Ok, so I read that the deadline for this report is fast approaching. The good news is that my business is still too small (close, but not close enough!) to need to file the report. So other than what I've read about it on the DOL's website, what do YOU think about it? Tell me your thoughts, opinions, comments, anything to enlighten as to what this report is, how much time it takes up, what it means, etc etc.

The EEO-1 Report is a report of head count broken down by job type (very broad based categories), by sex, by race.

It's an EEOC report, not a DOL report.  I read an article about it a few years ago essentially saying that the report cannot be used to spawn an inquiry and it isn't very valuable in prosecuting a case.  It's a federal bureacratic hurdle that simply must be cleared that has no immediate value to the Company unless it is under an AAP and, some have argued, no value to the EEOC, either.

OFCCP does use the EEO-1 to target contractors for compliance, so employers who are not fed contractors need to be careful NOT to check off the boxes in Section 3, indicating that the employer is a government contractor. Take it from me, that is one way that  OFCCP finds people for compliance reviews. The report itself takes very little time, assuming that the employer has been keeping good records throughout the year, when hiring, terminating, transferring, etc. LInking the workforce data to an EEO-1 report sheet is the best way to keep track.

OFCCP compliance with what, exactly?  The AAP cannot specify anything more than the company's plan to ensure that it is recruiting from a sufficiently wide array of sources to get a diverse array of qualified applicants.  The most they can do is question your recruiting effort.  Assuming there isn't really anything naughty going on, then all they'll see is that, depsite adequate effort to recruit every flavor of person to ensure some qualified applicants are "minority" and/or "female".

Frankly, the DOL itself often confuses the AAP with a device to force employers to hire non-white, non-male individuals when, in fact, the law says that race and sex cannot be used as part of the determination in a hiring decision.  As long as you are routinely hiring the best qualified applicants and have good systems in place to document your recruitment and intake processes and results, this kind of inquiry is not a problem.  I've done 3 with no issues.  Admittedly, that hardly makes me an old man of the sea but I've done those in 3 different states with the same techniques and attitude for handling the situation.