Compliance
Properly Categorize Jobs in EEO-1 Reports
Q: Did the EEOC change any of the job categories for the 2007 EEO-1 report?
A: Yes. There is one major change in the EEO-1 job categories for 2007 compared to past years. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has divided the former “officials/management” category into two more-distinct groups. The first category is called “executive/senior-level officials and managers,” which is intended to represent your strategic planning executive team, including your CEO and other chief executives.
The second job category is “first/mid-level officials and managers.” This group includes management positions that take direction from someone in the executive/senior-level category. The role of a mid-level manager is often to implement company strategies and policies and to oversee the operations of the organization or business unit. This category includes direct line, functional, departmental, division, business and unit managers and officials.
Depending on the number of levels within your organization, the titles within each category may be a little different. For example, in large corporations, a vice president position might be considered a mid-level official. But in a small- or medium-sized company, a vice president may actually be an executive-level position.
The remaining eight job categories have not changed in definition, though some of the names for these categories have been shortened. There is no longer reference to the terms “skilled,” “semi-skilled” and “unskilled” workers in the actual job category name on the report, though the main categories (i.e., craft, operative and laborers) have not changed. Here is a full list of job categories for EEO-1 reporting:
- Executive/senior-level officials and managers (1.1).
- First/mid-level officials and managers (1.2).
- Professionals (2).
- Technicians (3).
- Sales workers (4).
- Administrative support workers (5).
- Craft workers (6).
- Operatives (7).
- Laborers and helpers (8).
- Service workers (9).
The EEOC has attempted to assist employers in properly classifying positions by providing definitions of each job category on pages 5 and 6 of the EEO Instruction Booklet as well as posting a list of job titles that may be included in each job category in the EEO-1 Job Classification Guide.
Employers should do their best to properly identify job categories for each position. Start with positions that you can clearly identify for each category and then slowly work toward the harder-to-classify positions. You may want to ask a co-worker to review your classification decisions or at least check the ones that you found more difficult to classify. This second opinion will make you feel more confident in your decisions or at least open a dialogue that will help you determine if you are overlooking something in your categorization.
There is not an exhaustive list of what job goes in what classification. Keep in mind that depending on your industry and size, your company may not have positions under every job category, and/or one or two of the job categories may house a large majority of your organization's positions.
Remember your EEO-1 report is due Sept. 30 each year!
Article by Liz Petersen, SPHR, is an HR knowledge advisor in SHRM's HR Knowledge Center from http://www.shrm.org/kc/solutions/articles/archives/CMS_023702.asp#P-8_0