EEO-1 report and made it accessible through the Internet. The revised EEO-1 report modifies the race and ethnic categories. Specifically, the new report form:

• Adds a new category titled "Two or more races"
• Divides "Asian or Pacific Islander" into two separate categories: "Asian" and "Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander"
• Renames "Black" as "Black or African American" and
• Renames "Hispanic" as "Hispanic or Latino"

The revised EEO-1 report also increases the number of job categories from nine to ten. The revised job categories are:

• Executive/Senior Level Officials and Managers
• First/Mid Level Officials and Managers
• Professionals
• Technicians
• Sales Workers
• Administrative Support Workers
• Craft Workers
• Operatives
• Laborers and Helpers, and
• Service Workers

Finally, the employer is now required to accept an employee's self-identification of race and ethnicity as opposed to relying on its own visual identification. An employer may only obtain the necessary information from existing employment records or visual observation if an employee declines to self-identify.

The revised EEO-1 report must be filed by September 30, 2007. Instructions on how to file can be found on the EEOC's Web site at http://www.eeoc.gov/eeo1survey/howtofile.html. Please contact any member of Schiff Hardin's Labor and Employment Group if you need assistance categorizing job positions or filling out the EEO-1 form.