Republican Sens. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee and Pat Roberts of Kansas called on the White House Wednesday to halt the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission’s plan to significantly increase the amount of data businesses are required to report to the agency regarding their workforce.
The senators argued the changes the EEOC is planning would create an unreasonable burden on businesses.
“These revisions will increase by 20 times the employment data the commission currently collects from 61,000 private employers on their 63 million employees. These revisions will place significant paperwork, reporting burdens and new costs on American businesses, and will result in fewer jobs created and higher prices for American consumers,” the senators said in a letter to Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney.
The senators said they “respectfully request” that the administration stop the revisions, which would apply to the agency’s EEO-1 form, the main one employers file with the agency. The new form is set to take effect March 31, 2018. They noted that the agency’s estimate of the compliance cost for the change — $55 million — was vastly less than the one estimated by the Chamber of Commerce, the nation’s leading business lobby. The Chamber has estimated the compliance cost at $400 million.
The senators may find a receptive audience at the White House. Victoria Lipnic, acting head of the EEOC, said in March she was “dubious” about the agency’s estimates as well, but cautioned that the agency would not abandon its traditional watchdog role.
“I’m not sure this is the right device, but I do have that concern that employers won’t do it unless forced to,” Lipnic said, according to Bloomberg.
