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.
And the twists and turns keep coming . . .
The federal court that issued a nationwide injunction of Executive Order (EO) 14042, “Ensuring Adequate COVID Safety Protocols for Federal Contractors,” has issued a new Order stating that it enjoined only the vaccine requirement of the EO’s implementing tool: the Safer Federal Taskforce Guidance
As previously reported, President Biden’s Federal Contractor Vaccine mandate is under a nationwide injunction and that does not look to be changing anytime soon.
In December 2021, the Administration filed their appeal of the preliminary injunction ruling to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals and requested a stay of the injunction. On December
As the calendar turns over and employers start preparing for 2022, the annual EEO-1 reporting obligation may or may not be on the top of the “To-Do” list, and understandably so. However, it should be.
The EEOC has provided recent updates about timing of the required filing and announced the discontinuation of the use of
The U.S. Department of Labor, including OFCCP, recently issued its Fall 2021 Regulatory Agenda, which identifies the regulatory goals the Agency would like to achieve during the fiscal year and beyond. While OFCCP may not complete all (or even any) of these goals during the current fiscal year, the Agenda provides insights into the
Thankfully, the Office of Management and Budget has quickly issued guidance on the impact of yesterday’s federal court ruling enjoining the Biden Administration’s federal contractor vaccine mandate. The guidance, as reported on the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force website, states for existing contracts that include Executive Order 14042 implementing language:
The Government will
As set forth in more detail in its Order, a Georgia federal district court judge today issued an injunction halting enforcement of Executive Order 14042, which requires that federal contractors and subcontractors with specific types of covered contracts ensure that their covered employees are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by January 18th, 2022.
As anticipated, OFCCP has published additional information, including an implementation timeline, for its Affirmative Action Verification Interface (AAPVI) Portal. OFCCP provided the following timeline in its communication to contractors:
On Feb. 1, 2022, contractors may begin registering for access to the portal. OFCCP will also send an e-mail to each covered federal contractor
A federal judge in the case of Commonwealth of Kentucky v. Biden has decided President Joe Biden likely overstepped his authority with Executive Order 14042 in requiring federal contractors to mandate COVID-19 vaccinations for their employees. Adding additional complexity and confusion to the already muddied landscape, the decision enjoins the Order for going into effect
The DOL today published the Final Rule implementing the $15 per hour minimum wage for federal contractor workers who work on or in connection with covered contracts, which President Biden authorized by in Executive Order 14026. Building on former President Obama’s Executive Order 13658, President Biden in April 2021 issued the Order and the
Updated! The Safer Federal Workforce Task Force has updated the error in the vaccination deadline reported yesterday, correcting January 18, 2021 to January 18, 2022.
Vaccination of covered contractor employees, except in limited circumstances where an employee is legally entitled to an accommodation Covered contractors must ensure that all covered contractor employees are fully