This is the second in our series of blogs on OFCCP’s proposed changes to its various scheduling letters. Our previous publication focused on the Agency’s new Section 503 and VEVRAA Focused Reviews. In addition to rolling out the new Focused Reviews, OFCCP has also revived the Compliance Check, which has not been used in recent years. … Continue Reading
As we reported last week, OFCCP published in the Federal Register for Notice and Comment revised scheduling letters for Section 503 and VEVRAA Focused Reviews, Compliance Checks, and regular establishment compliance reviews. As a reminder, scheduling letters initiate a compliance review and set forth the required items contractors must provide to OFCCP in an audit. Over the … Continue Reading
On April 12, 2019, OFCCP posted on the Federal Register for Notice and Comment revised scheduling letters for Section 503 and VEVRAA Focused Reviews, Compliance Checks and regular establishment compliance reviews. The proposed Establishment and Focused Review scheduling letters significantly increase the data submission required for veterans and individuals with disabilities, including hiring and compensation information. Comments are due June … Continue Reading
It appears employers will need to wait a bit longer to learn when they will be required to file their EEO-1 pay data. In an order filed April 11, Judge Tanya S. Chutkan set a hearing for 2:00 p.m. Eastern on April 16, 2019 for the parties to present their cases regarding the government’s compliance with her order … Continue Reading
Just in time for its next round of audits, OFCCP has released its annual review of the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (“VEVRAA”) benchmark. And for the fifth consecutive year, the benchmark has been reduced benchmark. It is now at 5.9%. The new benchmark will be effective for affirmative action plans updated after March … Continue Reading
The EEOC announced on February 1, 2019 that due to the partial government shutdown, the 2018 EEO-1 filing portal will open “in early March” for filing of 2018 reports. As a result of the delayed opening, EEOC has extended the filing deadline by two months. The new deadline by which to file is May 31, 2019. As … Continue Reading
Last Friday, OFCCP kicked off the 2019 fiscal year with its first of three new Directives: “Directive 2019-01 – Compliance Review Procedures,” which rescinds the Obama Administration’s Active Case Enforcement (ACE) approach to audits – Directive 2011-01. The ACE Directive was itself a replacement of the Bush Administration’s Active Case Management Directive (ACM). What does … Continue Reading
As contractors start to see new scheduling letters arrive from OFCCP’s latest round of advance notification letters, OFCCP has new opportunities to demonstrate its commitment to transparency, through implementation of the Agency’s recently released Directive 2018-08: Transparency in OFCCP Compliance Activities. The Agency’s stated philosophy is that transparency should “guide OFCCP staff during every stage of the compliance evaluation, … Continue Reading
As we reported last week, OFCCP has released a supplemental list of contractors who have been selected for audit by the Agency. In addition to releasing information about the supplemental list of CSALs, OFCCP also published a new FAQ addressing requests for extensions and a supplement to its recently disclosed scheduling methodology. Request for Extension FAQ One of … Continue Reading
Late last week OFCCP released a new Directive detailing the Agency’s approach to investigating pay discrimination. Directive 2018-05 applies to all OFCCP reviews scheduled on or after August 24, 2018, and to open reviews to the extent “they do not conflict with OFCCP guidance or procedures existing prior to the effective date.” Over the coming days we … Continue Reading
It’s here! OFCCP has finally issued its long-awaited, much-anticipated, new compensation directive. The Directive explicitly replaces the controversial Directive 307 and sets out the Agency’s current approach, and commitment to transparency, with respect to pay equity analyses. Directive 2018-05: Analysis of Contractor Compensation Practices During a Compliance Evaluation outlines “standard procedures for reviewing contractor compensation practices during a … Continue Reading
In the Directive released late last week, OFCCP announced its plan to start scheduling focused reviews starting in Fiscal Year 2019. OFCCP’s fiscal year begins October 1. Directive 2018-04 directs OFCCP staff to “work towards ensuring that a portion of future scheduling lists, starting with Fiscal Year 2019, include focused reviews as to each of the … Continue Reading
Day two of the 2018 ILG National Conference has concluded and it was another day packed with information and insights for attendees. Riding the “waves of change”, over the past two days OFCCP and officials from the U.S. Department of Labor Solicitor’s Office as well as the EEOC, have shared their insights, thoughts, and new initiatives and … Continue Reading
Without much fanfare, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s EEO-1 Joint Reporting Committee has extended the deadline for filing of this year’s EEO-1 Survey until June 1, 2018. As a result of modifications to the EEO-1 survey, which have subsequently been postponed, employers initially had until March 31, 2018 to file their 2017 survey. The extension gives employers an … Continue Reading
In another show of transparency, OFCCP has released a detail description of its process for selecting contractors for audit. The two-page document walks through, step-by-step, the process OFCCP undertook to identify establishments for the “first release of the FY 2018 Supply and Service scheduling list.” As the release explains, OFCCP is not required to make … Continue Reading
OFCCP has announced the new Veteran Hiring benchmark will be 6.4% effective March 31, 2018. Affirmative Action Plans in effect until the March 31, 2018 date should utilize the prior year’s benchmark of 6.7%. The benchmark has steadily declined since its inception in 2014 and this year is the fourth reduction of the benchmark since it … Continue Reading
When the Agency mailed the most recent round of CSALs in February 2018, it reported it would wait until March 19, 2018 to start issuing Scheduling Letters. True to their word, we have learned that Scheduling Letters have started arriving, at least in some areas of the country. As a reminder, OFCCP sends scheduling letters via certified mail to the … Continue Reading
As we’ve been discussing, now is the time for employers to be filing their annual EEO-1 reports. Coincidentally, and perhaps not un-intentionally, Public Citizen, a non profit advocacy group is also using this time to sue OFCCP around its practices of withholding information involving employers’ EEO-1 reports. On February 26, Public Citizen filed suit in Washington … Continue Reading
The highly anticipated proposed budget released today by the White House included expected budget cuts for the U.S. Department of Labor. While cutting funds for the DOL, the proposed budget did not resurrect the previously raised possible merger of OFCCP and EEOC. The President’s FY2019 Budget for the Department of Labor starts with the following introduction: … Continue Reading
Effective January 1, 2018, the minimum wage for federal contractors working on or in connection with contracts covered by Executive Order 13658 will be $10.35/ hour. The announcement was made via posting in the federal register on September 15, 2017. The wage rate for tipped employees will also increase to $7.25/hour. This is the third increase … Continue Reading
In a recent letter responding to an inquiry regarding the proposed merger between OFCCP and EEOC, Acting OFCCP Director Tom Dowd detailed the regulatory requirements to undertake a merger, which would take effect in 2019. He also suggested interim alternatives exist to achieve the efficiencies intended by the merger, implying the proposed merger is unlikely to occur. Director Dowd’s letter … Continue Reading
OFCCP has released its revised VEVRAA hiring benchmark for 2017. The agency has lowered the benchmark to 6.7 percent, down from the previous 6.9 percent mark. As was the case last year, the agency provided guidance for contractors to implement the new benchmark stating: Contractors who adopted the previous year’s national benchmark of 6.9 percent after … Continue Reading
The confirmation hearing for new Secretary of Labor nominee, Alexander Acosta, has been pushed back until March 22 to allow him to travel to Nashville with the President. Its anticipated once the hearing moves forward, the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, will vote within on Acosta’s confirmation within the following week. Stay tuned for new developments.… Continue Reading
The confirmation hearing for President Trump’s second Secretary of Labor nominee, Alex Acosta, has been set for March 15. Acosta was nominated after President Trump’s initial nominee, Andrew Puzder withdrew from consideration following growing controversy. While nothing prevents Acosta’s confirmation hearing from being postponed, as Puzder’s was several times before his eventual withdrawal, there does … Continue Reading
