Demographic Reporting

In August of 2021, AICP announced the official launch of its demographic reporting initiative in conjunction with the payroll community. With this joint effort,  AICP and the payroll companies servicing our members came to a legally vetted, standardized, and effective methodology for reporting employment demographic data that can be shared with advertising agencies and marketers upon request.

As of September 2024, AICP and the payroll companies now have a 2.0 version of the standard reporting form template. This updated version of the Demographic Reporting initiative has greatly expanded the listing of gender identity categories, and added the ability for production staff to include their veteran status in the U.S. Armed Forces. These reports will provide AICP member production companies with anonymous and voluntarily-provided breakdowns on these demographic categories, which can in turn be shared with agencies and advertisers upon request. 

Background
Many marketers, brands, and advertising agencies are asking for information about the demographic make-up of the people working on their commercials. Some are asking for this information in a manner that can be legally answered by production companies as the employers, and many are not.  AICP has inserted the organization into the creation of a methodology and a standard report that all the major payroll companies have agreed to deliver to their Production Company clients.

This sounds simple, why has this been difficult to accomplish?
As small businesses with largely freelance (and intermittent) employment patterns, it is much more difficult to gather and report this type of data than for those with large full-time staff (such as an advertising agency). In fact, while large employers are required to file certain demographic information and may do so by identifying their employees, small employers are barred from doing so without the employee opting into reporting and self-identifying after they are employed.  A unique rub comes from the relative nature of “todays’ employee is tomorrow’s prospective employee.” Therefore, it is paramount that reporting on Production Company employees is done in a manner that is truly the option of the employee, blind to you as an employer, aggregated prior to reporting, and delivered in a fashion that is opaque regarding the individuals that opted to self-identify.

Here are the basics:

  • When an employee is onboarded for a job they will be presented in the materials an optional form regarding Gender,Race/Ethnicity, and Veteran Status (Depending on the payroll company you use, this may be done for every job, or the payroll company may store the information for future employment).

  • Each payroll company will have a unique way of gathering this information, so it is imperative that you reach out to your payroll company to understand their methodology - a list of contacts for each payroll company can be found at this link  - however, every payroll company report that they ultimately issue to you will be identical in form and substance.

  • Depending on how the payroll company operates, the Standard Report will be issued on individual request or automatically for each production to the production company. This of course is based on each production company’s willingness or desire to take part (which of course is optional).

  • The Report will NOT be issued to AICP, nor will AICP be privy to the contents or any aggregation of data. Additionally, the payroll companies will not issue the reports to your clients. That will be your responsibility.


The Report

  • All major payroll companies have committed to implementing this reporting tool. Please consult your payroll company for more details.

  • The report will have three basic areas of reporting: Gender, Race/Ethnicity, and Veteran Status

  • All areas will be reported on by Full Crew and Crew minus PAs (Why, you may ask?  It has been stated by many agencies and clients that they want to make sure that diversity goals aren’t being skewed by the make-up of those in only “entry level” or PA positions. Some have asked for data specifically on Key roles, which would not legally comply with anonymity requirements. This seemed to help accomplish this goal).

  • Please click here to view a sample report. 


One important note:  Filling out this information will be optional for the employee and CANNOT be mandated. 

Great lengths have been taken to make sure that their identity is protected, and they should be informed that this project is underway and that the goals of this project are to make positive strides for greater inclusion.  Employers can and should encourage participation but be mindful that it cannot be mandated. Please click here for a 2023 memo outlining the legalities of demographic reporting.  

If you have any questions, please consult your payroll company or your attorney.

The AICP Payroll Demographic Reporting process is designed as a business service to AICP Members and was created under the guidance of AICP and its legal counsel. However, it does not constitute any recommendation, warranty, legal advice, or directive by AICP or AICP legal counsel on utilizing this information as part of legal compliance nor is it intended to fulfil a member’s legal obligations in any respect, as AICP has no part in implementation.  Members are advised to consult with legal counsel with respect to compliance with applicable laws.