Elizabeth P. Hernandez contributed to this post. 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 … Continue Reading
By Laura A. Mitchell, James D. Mackey, and Suzanne Donnelly Corwin 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 … 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
By Laura A. Mitchell, Elizabeth P. Hernandez, and Suzanne Donnelly Corwin 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 … 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
This week the General Accounting Office (GAO) issued a report to the House of Representatives Committee on Education and the Workforce on its recent audit of OFCCP. The report reviews (1) how the Agency conducts audits; and, (2) the Agency’s outreach assistance and guidance efforts. The 56-page report – titled “Strengthening Oversight Could Improve Federal Contractor … Continue Reading
Veterans are continuing to receive support in their quest for employment with Wyoming being the latest state to join the ranks of those permitting a preference to be granted based on veteran status, including spouses of disabled or deceased veterans. The law will go into effect July 1, 2016. Governor Matt Mead’s signing of the new law coincides … Continue Reading
In August 2015, OFCCP released an infographic designed to assist veterans understand whether or not they were covered under the protections of the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA) for affirmative action purposes. The infographic spawned recent discussions surrounding the implications and interpretations of OFCCP’s definition of a protected veteran. Today, OFCCP published FAQs … Continue Reading
The EEO-1 Joint Reporting Committee has extended the deadline for filing this year’s EEO-1 Reports. The new deadline to file reports is now October 30, 2015. This additional 30 days gives employers much needed time to adjust to and incorporate the new filing requirements. There has been no extension at this time of the VETS-4212 … Continue Reading
As we previously reported, the annual EEO-1 Reporting portal has opened and along with it some changes to the reporting requirements. Probably the most impactful change is the new requirement that companies may no longer file more than one EEO-1 report for the same address if the North American Industrial Classification System Code (NAICS) is the same … Continue Reading
This past March, Labor Secretary Thomas Perez issued a News Release announcing the overall unemployment rate for all veterans has dropped for the fourth consecutive year – this is great news. In an effort to assist in the employment of veterans, covered federal contractors are required to set a protected veteran hiring benchmark as part … Continue Reading
