Laura A. Mitchell is a Principal in the Denver, Colorado, office of Jackson Lewis P.C. She is a member of the firm’s Affirmative Action and OFCCP Defense practice group as well as the firm’s Pay Equity Resource Group. She is also on the leadership team for the firm’s Government Contractor Industry Group.
Her practice is focused on representing government and non-government contractors in OFCCP matters, preparing for and defending OFCCP audits, and counseling employers on issues stemming from OFCCP regulations. Ms. Mitchell personally oversees the development of hundreds of AAPs each year and is intimately involved in the defense of numerous OFCCP audits. She also spends significant time counseling companies in connection with conducting pay equity analyses as well as government contractor employment obligations.
Ms. Mitchell is the editor and a principal contributor of The Affirmative Action Law Advisor blog and frequently presents on pay equity, affirmative action compliance, OFCCP enforcement trends, and government contractor obligations.
OFCCP has updated the annual veteran benchmark for 2021. The new benchmark is now set at 5.6%. This is down 0.1% from last year’s mark of 5.7%. The OFCCP relies on the annual national percentage of veterans in the civilian labor force to set the benchmark.
As a reminder, the benchmark is the
EEOC has finally announced the opening date for the collection of 2019 and 2020 EEO-1 data. The portal is slated to open April 26 and employers will have until July 19, 2021 to file both years reports. The agency has extended the duration of the time to file in recognition
of the continuing differential impacts
On Monday, the U.S. Senate confirmed Marty Walsh as the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Labor under President Biden. Secretary Walsh will, of course, also be newly-appointed OFCCP Director Jenny Yang’s new boss. While we have anticipated a change in OFCCP direction under Director Yang, the changes, thus far, have been limited, perhaps because
In an announcement (EEOCdata.org) that flew under the radar and has, yet, to appear on the EEO-1 reporting webpage, or EEOC’s home page, EEOC now says the filing deadline will be in sometime in July. When in July? EEOC had not said:
The EEO-1 Component 1 data collection will open at the end of
As a follow up to the Inauguration Day recession of former President Trump’s Combatting Race and Sex Stereotyping Executive Order, the Biden Administration has issued a White House Diversity memo providing further direction on rolling back any remaining tenants of Executive Order 13950.
The memo, dated March 2, 2021, was published by the Office
OFCCP has just announced it has revised its Supply and Service FY 2020 audit scheduling list by removing all establishments selected to receive focused reviews and compliance checks.
An amended Corporate Scheduling Announcement List (CSAL) and amended methodology have been posted on the agency website.
The evaluations that will proceed include establishment-based compliance reviews, CMCE
In an e-mail sent out to registered stakeholders OFCCP announced in an effort to “improve efficiency and better integrate compliance assistance efforts,” it is discontinuing the Agency’s Contractor Assistance Portal as of March 1, 2021.
The notice emphasized OFCCP
remains committed to quality compliance assistance
and notes it will strengthen its efforts through improvements to
As yet another confirmation that pay equity will be a priority for the Biden-Harris administration, the proposed Paycheck Fairness Act has been reintroduced in the U.S. House of Representatives as H.R. 7. The proposed legislation has a long history but has never been given a vote in the Senate – it last passed in
Following on the heels of President Biden’s inaugural day revocation of President Trump’s Executive Order on Combatting Race and Sex Stereotyping, OFCCP has officially ceased all activities in connection with enforcement of Executive Order 13950.
Specifically:
As part of the many Executive Orders signed his first day in office, President Biden formalized is administration’s commitment to protecting the rights of the LGBTQ+ community by signing an Executive Order on Preventing and Combating Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity or Sexual Orientation. The Order states:
Every person should be treated