Employer payroll data collection appears in Biden’s rules plan (1)

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission plans to issue proposed rules next year on collecting pay data from employers, under a new regulatory plan released by the Biden administration.

If approved, the proposal (RIN:3046-AB15) could provide grounds for reinstating a controversial Obama-era requirement that large companies annually submit pay data by race, gender and job category to the EEOC.

That reporting order became bogged down in contentious litigation during the Trump administration, ultimately leading to court-ordered, time-limited pay reporting. The commission later decided to halt data collection pending further study, but the current Democratic majority on the EEOC has signaled interest in reinstating pay data collection.

The EEOC said it plans to implement the proposed rule in January 2025. A commission spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The plan was unveiled Friday as part of a spring 2024 regulatory agenda that also included priorities from the U.S. Department of Labor and other agencies.

This year, ahead of the November presidential election, several major workplace policies have already been finalized, many of which have prompted immediate lawsuits to block them.

They include provisions that extend overtime pay eligibility to 4 million workers, update the test for classifying workers as contractors, expand fiduciary duties for retirement investing, provide workplace accommodations for pregnant workers, allow representatives of outside workers to participate in safety inspections and grant labor protections to farmworkers on temporary visas.

Biden’s latest plan includes several new items and timeline updates, including:

• December 2024 final regulations (RIN:1615-AC70) to fundamentally overhaul the requirements for H-1B work visas, which are the primary path for highly skilled foreign workers to obtain employment in the U.S.;
• A March 2025 proposed regulation (RIN: 1210-AC14) by the Department of Labor, Health and Human Services and the Treasury to implement the No Surprises Act requirements that require health plans to send enrollees an “advanced explanation of benefits” that would estimate the cost of health care services;
• May 2025 proposed rulemaking by the Department of Labor to update affirmative action and nondiscrimination provisions for government contractors (RIN:1250-AA13).