• Most organizations must file ERISA 5500 with the DOL, EEO-1 with the EEOC, and VETS-100 with the DOL.
• Employers must file certain employee wage and tax forms annually with the SSA and IRS.
• Certain reports must be filed with the DOL by labor unions, union officers and employees, employers, labor relations consultants, and surety companies.

The U.S. government requires that organizations report various types of data to it. The following is a list of some of the most common reports that must be filed, and some of the federal agencies that require organizations to report specific information.

Reports required of most organizations:

• ERISA 5500: The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), Internal Revenue Service, and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation jointly developed the Form 5500 Series so employee benefit plans could satisfy annual reporting requirements under Title I and Title IV of ERISA and under the Internal Revenue Code. Form 5500 Series is an important compliance, research, and disclosure tool for the DOL, a disclosure document for plan participants and beneficiaries, and a source of information and data for use by other federal agencies, Congress, and the private sector in assessing employee benefit, tax, and economic trends and policies.
• The EEO-1 Component 1 Data Collection: The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) report is a mandatory annual data collection that requires all private sector employers with 100 or more employees, and federal contractors with 50 or more employees meeting certain criteria, to submit demographic workforce data, including data by race/ethnicity, sex, and job categories. The filing by eligible employers of the EEO-1 Component 1 Report is required under 709(c) of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended.
• VETS-100 and 100A data: The DOL Veterans’ Employment and Training Service (VETS) and Office of Federal Contractor Compliance Programs (OFCCP) have supported affirmative actions to employ and advance “covered veterans” in employment since 2008. Contractors and subcontractors who enter or modify a contract or subcontract with the federal government, and whose contract meets certain criteria, are required to report annually on their affirmative action efforts in employing veterans.

Agencies requiring reports:

Social Security Administration (SSA)

Each year, employers must send Copy A of Forms W-2 (Wage and Tax Statement) to the SSA by the last day of February (or last day of March if filing electronically) to report the wages and taxes of employees for the previous calendar year. In addition, employers must give a W-2 to each employee by January 31 (for individual income tax purposes.) W-2s are sent to SSA along with a Form W-3 (Transmittal of Income and Tax Statements).

Internal Revenue Service (IRS)

Employers are responsible for several federal, state, and local employment taxes. At the federal level, these include:

• Income tax
• Social Security and Medicare taxes
• Unemployment taxes

Requirements for employers include withholding, depositing, reporting, and paying employment taxes. There are forms that employers must give to employees, those that employees must give to employers, and those that employers must send to the IRS and SSA.

Employment Standards Administration, Office of Labor-Management Standards

The Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959, as amended (LMRDA), and the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 (CSRA) require certain reports to be filed with the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) by labor unions, union officers and employees, employers, labor relations consultants, and surety companies.

The LMRDA applies to labor organizations which represent private sector employees and U.S. Postal Service employees while the CSRA applies to labor organizations which represent employees in most agencies of the executive branch of the Federal Government. The regulations implementing the standards of conduct provisions of the CSRA incorporate many LMRDA provisions, including those related to labor organization reporting requirements. (Federal sector labor organizations subject to the Foreign Service Act or the Congressional Accountability Act are also required to file the union reports.)

All reports must be filed with the DOL, Employment Standards Administration, Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS).