The U.S. Census Bureau quietly announced on Monday, March 1, 2021, that a new “Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Tabulation” is now available for federal contractor employers to use in the preparation of their annual affirmative action plans. Information about the new data files is available on the Bureau’s EEO Tabulation landing page here. The raw data tables themselves are available for download in .csv files from the Bureau’s FTP server here.
Sometimes referred to as the “Special EEO file,” the new EEO Tabulation is based off an American Community Survey (ACS) covering the five-year period, 2014-2018. This replaces the previous files based off the 2006-2010 ACS as the “most current and discrete statistical information available” if using U.S. Census data as the source when calculating availability for comparison to incumbency and setting of “placement goals.”
The EEO Tabulations used by federal contractor employers have not been based on the decennial census since 2000, so this data is not based off the “big” census that was just conducted last year. Rather, some of the data is already up to seven years old while the “freshest” data is up to three years old. Note too that the new data is based on surveys conducted prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
As with the 2006-2010 ACS data contractors are currently using, the new data includes estimated error rates for every reported demographic percentage. This is particularly useful information to have when the availability numbers do not appear to align with experience and expectations. Where the estimated error rates are particularly high, contractors can and should consider supplementing with data from different sources, if possible.
When Must Contractors Start Using the New Data?
There is no official “deadline” by which contractors must switch over to using the new Census data files, though the OFCCP will likely issue some guidance reflecting the agency’s expectations. The agency traditionally has given contractors about a year to make the switch. In an audit, the farther we get in time from when the new data was released, the more likely the OFCCP will be to expect some showing of progress toward implementing the new data. But the true “deadline” is necessarily contractor-specific and will depend on whether or not the contractor uses a vendor, or the contractor’s in-house data expertise, time, and resources.
Do We Have to Re-Calculate Placement Goals?
No. If you have already prepared your “2021” AAPs—or are in the process of doing so now or will be starting that project soon—you will still be using the “old” 2006-2010 ACS data tables and that should be fine. The OFCCP has historically not required contractors to go back and re-calculate availability and placement goals based on newly released data.
However, nothing prevents contractors from updating their existing AAPs. Re-running goals reports using the new data might provide you with additional options. If those new goals reports are more “favorable,” you will likely want to go ahead and update your AAPs. If they are not, since no updates are required you can leave your current AAPs as-is. Even if you do not intend to ultimately update your AAPs regardless of what the new data shows, the effect of the new data on existing placement goals can be useful intel in an audit and will provide some insight into what to expect with your AAP goals next year.
If We Do Update Our AAPs, Do We Have to Re-Set the AAP Start Date?
That is probably up to you. Since this data is not “newer” than the AAP snapshot you used to prepare your current AAPs (based off data collected no later than 2018) you do not necessarily have to pull a new snapshot and reset your AAP year (or develop a partial year, “interim” AAP). You can simply re-run goals reports based on the same snapshot but substituting in the new availability figures.
If you re-run your goals analyses part way through the year, it might make more sense to update your resulting action plans, rather than update the entire AAP. So, for instance, if when using the “old” data you ended up with a female placement goal for your structural engineers, but when using the new data either the goal is different or the goal goes away, rather that update the goals report, simply note in the action plan that, based on newly released data, the company is adjusting the resulting “action-oriented programs.”
You can, of course, pull a new snapshot and re-run everything as of the date of that new snapshot and build-out entirely new AAPs. Whether or not that resets your AAP cycle or “year” is up to you. For example, let’s assume you are using a calendar year AAP cycle and currently have AAPs in place based on a January 1, 2021 snapshot. Those AAPs will “expire” at midnight on December 31, 2021. If you prepare all-new AAPs based off an April 1, 2021 snapshot, you can either reset your AAP cycle and prepare new AAPs on April 1, 2022, or “reset” back to your calendar year cycle on January 1, 2022. It is entirely up to you. This is likely to only be an issue if you are audited in 2021.
Are There Changes We Should Be Concerned About?
Lots of people are going to obsess over changes to occupation codes and available geographic regions, and they will invite you to presentations and talks detailing those changes in excruciating detail. By all means, join in on those conversations if that is your thing. But no one will be able to tell you if this or that change will have a positive or negative impact on your AAP analyses until you actually run the numbers using the new data.
For instance, several census occupation codes in the healthcare industry were consolidated in the new data, so the demographic data for the affected job codes will be less “granular.” Whether or not that is a “good” or “bad” thing depends on the demographics themselves and, of course, the demographics of your actual workforce. You may find yourself going from several placement goals to just a few or even none. Of course, it could go the other way as well. But you won’t know until you run the numbers.
Does This Mean We Have to Re-Code Our Jobs?
To an extent, yes. The vast majority of the census occupation codes will be the same—same codes, same descriptions. In some cases, new codes have been added, some have been consolidated together, while some may disappear entirely. The Census Bureau provides “crosswalks” for translating “old” codes into “new” ones, which is extremely helpful. But there will be instances where you will need to assign new codes to your job titles manually.
BCGi recommends reviewing census occupation codes annually anyway as a best practice. If that is not a practice you have put in place, you will need to review those code assignments prior to preparing your next AAPs.
Questions? Concerns?
BCGi is always here to help. If you have questions or concerns about the new “EEO Tabulation” and what it means for your organization, feel free to reach out to us at bcgi@biddle.com.