In August 2018, OFCCP released Directive 2018-04 announcing the Agency’s implementation of Section 503 Focused Reviews. Long a priority Director Craig Leen, the Agency is hopeful the reviews will improve compliance with the regulations and promulgate EEO for Individuals with Disabilities. OFCCP has indicated it will start scheduling the Section 503 Focused Reviews with the … Continue Reading
OFCCP announced Friday that it will post a new Corporate Scheduling Announcement List (CSAL)(formerly known as Corporate Scheduling Announcement Letter or Courtesy Scheduling Announcement Letter) in “mid-to-late March.” As previously announced, OFCCP now makes the CSAL publically available and, for the first time, OFCCP will send no letters to federal contractors – thus the changed reference to … Continue Reading
On the eve of St. Valentine’s Day, OFCCP is wanting contractors to feel the love. In its fourth directive of fiscal year 2019, OFCCP has unveiled a Voluntary Enterprise-wide Review Program, otherwise referred to as VERP. Directive 2019-04 states VERP enables OFCCP to blend its compliance evaluation and compliance assistance activities to work with high‐performing … Continue Reading
Last August we reported on OFCCP’s announcement (DIR 2018-04) that starting in 2019 it would be conducting truncated “Focused Reviews” that centered on compliance with AAP requirements under Section 503 (Individuals with Disabilities) and VEVRAA (Veterans). If everything goes according to OFCCP’s plan, the next round of CSALs will include notices for these more limited Focused … Continue Reading
As part of OFCCP’s continuing efforts at transparency, the Agency in late-November 2018 issued a Directive stating it would develop “a dynamic and searchable publically available source of Help Desk questions and answers to assist contractors.” Moreover, the Directive announced OFCCP would issue Opinion Letters to provide guidance on specific topics, either in response to … Continue Reading
As OFCCP heads into 2019, with an official Director in place, the Agency is looking towards implement many of its new Directives released in the second half of 2018. Back in September, we discussed OFCCP Directive 2018-09: OFCCP Ombud Service, one of the number of policy changes OFCCP hoped to develop to increase a sense … Continue Reading
As reported by Bloomberg Law, and reflected on OFCCP’s website, former OFCCP Acting Director Craig Leen has now been formally named Director of OFCCP. Since being placed in the acting role this past Summer when the position was vacated by Ondray Harris, Leen has overseen the release of ten new directives and has worked tirelessly to rebuild the … Continue Reading
In preparation for the 2019 launch of its veteran hiring initiative, the Department of Labor announced a list of award recipients for its pilot “HIRE VETS Medallion Program Demonstration Award” on Wednesday, December 19. President Trump signed the HIRE (Honoring Investments in Recruiting and Employing American Military Veterans) Vets Act on May 5, 2017. HIRE … Continue Reading
With less than a week left on the December 21st deadline to reach a spending deal and avoid another government shutdown, tensions are high in Washington D.C. On Tuesday, President Trump stated he would refuse to sign a spending bill that did not contain a $5 billion allocation for a border wall. It is questionable, … Continue Reading
As we reported on Friday, November 30, OFCCP began it’s 2019 fiscal year by releasing a rash of new directives. On Monday, we looked at the rescission of Obama Administration’s Active Case Enforcement (ACE) directive. Yesterday, we reviewed OFCCP’s new guidance on Early Resolution Procedures. Today we review the third Directive – Directive 2019-03: Opinion … Continue Reading
As we reported last Friday, OFCCP has kicked-off 2019 with a bang – issuing three directives in a single day. Yesterday we reported on the first of three new Directives OFCCP issued to kick off fiscal year 2019. Today we cover the second Directive – Directive 2019-02: Early Resolution Procedures. Under Directive 2019-02 (effective November … 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
Today, on the last day of the month, OFCCP has released three new directives – the first three of the Agency’s 2019 Fiscal Year – and continues the string of directives issued by the new administration, bringing the number to an even dozen. Directive 2019 -01: Compliance Review Procedures rescinds the Directive 2011-01 which set out the Active … 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
By Laura A. Mitchell and Suzanne Donnelly Corwin Late last week, OFCCP published a notice in the federal register seeking public comment regarding its proposed Leadership in Equal Access and Diversity (“LEAD”) Award. The LEAD award will recognize federal contractor and subcontractor establishments that have developed and successfully implemented comprehensive equal employment opportunity and nondiscrimination … Continue Reading
Appearing in today’s federal register is OFCCP’s request for comment on the proposed structure and details of the agency’s new Excellence in Disability Inclusion Award. The award will highlight successful practices and strategies of contractors that have expanded and improved recruitment, hiring, retention, and promotion opportunities for individuals with disabilities. In August, at the ILG National Conference, Acting Director … Continue Reading
In continued commitment to restoring the Agency’s relationship with the contractor community, OFCCP recently announced it has entered into a three-year Memorandum of Understanding (“MOU”) with the National Industry Liaison Group (“NILG”) in order to foster collaboration between the federal contractor community and OFCCP. For those not familiar with the organization, the NILG is a … Continue Reading
It appears OFCCP has made some updates to its latest Corporate Scheduling Announcement List release. When accessing the current publicly available list through OFCCP’s website, the resulting file now displays a header which indicates the file contains “addresses updated as of September 24, 2018.” Upon close review and comparison with the original list posted last week, it … Continue Reading
Wondering whether your organization has been selected for an upcoming audit as part of OFCCP’s recent Corporate Scheduling Announcement Letter (CSAL) list supplement? Well, wonder no more. OFCCP has made publicly available its most recent CSAL supplement as well as the two previous CSAL lists (2017 and 2018). As a reminder, CSALs are a “courtesy notification to an … Continue Reading
There is no rest for the weary at OFCCP. Continuing the steady flow of Directives and proposals as well as audits coming out of Washington D.C., the Agency has released two additional directives in furtherance of the Administration’s commitment to transparency and certainty. The first, Directive 2018-08: Transparency in OFCCP Compliance Activities will “ensure transparency in all … Continue Reading
Has your organization ever considered switching from “establishment” AAPs to functional affirmative action plans (“FAAPs”)? OFCCP wants contractors to consider moving to FAAPs and, in that spirit, is looking to make FAAPs more attractive by proposing new FAAP requirements that would lighten the burden for those who apply for, and those that already have, FAAP agreements with … Continue Reading
It’s been a little more than two weeks since OFCCP released its new Compensation Directive. While we don’t yet have answers to all of the questions surrounding the Directive, we do have thoughts about what will likely change, and what will not, for federal contractors during compliance reviews. Since OFCCP has just released another round … 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
OFCCP has been busy, and they are not slowing down. Today, OFCCP issued an additional 750 Corporate Scheduling Announcement Letters (CSALs) to federal contractors providing advance notification of compliance reviews, in order to make sure the district and area offices “have a sufficient number of available establishments to schedule for compliance reviews until OFCCP releases … Continue Reading
