DIRECTIVES TRANSMITTAL

Number

750.001A

EEOC

Date

April 9, 2021

SUBJECT: FEPA Data-Sharing Policies and Practices

PURPOSE: This Order sets forth the EEOC’s policies and practices regarding sharing data with 

State and local Fair Employment Practices Agencies (FEPAs). 

EFFECTIVE DATE: April 9, 2021

ORIGINATOR: Office of the Chair

DISTRIBUTION: This Order shall be shared with the Director of Office of Enterprise Data and 

Analytics (OEDA), the Director of Office of Field Programs, EEOC District Directors, and 

District State, Local and Tribal Program Managers/Coordinators. This Order is also available on 

the intranet website, InSite, Directives/Orders page.

CURRENT CHANGES: This Order sets forth the parameters under which the EEOC shares

EEO Reports and any related nonpublic information and data with the FEPAs. It supersedes 

Order No. 750.001, dated January 31, 2020, to ensure the FEPA data-sharing policies and 

practices more closely align with the requirements of applicable law, including Section 709 of 

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended.

OBSOLETE DATA AND FILING INSTRUCTIONS: This Order must be made available to 

all EEOC staff whose responsibilities include FEPA coordination.

_________________________

Charlotte A. Burrows

Chair
APRIL 2021 EEOC Order 750.00A

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RESEARCH PROGRAMS

Dissemination of Data

1. SUBJECT: FEPA Data-Sharing Policies and Practices.

2. PURPOSE: This Order covers the EEOC’s policies and practices regarding sharing data 

with State and local Fair Employment Practices Agencies (FEPAs). It supersedes Order No. 

750.001, dated January 31, 2020.

3. APPLICABILITY. This Order applies to all EEOC staff.

4. EFFECTIVE DATE. April 9, 2021.

5. ORIGINATOR. Office of the Chair.

6. RESPONSIBILITY. The Office of Enterprise Data and Analytics (OEDA) and Office of 

Field Programs (OFP) are responsible for carrying out the policies and practices contained in

this Order.

7. POLICIES.

FEPA Data-Sharing Policies and Practices

7.1 Section 709(c) of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, (“Title VII”) 

requires every employer, employment agency, and labor organization subject to Title VII 

to “(1) make and keep such records relevant to the determinations of whether unlawful 

employment practices have been or are being committed, (2) preserve such records for 

such periods, and (3) make such reports therefrom as the Commission shall prescribe by 

regulation or order, after public hearing, as reasonable, necessary, or appropriate for the 

enforcement of this subchapter or the regulations or orders thereunder.”1

1 42 U.S.C. 2000e-8(c).
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7.2 Pursuant to Section 709(c) of Title VII and EEOC regulations,

2 the EEOC requires 

covered entities to submit the following information collections (“EEO Reports”):

• EEO-1 – annual collection of labor force data from employers covered by 

Title VII, including certain federal contractors.3

• EEO-3 – biennial collection (in even-numbered years) of labor force data 

covering local referral unions with 100 or more employees within the United 

States and District of Columbia.

• EEO-4 – biennial collection (in odd-numbered years) of labor force data 

covering all states and all other political jurisdictions with 100 or more 

employees.

• EEO-5 – joint biennial collection (in even numbered years) by the EEOC and 

the Office for Civil Rights of the Department of Education, covering all public 

elementary and secondary school districts with 100 or more employees in the 

United States.

7.3 EEO Reports and any related nonpublic information and data are collectively referred to 

in this Order as “EEO Information.”

7.4 Section 709(b) of Title VII allows the EEOC to cooperate with State and local agencies 

that administer State fair employment practices laws (FEPAs), stating that the EEOC 

“may enter into written agreements with such State or local agencies,” subject to certain 

conditions.

4 Section 709(d) of Title VII provides that the EEOC “shall furnish upon 

request and without cost to any [FEPA] information obtained pursuant to subsection 

2 The regulations governing EEO Reports are set forth in the following subparts of 29 CFR Part 1602: Subpart B 

(Employer Information Report EEO-1); Subpart F (Local Union Report EEO-3); Subpart J (State and Local 

Government Information Report EEO-4; and Subpart M (Elementary-Secondary Staff Information Report EEO-5). 

In addition, Subpart D (Apprenticeship Information Report EEO-2) authorizes the EEOC’s annual collection of 

labor force data from certain joint labor-management committees that control apprenticeship programs. Although 

the EEOC does not currently conduct the EEO-2 data collection, any past or future EEO-2 reports shall be subject to 

this Order.

3 Since 1966, all private employers that are covered by Title VII and that have 100 or more employees have been 

required to file EEO-1 demographic data (Component 1). Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs 

(OFCCP) regulations require certain federal contractors to file the EEO-1 if they have 50 or more employees and are 

not otherwise exempt. In 2016, the EEOC implemented a collection of summary pay data (Component 2) from 

private employers with at least 100 workers and federal contractors with at least 100 workers that already filed 

Component 1. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) ordered the EEOC to stay the Component 2

collection, but in National Women’s Law Center v. Office of Management and Budget, Civil Action No. 17-cv-2458

(TSC), the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia vacated the stay and ordered the EEOC to collect 

Component 2 data for a two-year period. The EEOC complied with the court’s order and collected such pay data, 

and then terminated the EEO-1 pay data collection after the 2017 and 2018 Component 2 collections. As used in 

this Order, the term “EEO-1” includes Component 1 data and the 2017 and 2018 Component 2 data, in addition to

any past and future data collections using the EEO-1 Employer Information Report. 

4 42 U.S.C. 2000e-8(b).
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[709](c) ... from any employer, employment agency, labor organization, or joint labormanagement committee subject to the jurisdiction of such agency.”5

 Section 709(d) 

further states that the EEOC shall provide that information “on condition that it not be 

made public by the recipient agency prior to the institution of a proceeding under State or 

local law involving such information.”6

7.5 The EEOC enters into a contract with particular FEPAs to reimburse their resolution of 

dual-filed charges of discrimination and into a Work-sharing Agreement that sets forth 

the terms and conditions of the EEOC’s and the FEPA’s cooperation. Each FEPA 

contract and separately executed Work-sharing Agreement delineates, among other 

things, the EEOC’s and the FEPA’s respective responsibilities relating to data and 

information shared by the EEOC pursuant to its laws and regulations. (As used in this 

Order, each such agreement is referred to as a “FEPA agreement,” and each FEPA with a 

contract and separately executed Work-sharing Agreement is referred to herein as a 

“Contracted FEPA.”) Each FEPA agreement includes provisions imposing obligations 

on the Contracted FEPA with respect to confidentiality, privacy, and data security.

7.6 To ensure EEOC’s data-sharing practices with FEPAs comply with the confidentiality 

provisions of Title VII, and to further ensure that relevant FEPA contract and Worksharing Agreement provisions are interpreted consistent with Title VII, this Order sets 

forth the EEOC’s policies and practices relating to data-sharing with FEPAs as follows:

7.6.1 The EEOC shall share EEO Information only with Contracted FEPAs to ensure 

such information is protected by the confidentiality, privacy, and data security 

obligations imposed by FEPA agreements on the Contracted FEPAs. The EEOC 

retains discretion to share with FEPAs that do not have separately executed 

contracts and/or Work-sharing Agreements on a case-by-case basis, and subject to 

imposing confidentiality, privacy, and data security obligations on noncontracted 

FEPAs that are similar to those imposed on Contracted FEPAs.

7.6.2 The EEOC shall share with a Contracted FEPA the EEO Information EEOC 

obtains from any covered entity that is subject to such FEPA’s jurisdiction. For 

the purposes of this Order, “jurisdiction” of a FEPA shall be interpreted consistent 

with Title VII, and the state or local laws and regulations conferring authority on 

the FEPA to enforce equal employment opportunity laws. For ease of 

administration, the EEOC will generally understand an entity to be subject to a 

FEPA’s jurisdiction if that entity is located within the geographical jurisdiction of 

the FEPA and is subject to the laws enforced by the FEPA. If questions arise 

regarding a FEPA’s jurisdiction, EEOC staff may condition data sharing on the 

5 42 U.S.C. 2000e-8(d).

6 Id.
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FEPA’s provision of authority demonstrating the scope of the FEPA’s 

jurisdiction.

7.6.3 EEOC staff shall consult with the Office of Field Program’s (OFP) Director of

State, Local and Tribal Programs (“Director”) or designee, before releasing any 

EEO Information if (1) the staff questions whether the request for EEO 

Information is made by a FEPA that does not have a contract with the EEOC (a 

“non-contracted FEPA”); or (2) the request is for EEO Information for an entity 

not within such FEPA’s jurisdiction (whether the request is made by a Contracted 

FEPA or a non-contracted FEPA).7

 If the Director of State, Local and Tribal 

Programs has specific questions related to the data sharing of EEO Information

under Title VII, the Director should consult with OEDA’s Deputy Chief Data 

Officer or designee.

8

7.6.4 If any EEOC staff learns that a FEPA has failed to comply with its obligation not 

to make public any EEO Information before the institution of a proceeding under 

State or local law involving such information, the staff shall immediately contact 

the OFP’s Director of State, Local, & Tribal Programs. Pursuant to the EEOC’s 

Breach Notification Policy, the Director shall notify the appropriate EEOC 

officials in the agency’s Office of Information Technology (OIT). Additionally, 

the Director shall make OEDA’s Deputy Chief Data Officer or designee aware of 

any such EEO data disclosures. 

7.6.5 If, upon investigation, the EEOC determines a FEPA has failed to comply with its 

obligation not to make public any EEO Information before the institution of a 

proceeding under State or local law involving such information, including EEO 

Information provided to it any time prior to the institution of this Order, the 

EEOC shall take any actions pursuant to the EEOC’s Breach Notification Policy

and the FEPA Contract, including refusing subsequent requests for information 

from such FEPA, as provided by Section 709(d) of Title VII. 

7.6.6 Current and future FEPA Contracts and Work-sharing Agreements shall be 

interpreted and performed consistent with Title VII and this Order.

7.6.7 This Order shall apply to pending and future requests for EEO Information.

7 For example, the EEOC may provide a FEPA the EEO Information for an entity not within such FEPA’s 

jurisdiction when the FEPA will use the EEO Information to conduct a labor market analysis comparing entities not 

within such FEPA’s jurisdiction.

8 OEDA is responsible for administering the EEO data collections and serves as the repository for EEO data.
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8. SUPERSESSION. This Order supersedes and replaces Order No. 750.001, issued on 

January 31, 2020.

_________________________

Charlotte A. Burrows

Chair