Illinois and Other States Urge EEOC to Maintain Workforce Demographic Reporting
The Illinois Department of Human Rights (IDHR), alongside civil rights enforcement agencies from Oregon, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, and the District of Columbia, has submitted a joint comment to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). This comment urges the EEOC to preserve federal workforce demographic reporting requirements, specifically the EEO-1 report. The agencies are responding to EEOC Docket No. EEOC-2026-0034, which proposes rescinding these requirements. For six decades, EEO workforce data has been crucial for federal, state, and local civil rights agencies, employers, policymakers, and the public, providing insights into representation patterns across industries, regions, and occupations. This data, which does not identify individual employees, helps to reveal broader disparities and informs enforcement, education, outreach, and policy decisions. The agencies argue that eliminating this data collection would reduce transparency and remove an important b... 
