What is EEO and OFCCP?
Large companies in the US need to prove they’re not discriminating when hiring. They collect statistical data for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). For federal contractors and subcontractors, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) has additional reporting obligations. Here are typical EEO/OFCCP questions:- What is your gender? (Male, Female, I choose not to disclose)
- What is your race/ethnicity? (White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, …)
- Are you a protected veteran? (Yes, No, I don’t wish to answer)
- Do you have a disability? (Yes, No, I don’t wish to answer)
When getting jobs from Kombo, you can identify these questions by checking if
the
category
is "EEO"
.What is not EEO?
While EEO questions are specifically for US regulatory compliance, some companies collect additional demographic/diversity information to gain deeper insights into their applicant pool. Though these questions may resemble EEO questions, they differ significantly as EEO requirements follow strict regulatory guidelines. Here are typical demographic questions:- How would you describe your gender identity?
- How would you describe your sexual orientation?
- …
When getting jobs from Kombo, you can identify these questions by checking if
the
category
is "DEMOGRAPHIC"
.
Greenhouse: Both demographic and EEO questions can be enabled separately.
Tools
Many ATS handle EEO data collection differently. Here are the common approaches:-
Dedicated EEO feature: These ATS include a global setting to enable EEO/demographic questions. They determine if the organization is a government contractor to configure the appropriate OFCCP questions. Applicants receive a standardized set of questions with required legal disclaimers and compliance text.
Ashby: A dedicated EEO feature with pre-written legal texts.
-
Via email after the initial application: Instead of collecting responses during the initial application, the system sends applicants a follow-up email with the EEO questions.
Recruitee: Applicants not using the application form directly will receive an email the next day.
-
Generic questions: Some ATS have no dedicated EEO feature. Instead, they use other features like marking normal questions as sensitive/confidential so that hiring managers cannot see the answers.
For these ATS we are unable to automatically detect which questions are EEO-related. As a result, all questions will have a
category
ofnull
.SAP SuccessFactors: There is no dedicated EEO feature. So the EEO questions are found somewhere else...
Setup
To implement EEO questions, follow these steps. The process is exactly the same as regular screening questions — you can however customize it by looking at thecategory
of a question.
1
Get questions
When reading jobs, you’ll receive a list of questions. Look for questions where
category
is set to "EEO"
or "DEMOGRAPHIC"
. For more details on handling questions, refer to the implementation guide for screening questions.2
Display questions
Display the questions to the applicant, ensuring you follow these guidelines:
Please ensure that the text of all legal disclaimers is displayed. You must show the
description
field in two contexts:- Below form inputs (single-select, multi-select, etc.)
- As standalone information blocks for
"type": "INFORMATION"
3
Submit answers
When submitting an application, include the answers to the EEO/demographic questions. For more information on creating applications, see the implementation guide on creating applications.
FAQ
Can EEO & diversity questions be enabled at the same time?
Yes, this is possible. For example, in Greenhouse you can enable both EEO & demographic questions simultaneously. They will appear in the same array of questions but with differentcategory
values ("EEO"
vs "DEMOGRAPHIC"
).
How do I know if a question is EEO-related?
When getting jobs from Kombo, check thecategory
field of each question:
"EEO"
indicates an EEO/OFCCP compliance question"DEMOGRAPHIC"
indicates a general diversity/demographic questionnull
is the default and likely means a screening question