Every other odd numbered year, the Governor's Office of Equal Opportunity submits the EEO-4 report on behalf of the State of Arizona to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

The EEOC collects workforce data from employers with more than 100 employees (lower thresholds apply to federal contractors). Employers meeting the reporting thresholds have a legal obligation to provide the data; it is not voluntary. The data is collected using the reports below and is used for a variety of purposes including enforcement, self-assessment by employers, and research. Each of the reports collects data about gender and race/ethnicity by some type of job grouping. This information is shared with other authorized federal agencies in order to avoid duplicate collection of data and reduce the burden placed on employers. Although the data is confidential, aggregated data is available to the public.

Under Public Law 88-352, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended by the Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972, all State and local governments that have 15 or more employees are required to keep records and to make such reports to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission as are specified in the regulations of the Commission. The applicable provisions of the law, Section 709(c) of Title VII, and the regulations issued by the Commission are printed in full in the Appendix (4) of these instructions. School systems and educational institutions are covered by other employment surveys and are excluded from EEO-4.

In the interests of consistency, uniformity and economy, State and Local Government Report EEO-4 is being utilized by Federal government agencies that have responsibilities with respect to equal employment opportunity. A joint State and Local Reporting Committee, with which this report must be filed, represents those various Federal agencies. In addition, this report should bring about uniformity in State and local government recordkeeping and reporting and should serve as a valuable tool for use by the political jurisdiction in evaluating their own internal programs for ensuring equal employment opportunity.

As stated above, the filing of Report EEO-4 is required by law; it is not voluntary. Under Section 709 (c) of Title VII, the Attorney General of the United Stated may compel a jurisdiction to file this report by obtaining an order from a United States District Court.

Data to be reported is based on fiscal year ending on June 30th.