The standards that federal agencies have used for more than 25 years to collect race and ethnicity data are changing. The revised standards, published by the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in the Federal Register March 29, 2024, add a new race and ethnicity category for individuals identifying as Middle Eastern or North African (MENA). They also require use of the one-question format for collecting race and ethnicity data, establish a default rule to collect detailed race and ethnicity categories, and update definitions.
The next step in the process is for the federal agencies that collect race/ethnicity data to revise their data collection rules and procedures. The most obvious example is the annual EEO-1 Report.
The new standards took effect immediately for all new recordkeeping or reporting requirements that include racial or ethnic information. Agencies must make their existing requirements consistent with these standards within five years.
CWC has scheduled a Members-Only Web Workshop on this topic on Thursday, April 11, 2024, at 3:00 p.m. EDT. Click here for registration information.
Members of the Center for Workplace Compliance (CWC), our affiliated nonprofit membership association, can read more here.