Defending Ed Supports Rule to End Mandatory Race-Counting Requirements

Defending Education filed comments with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) this week in support of a proposed rule that would end decades-old requirements forcing large employers to sort their workforce by race, ethnicity, and sex and report it to the federal government every year. Unlike college data-reporting systems which schools choose to opt in to by taking federal financial aid, these EEOC rules apply automatically to any employer with more than 100 workers. Under existing rules, employers must classify every employee even when that employee refuses to self-identify by race. 

Our comment argues that mandatory race-counting doesn’t stop discrimination. Instead, it encourages it. When the government requires companies to track employees by race year after year, companies start managing their workforce around racial quotas and demographic targets instead of individual merit. Removing this reporting rule does not limit the EEOC’s power to investigate real discrimination. It just stops the default collection of racial data on every large employer in the country. We urge the Commission to finalize the rule.

---