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
As some of you may have noticed, the current OMB approval for the required disability self-identification form expired January 31, 2017. On the eve of its expiration, OMB approved the form for another three years – until January 31, 2020. An updated version of the form (in multiple languages) can be found here. According to OFCCP’s … Continue Reading
Federal agencies soon will be required to engage in affirmative outreach for individuals with disabilities. The final rule issued by EEOC on December 30, 2016, will require federal agencies to take steps to increase the number of its employees that are individuals with disabilities beginning in January 2018. This is similar to the affirmative action obligations in … Continue Reading
Happy New Year! As we ring in 2017 and prepare for affirmative action and OFCCP compliance in a Trump administration, many contractors are wondering whether 2017 will bring an OFCCP audit their way. Some may remember in years past around this time OFCCP would send out Courtesy Scheduling Announcement Letters (CSALs) providing advance notification to contractors of … Continue Reading
As part of its ongoing effort to provide employers with tools to educate and inform employees and non-employees about affirmative action obligations, OFCCP has released a new disability self-identification public service-like video entitled Disability Inclusion Starts With You. Coinciding with its recognition of National Disability Employment Awareness Month, the Agency invites employers and community organizations to download … Continue Reading
As a continuation of its recent education and outreach efforts, OFCCP released a Checklist for Compliance with Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. The checklist was developed by the U.S Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) and covers obligations under Subpart C of the revised Section 503 regulations. The checklist is … Continue Reading
With the official start of summer roughly a week away, it’s not too early to start planning for the upcoming ILG National Conference. This year, the 33rd Annual Conference will be held in New York City from July 28-31, 2015 at the Marriott Marquis Times Square. With the theme “Onward and Upward: Building the Future … Continue Reading
With the release of the new veterans and individuals with disabilities regulations, as well as roll-out of the new scheduling letter and LGBT regulations, OFCCP accomplished a lot over the last year and it’s not done yet. The latter-half of 2015 and into 2016 looks to bring more regulatory changes. The following items remain on … Continue Reading
Since introducing its new scheduling letter in late 2014, OFCCP has made many important changes to enforcement in audits. From ramped up enforcement of the Agency’s VEVRAA and Section 503 regulations to new and very different ways to investigate pay systems for discrimination, the Agency has fundamentally changed how it conducts compliance reviews. And it’s … Continue Reading
As a follow up to a story from earlier this year, the D.C. Circuit court has rejected the Associated Builders and Contractors, Inc. (ABCs) challenge of the requirements under the revised regulations implementing Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act. In November 2013, ABC filed suit alleging OFCCP issued its recently revised regulations pertaining to individuals … Continue Reading
Adding to the FAQs previously released, OFCCP has released additional guidance addressing audit submission requirements under the new Scheduling Letter for contractors more than six months into their plan year when the Scheduling Letter is received. Items 9 and 13 of the Scheduling Letter require contractors to provide documentation of the computation or comparisons called … Continue Reading
In honor of National Disability Employment Awareness Month, representatives from the U.S. Department of Labor and the Social Security Administration are holding a Twitter Chat to discuss efforts to improve employment opportunities for millions of qualified workers with disabilities. Details are as follows: ————————————————————————– Save the Date! October 24, 2014 Twitter Chat: You’re invited to join Ticket to Work for … Continue Reading
In another instance of OFCCP responding to feedback from the contractor community, OFCCP stated today in a FAQ that if you use an electronic version of the required disability self-id form to solicit disability status, you need only retain the data, not the form or copy of the form. The FAQ sets out the self-id … Continue Reading
In connection with its revisions to the regulations covering individuals with disabilities, OFCCP requires employers to use a Voluntary Self-Identification of Disability form to collect information from applicants and employees. Based on initial feedback from the contractor community, OFCCP provided an electronic, writeable, version of the form. OFCCP recently requested approval to modify the form … Continue Reading
In addition to addressing questions about the self-identification process and hiring individuals with disabilities, OFCCP has provided further guidance on calculating “jobs filled” under the new regulations. Under both the new VEVRAA and Section 503 regulations, employers must now track and compare the number of “jobs filled” to the number of “job openings” as part of … Continue Reading
Last week OFCCP released new FAQs providing additional guidance for employers implementing the new veterans and disability of regulations. OFCCP has used the post-effective date release to clarify questions for contractors as they work to implement the regulation’s new obligations. On the issue of the treatment of individuals who identify as a protected veteran at … Continue Reading
As it has done periodically since the release of the new regulations, OFCCP has posted six new “frequently-asked questions” (FAQ) regarding the revised VEVRAA and Section 503 Regulations. Each is highlighted with a “new” tag. The FAQs are responsive to questions we’ve been hearing – and some asked during the SWARM conference during the Q&A session … Continue Reading
As part of its training for employers on the new Veterans and Disability Regulations, OFCCP partnered today with the Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) to provide employers with effective practices for hiring and retaining individuals with disabilities. The presentation was based on ODEPs seven key Business Strategies that Work and highlighted the following five … Continue Reading
Last week during The OFCCP Institute’s Annual Summit, Consuela Pinto from the Department of Labor’s Solicitor’s Office, in addition to speaking on other topics, touched on the impact of OFCCP’s new veteran and disability regulations thus far. Ms. Pinto confirmed OFCCP has not processed any violations based on audits involving application of the new regulations. … Continue Reading
Good Morning Folks! We just listened to Melissa Speer, OFCCP SWARM Regional Director, open up the 2014 SWARM Regional Conference from the beautiful Omni Interlocken Hotel in Broomfield, Colorado. As you can imagine Melissa had a lot of new OFCCP developments to chat about, including the recent Presidential executive actions surrounding pay discrimination as well … Continue Reading
Its about one month since OFCCP’s new rules covering Veterans and Individuals with Disabilities became effective and the agency is starting to vigorously enforce the new rules. Combined that with OFCCP’s increasingly aggressive enforcement of Directive 307 – which sets forth the agency’s new approach to investigating employers’ compensation systems for systemic discrimination – and … Continue Reading
With March 24th come and gone many employers are still working on implementing the required elements of OFCCP’s new veteran and disability regulations and making preparations for rolling-out Subpart C compliance measures. As of March 24th, contractors who are party to a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) “shall notify union officials and/or employee representatives to inform them of … Continue Reading
In addition to releasing the veteran benchmark database, OFCCP has also launched a new outreach and recruitment database for use by contractors in connection with implementation of the new veteran and disability regulations. The OFCCP’s Disability and Veterans Community Resources Directory can be found on the OFCCP Web site athttp://www.dol-esa.gov/errd/index.html. This new resource supplements the agency’s … Continue Reading
In today’s post as part of our “Countdown to March 24th Effective Date: Are you Ready to Flip the Switch?” series, we’ll be discussing the new obligation under the veterans and disability regulations that employers must now “assess the effectiveness” of their good faith outreach programs. Back in 2011 when OFCCP first released the proposed … Continue Reading
