There is no federal pay data report right now, but California and Illinois require one from larger employers, with real penalties for skipping it. Who has to file, and what it costs if you don't.
Pay data reporting means sending a government agency a summary of what you pay employees, broken down by job category, sex, and race or ethnicity. Whether skipping it gets you in trouble depends on where your employees work and how many you have. For most small businesses the honest answer is “nothing happens, because you aren’t required to file.” For larger employers in certain states, it means fines.
Is there a federal pay data report?
Not right now. The EEOC collected pay data through “Component 2” of the EEO-1 report only for 2017 and 2018, and that collection has ended. What still exists at the federal level is the EEO-1 Component 1 report: workforce demographics by job category, without pay. Private employers with 100 or more employees, and federal contractors with 50 or more, have to file it every year. If you’re required to and don’t, the EEOC can ask a federal court to order you to file, and federal contractors can also face compliance problems.
States that do require pay data
- California. Private employers with 100 or more employees, and those with 100 or more workers hired through labor contractors, must file an annual pay data report with the California Civil Rights Department, usually due in May. If you don’t, the department can ask a court to impose a civil penalty of up to $100 per employee, and up to $200 per employee for a later failure to file.
- Illinois. Private employers with 100 or more employees in Illinois must apply for an Equal Pay Registration Certificate every two years, submitting their EEO-1 data along with pay information. Employers that don’t can face civil penalties of up to $10,000 after a notice period.
- Massachusetts. Employers with 100 or more employees in the state now have to submit their EEO-1 data to the state each year, and the state publishes aggregate results by industry.
More states are moving toward pay transparency, so the list of states and thresholds is worth rechecking every year.
What it costs to skip it
- Fines. Per-employee penalties add up quickly for a 150-person company.
- A closer look. A missing report can prompt questions about your pay practices that a filed report would have answered.
- Harder conversations. Pay data is increasingly part of how employees, candidates and customers judge a company. Being able to say “we file and we review it” matters.
Making the report easy
The hard part of any pay data report is pulling together clean records: job titles, pay rates, hours worked and total pay for everyone you employed during the reporting period. When payroll, time tracking and onboarding records live in one system, as they do in GOAT Payroll, that information is already organized instead of scattered across spreadsheets.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do small businesses have to file pay data reports?
Usually not. The state pay data and EEO-1 requirements described here start at 100 employees (50 for federal contractors filing EEO-1), so most small businesses aren’t required to file.
Does the EEO-1 report include pay?
Not currently. The EEO-1 Component 1 report covers workforce demographics by job category. Pay data was only collected for 2017 and 2018.
When is California’s pay data report due?
Typically in May, covering the previous calendar year. Check the Civil Rights Department’s site for the current year’s exact deadline.
What records do I need to prepare?
For each employee in the reporting period: job title and job category, pay rate and total pay, hours worked, and demographic information employees have chosen to self-identify. Keeping these in your payroll system as you go makes the report a reporting exercise instead of a research project.
Last reviewed October 2026. This article is general information, not legal advice. Reporting requirements, thresholds, deadlines and penalties change, so confirm the current rules with the agency in each state where you have employees or with an employment attorney.
