EEOC Proposes Rescission of Annual Data Reporting; Comments Requested

Published July 22, 2026

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) voted on July 21, 2026, to issue a notice of proposed rulemaking to rescind the requirement for employers to file an annual report with the EEOC summarizing aggregate data on their employees’ race and sex, and the recordkeeping requirements related to these reports.

According to EEOC, the reasoning behind the recission are:

  • Data reports are inconsistent with equal employment opportunity law, may raise constitutional concerns, and collect data that is not narrowly tailored or necessary to enforce anti-discrimination statutes.
  • Under Title VII, the EEOC is not required to impose these reporting obligations and may eliminate them when they are inconsistent with the law, not useful, or counter to enforcement priorities.
  • Any limited value of the reports is outweighed by the significant burdens they impose on employers and on the commission — particularly because employers must submit them annually without any specific indication of a potential violation.

A public hearing is scheduled on August 11, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. 

Comments are due 30 days after official publication in the Federal Register.