2017 and 2018 Pay Data Collection

Pay by Sex and Race/Ethnicity - Private Employers and Federal Contractors (EEO-1, Component 2)

Introductory Note

The EEOC’s mission is to prevent and remedy unlawful employment discrimination, including pay discrimination, under certain federal laws, including Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII), as amended, and the Equal Pay Act (EPA) of 1963. Title VII prohibits pay discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin. The EPA prohibits pay discrimination based on sex.

Pursuant to section 709(c) of Title VII, EEOC regulations require certain employers and other entities covered by Title VII to report workforce demographic information to the EEOC. Since 1966, the EEOC has collected workforce demographic information from private employers and certain federal contractors through the EEO-1 form (now known as “Component 1” of the EEO-1). In 2016, the EEOC added a pay data collection to the EEO-1 form, known as “Component 2.” The EEOC collected 2017 and 2018 pay data from private employers and certain federal contractors with 100 or more employees through the EEO-1 Component 2 between July 2019 and February 2020.

The confidentiality provision (section 709(e) of Title VII) governing the release of data prohibits release of individually identifiable information.  EEOC Explore provides aggregate-level data in a manner that does not identify a particular employer or entity or reveal an individual employee’s personal information. Additionally, confidential information is protected from disclosure by a series of statistical disclosure limitation activities. As a result, public use files contain details of aggregate employment characteristics only when they will not identify any employer or employee.

EEO-1 Component 2 Pay Data Collection FAQs

EEO-1 Component 2 Pay Data Collection User Guide