Template · Recruiting and hiring
EEO self-identification form
In short
An EEO self identification form is a voluntary questionnaire that asks applicants or employees for their sex, race and ethnicity, and for federal contractors their veteran status, so the employer can complete EEO-1 reports and check its hiring for adverse impact. Answers are optional, kept separate from the application and never used in hiring decisions.
Voluntary Self-Identification Form template
Voluntary Self-Identification Form
[Company Name] is an equal opportunity employer. We are required by federal law to report summary information about the sex, race and ethnicity of applicants and employees, and we use it to check that our hiring process is fair. Completing this form is voluntary. Declining to answer will not affect your application or employment in any way. Your answers are kept confidential, stored separately from your application, and are not seen by anyone who makes hiring decisions.
Position
- Position applied for (or current job title for employees)
- Requisition or job ID
- Date
Sex
- Sex
- MaleFemaleI do not wish to answer
Ethnicity
- Are you Hispanic or Latino?
- YesNoI do not wish to answer
Race (answer if you are not Hispanic or Latino)
- Race
- WhiteBlack or African AmericanAsianNative Hawaiian or Other Pacific IslanderAmerican Indian or Alaska NativeTwo or More RacesI do not wish to answer
Race and ethnicity definitions
- Hispanic or Latino: a person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race.
- White: a person having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East or North Africa.
- Black or African American: a person having origins in any of the Black racial groups of Africa.
- Asian: a person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia or the Indian subcontinent, including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippine Islands, Thailand and Vietnam.
- Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander: a person having origins in any of the original peoples of Hawaii, Guam, Samoa or other Pacific Islands.
- American Indian or Alaska Native: a person having origins in any of the original peoples of North and South America (including Central America) who maintains tribal affiliation or community attachment.
- Two or More Races: a person who is not Hispanic or Latino and who identifies with more than one of the five races above.
Protected veteran status (federal contractors)
[Company Name] is a federal contractor subject to the Vietnam Era Veterans' Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA), which requires us to take affirmative steps to employ and advance protected veterans. Protected veterans include disabled veterans, recently separated veterans (within three years of discharge or release from active duty), active duty wartime or campaign badge veterans, and Armed Forces service medal veterans. Providing this information is voluntary and will not be used against you.
- Veteran status
- I identify as one or more of the classifications of protected veteran listed aboveI am not a protected veteranI do not wish to answer
Disability status (note)
OFCCP rules effective September 21, 2026 removed the federal contractor requirement to invite applicants and employees to self-identify disability, and Form CC-305 was retired. Do not add a disability question to this form unless counsel confirms a current state or local rule requires one.
Completed by
- Name (optional)
- Signature (optional)
For HR use only (store separately from the application)
- Date received
- Applicant or employee ID used to link to the applicant flow log
- Collection point
- Pre-offer (application)Post-offerCurrent employee survey
- Stored in restricted HR system or file (location)
- Retention end date
How to use this template
- Decide what you are required to collect: EEO-1 data if you have 100 or more employees (confirm the report's current status, since the EEOC proposed rescinding it in 2026), plus veteran invitations if you are a covered federal contractor.
- Present the form after the application is submitted, as a separate, clearly optional step, with a decline option on every question.
- Leave out disability questions by default: OFCCP retired Form CC-305 and the Section 503 self-identification requirement in September 2026.
- Store the answers in a restricted HR table or file that recruiters and hiring managers cannot see, linked only by applicant ID.
- Invite contractor candidates to self-identify veteran status again after an offer, as the VEVRAA regulations require.
- Use the aggregated data for your EEO-1 report and periodic adverse impact analysis, and keep it for at least the retention period your obligations require.
Who needs a voluntary self identification form
Private employers with 100 or more employees must file the annual EEO-1 Component 1 report with the EEOC, listing employees by job category, sex and race or ethnicity. The EEOC proposed rescinding the EEO-1 report in 2026, so check its current status before each filing season. The lower threshold for federal contractors with 50 or more employees came from Executive Order 11246 rules, which have been rescinded. Self-identification is the preferred way to collect that data. See the EEO-1 report entry for the job categories and filing process.
Federal contractors have extra steps. Under VEVRAA they must invite applicants to self-identify as protected veterans before and after an offer. In January 2025, Executive Order 14173 revoked Executive Order 11246, which had required contractors to run affirmative action programs for women and minorities. Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act still requires covered contractors to keep disability affirmative action programs, but OFCCP rules effective September 21, 2026 ended the requirement to invite applicants and employees to self-identify disability. Check current OFCCP guidance, since enforcement priorities have changed and may change again.
How the data is used
Self-ID answers feed two things. The first is the EEO-1 report for employees. The second is applicant flow analysis: comparing the selection rates of different groups at each stage to spot adverse impact. Record each applicant once in an applicant flow log, linked by ID to their self-ID answers, and you can compare pass rates at screening, interview and offer.
A common screen is the four-fifths rule from the Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures: if one group's selection rate is less than 80% of the highest group's rate, look harder at that step. Example: 40% of male applicants and 28% of female applicants pass an online assessment. 28 ÷ 40 = 70%, below the four-fifths threshold, so the assessment deserves a review. It is a red flag for investigation, not a legal conclusion.
Rules for collecting and storing answers
- Voluntary, with a decline option. Every question needs "I do not wish to answer". Never make a self-ID question a required field in an online application.
- Separate from the application. Do not put these questions on the employment application form itself. Collect them on a separate screen or page, after the application is submitted.
- Hidden from decision-makers. Recruiters and hiring managers should not be able to see individual answers in the ATS. HR or compliance staff run reports on aggregates.
- Retention. EEOC rules generally require employers to keep application and hiring records for at least one year from the date of the record or personnel action, and covered federal contractors may need to keep them longer. Keep self-ID data on the same schedule as the related applicant records.
EEOC instructions allow employers to use employment records or observer identification for employees who decline to self-identify for EEO-1 purposes. Do not guess applicants' race or sex for hiring analysis. State laws on demographic data and privacy vary; this page is informational, not legal advice.
Common mistakes
The most common error is building self-ID questions into the main application flow, where answers show up in the candidate profile that a hiring manager reviews. That is exactly the evidence a plaintiff looks for. The second is still asking about disability out of habit. OFCCP retired Form CC-305 in September 2026, and an employer with no current rule requiring disability data should not ask applicants about it before an offer.
Other mistakes: no post-offer invitation for contractor roles, response rates so low the data is useless (often a sign the form looks mandatory or intrusive), and outdated category lists. The OMB updated its race and ethnicity standards in 2024 with a combined question and a Middle Eastern or North African category. Federal agencies are phasing these in, but EEO-1 reporting has its own timeline, so follow the categories in the current EEO-1 instruction booklet.
Collecting it at volume
A company processing 50,000 applications a year needs this step to be automatic. Present it as a short optional page right after submission, on mobile, in the same languages as the application. Building it with online forms that write to a restricted data store keeps the answers out of recruiter view by design rather than by policy.
Monitor the response rate by source and site. If one site's rate is half of the others, check how the step is being presented there. For in-person hiring events, give candidates a separate sheet with an envelope or a QR code, never a question asked aloud by the recruiter.
Frequently asked questions
Is the EEO self identification form mandatory for applicants?
No. Answering is always voluntary for the applicant. What is mandatory for covered employers is asking: EEO-1 filers need the data, and federal contractors must invite veteran self-identification.
Can a hiring manager see a candidate's EEO answers?
They should not. Self-ID data must be kept separate from the application and away from anyone who makes or influences hiring decisions. HR or compliance staff use it only in aggregate.
What happens if an applicant declines to self-identify?
Nothing changes in their application. Record the response as declined. For current employees, EEOC instructions permit employers to use employment records or observer identification for EEO-1 reporting.
Is it legal to use a demographic data form for applicants?
Yes, when it is voluntary, collected separately from the application, kept confidential and used only for reporting and compliance analysis. Using the answers in a hiring decision would be discrimination.
What is the EEO-1 self ID form used for?
It collects the sex and race or ethnicity data employers need to file the annual EEO-1 Component 1 report and to analyze their hiring and promotion rates for adverse impact.
Do we need to use Form CC-305 for disability?
Not anymore. OFCCP rules effective September 21, 2026 removed the Section 503 requirement to invite disability self-identification and retired Form CC-305. Check with counsel whether any state or local rule still calls for disability data. Otherwise, employers generally should not ask applicants about disability before an offer.