To ensure consistent and comparable race and ethnicity data collection throughout organizations such as Metropolitan State University of Denver, the federal Office of Management and Budget has expanded race/ethnicity choices on employee documentation.
“Better understanding employee demographics helps us ensure that everyone feels valued and helps us build and maintain a culture of belonging,” said Stacy Dvergsdal, associate vice president for Human Resources. “This data provides HR with insights for compensation equity, turnover data and engagement surveys to better help us identify how we might expand our benefits to meet employee needs.”
Specific changes Roadrunners will see within Workday:
- The “Yes/No” check box regarding Hispanic/Latino identity has been removed on federal employment forms.
- The “Hispanic or Latino” option has been added to the general Race/Ethnicity selection.
- “Middle Eastern or North African” has been added.
- Employees can now choose multiple options from the Race/Ethnicity list instead of just one.
“This federal change is actually much more in alignment with MSU Denver inclusive values,” said Charles Kibort, director of Human Resources Operations and Strategy. “Employees can now provide information that accurately reflects their identities.”
Federal forms also now require some additional details beyond the minimum required race and ethnicity categories to ensure further disaggregation in the collection, tabulation and presentation of data when useful and appropriate. The updated standards also include several additional updates to definitions, terminology and guidance to agencies on the collection and presentation of data.
Next steps for employees
While this change will not impact Human Resources processes or procedures, it does present an opportunity for employees:
- Prior Race/Ethnicity selections by employees will be converted to the new selections.
- Except if an employee selected the Hispanic or Latino check box, those selections will not immediately be added to the new selection.
- Employees are encouraged to review their current data and update their Race/Ethnicity selections as appropriate (as a reminder, multiple selections can now be made).
- After a 30-day waiting period, if an employee had previously added Hispanic or Latino to their record and their record has not been updated, the “Hispanic or Latino” option will be selected for the employee.
- Additionally, while on the “Change My Personal Information” screen, employees are encouraged to add/edit other items such as gender, pronouns or marital status.
“Employees should visit their personal profile inWorkday, review their Race/Ethnicity selections and update as needed,” Kibort said. “The more data we have, the better we can ensure equity, especially with regard to our ongoing work on compensation.”
Learn more
Visit the U.S. Office of Management and Budget website for more details on standards for maintaining, collecting and presenting federal data on race and ethnicity and to learn more about the revision process.
