A source of insights, news and strategy on affirmative action and EEO compliance matters
OFCCP has received approval from OMB for revisions to the Agency’s Functional Affirmative Action Program (FAAP) directive. The revised Directive 305 went into effect on April 28, 2016. In response to public comments received, OFCCP made modifications to its proposed revised directive, as reflected in the supporting statement filed with OMB.
OFCCP last updated its FAAP directive in January 2013 which significantly changed the Functional Affirmative Action Program.
We’ve learned the Office of Management and Budget has received for consideration the proposed regulations and guidance implementing the Fair Pay & Safe Workplaces Executive Order. This is the next step in the regulatory review process and indicates the regulations and guidance are one step closer to finalization. To be clear, the documents need OMB approval before being final.
And given the controversy surrounding the order and the implementing documents, its anticipated there will be legal challenges initiated soon after the regulations and guidance are finalized.
Whether changes have been made to the proposed regulations and/or guidance is unknown at this point as the version of the documents sent to OMB are not public at this time.
It remains to be seen how long OMB will take to review the proposals but we will update as soon as we have additional information.
April 12, 2016 is National Equal Pay Day – the date which symbolizes the additional days into the current year women must work, on average, to reach the average pay of men during the previous year.
In the past year, the emphasis on fair pay has continued to grow. In fact, 2015 and the early parts of 2016 have seen increased emphasis and focus on identifying, exposing and eradicating pay discrimination.
With the enactment of the California Fair Pay Act, and passage of similar laws in New York and other jurisdictions, employers across the country (not just federal contractors) need to be aware of obligations (and prohibitions) when it comes to pay equity.
Additionally, with the EEOC proposal to collect pay data which, if made final, would require all employers with at least 100 employees to annually submit employee pay information to the federal government, employers need to take a hard look at their pay practices to ensure they do not impose barriers to fair pay. For covered federal government contractors there is a duty to undertake an annual review of your pay systems.
So what does this mean?
In an increasingly transparent landscape, where there is a growing expectation to share pay information, make sure your company understands the impact of its comp practices before it is required, or decides, to disclose the information because, “what you don’t know, CAN hurt you.”
As part of the vibrant dialogue currently underway surrounding the EEOC’s proposal for modification of the annual EEO-1 Report to include information on pay, Jackson Lewis submitted feedback for the Agency’s consideration.
During the public comment period, which closed April 1, 2016, Matt Camardella, Stephanie Lewis, Jennifer Seda and Stacey Bastone prepared and submitted a thoughtful and detailed comment expressing concern with and offering practical suggestions for improvement of the EEOC’s proposal. The comment allowed the firm, and our clients’, voices to be heard on this important subject.
Jackson Lewis’ comment, in addition to others submitted during this time, are now under consideration by EEOC in connection with the feedback received by the Agency as part of its public hearing on March 16, 2016. What the Agency will do with the feedback remains to be seen.
The Department of Labor has again extended the public comment period for Executive Order 13706. Public comments are now due April 25, 2016. This is the second extension of the public comment period.
Pursuant to President’s Obama Order, the Agency has until September 30, 2016 to implement a final rule.
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 with the release of new veteran unemployment numbers which show the rate of unemployment for veterans who have served since 9/11 continuing to fall. As of this week the unemployment rate, at 5.8 percent, is at an all time low. The unemployment rate for all veterans has also decline to 4.6 percent.
As a reminder, federal contractors subject to VEVRAA have 7% annual veteran hiring benchmark.
Today the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission held a public hearing regarding the Agency’s pending proposed revisions to the EEO-1 Report to include a pay reporting component. As proposed, all employers with 100 or more employees would add information on aggregate pay ranges and hours worked to the EEO-1 report, beginning in 2017.
During the all day hearing the Commission heard from Department of Labor officials as well as three panels, comprised of industry experts, representatives of employer and advocacy groups as well as academics.
After initial remarks by EEOC Chair Jenny R. Yang and each of the EEOC Commissioners, the Commission heard from Patricia Shiu, Director of OFFCP and other DOL witnesses on the feedback received in response to OFCCP’s proposed Equal Pay Report and the Agency’s cooperation with EEOC to implement a single pay data collection tool. OFCCP will not continue to pursue implementation of the agency’s proposed Equal Pay Report and instead will utilize data reported to the EEOC.
Following the agency witnesses, the Commission received feedback from the three rounds of panels. Panel members, previously selected by EEOC, provided written and oral statements and answered questions from each of the Commissioners. During the hearing the Commissioners were presented with data, anecdotes, concerns and even a replica of the proposed revised EEO-1 form to demonstrate the increased number of data collection fields created by the EEOC’s proposal.
In acknowledging the persistent wage gap, the statements presented throughout the day centered on the themes of:
The final panel of the day also engaged in a robust discussion about confidentiality concerns raised by the collection, transmission and making public of the proposed pay information.
It was clear from the statements presented and the questions posed that both the Commission and those asked to present were focused on better understanding the burden of the new reporting obligations on employers and suggestions for increasing the utility of the reports. Jocelyn Frye from the Center for American Progress reminded those in attendance that the government has been working on the development of a pay data collection tool, in various forms, for the past two decades.
In her closing remarks Chair Yang again encouraged public comment on the proposed changes. The initial public comment period is currently scheduled to close on April 1st. Take the time to let your voice be heard.
Based on feedback received, the U.S. Department of Labor has extended the public comment period for Executive Order 13706 – Establishing Paid Sick Leave for Federal Contractors. Comments are now due to the agency by April 12, 2016.
Comments can be submitted electronically through the Federal eRulemaking Portal at http://www.regulations.gov or in writing through mail addressed to:
Robert Waterman, Compliance Specialist
Division of Regulations, Legislation and Interpretation
Wage and Hour Division
U.S. Department of Labor
Room S-3510
200 Constitution Avenue NW.
Washington, DC 20210
As anticipated, the U.S. Department of Labor has published its proposed regulations implementing Executive Order 13706 – Establishing Paid Sick Leave for Federal Contractors. Today’s publication in the Federal Register initiates a 30-day public comment period. The comment period will close March 28, 2016.
The proposed regulations seek to implement President Obama’s Executive Order directing government contractors to provide paid time off for certain categories of employees working on qualifying contracts.
We are in the process of digesting the lengthy proposal and will follow up soon with our thoughts and insights.
As a follow up to our previous blogs about EEOC’s release of its proposed changes to the EEO-1 Report, Jackson Lewis systemic and pay discrimination experts, Stephanie E. Lewis, Paul Patten, Jennifer Seda and Mickey Silberman, have poured over the proposal and provide their insights and analyses in a recent article, “EEOC Proposes to Collect Pay Data from Employers.”
We will continue to analyze the proposal and will bring you updates and additional insights in the coming weeks.
In the meantime, let your voice be heard:
