Employment Law Information Network
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On the eve of the Thanksgiving holiday, OFCCP has published proposed modifications to the Scheduling Letter and accompanying Itemized Listing. The deadline to submit comments on the proposed changes is January 20, 2023.
As a reminder, while OFCCP gives advance notice of audits through the CSAL, a contractor’s audit does
On October 31, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court heard two cases that will determine the legality of affirmative action in college admissions decisions. During oral arguments, Justice Elena Kagan raised the issue of whether employers may consider the benefits of diversity when making hiring decisions. If the Court
Executive Summary: EEOC and OFCCP have issued a new workplace poster, and the end of the year is quickly approaching. Now is the time for federal contractors to start planning for 2023 compliance with OFCCP obligations including affirmative action plan (AAP) development, annual compliance certification, and annual EEO and affirmative action training. Additionally, Contractors should stay on top of regulatory developments.
Over decades, hundreds of colleges and universities have worked to increase the racial diversity of their student bodies for a host of reasons ranging from eliminating past discriminatory practices to ensuring their students were exposed to people with diverse life experiences and outlooks to prepare them to succeed in an increasingly diverse marketplace.
Since 2013, OFCCP has revised its Functional Affirmative Action Plan (FAAP) Directive several times, most recently to make it easier for covered federal contractors and subcontractors to obtain its permission to create AAPs by functional unit.
AAP regulations require establishment AAPs but allow for the option to prepare plans
The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) has extended the deadline for federal contractors and first-tier subcontractors to submit objections to a broad Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request filed by an investigative reporter.
OFCCP has announced it is extending the deadline for contractors to respond to the Agency’s August 19, 2022 Notice of Request Under the Freedom of Information Act for Federal Contractors’ Type 2 Consolidated EEO-1 Report Data. The new deadline by which affected contractors need to submit objections is October 19,
As outlined in our August 22 Insight, OFCCP announced an intention to produce federal contractors’ Type 2 EEO-1 data in response to a FOIA request from the Center for Investigative Reporting (CIR). Employers were given until September 19, 2022, to file their objections. On September 15, 2022, OFCCP extended
On March 15, 2022, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (“OFCCP”) issued a Directive regarding OFCCP’s expectations of compliance with the regulatory provisions of 41 CFR 60-2.17(b)(3). The regulations require qualified contractors to implement an equal employment opportunity and affirmative action program, which must include an evaluation of whether and where gender, race, or ethnicity-based pay disparities exist. The Directive explained how, during a compliance review, the OFCCP would inquire into a contractor’s compliance, including access to internal pay equity audits. The Directive drew significant criticism because it appeared to claim a right to compel contractors to disclose their pay equity analyses even when potentially protected by the attorney-client or work product privilege.
In response to criticism, on August 18, 2022, the OFCCP issued the revised Directive 2022-01 Revision 1, Advancing Pay Equity Through Compensation Analysis. The revised and reissued Directive aims to update and clarify its guidance on how OFCCP will evaluate federal contractors’ compliance with compensation analysis obligations, including its authority to access and review documentation of required compensation analyses. This Revised Directive makes clear that OFCCP intends to challenge contractors if they rely on privilege objections in refusing to demonstrate compliance, while also acknowledging privilege concerns and giving contractors alternatives for demonstrating compliance with the regulatory provisions when issues of privilege exist. The key points of the Revised Directive are summarized below.
OFCCP’s regulations were designed for the typical private sector contractor. As a result, higher educational institutions, particularly colleges and universities, often struggle with fitting their “round pegs” processes into the “square holes” that OFCCP designed. OFCCP’s Contractor Portal is no exception.
The Portal identifies employer establishments based on EEO-1 Reports
On August 24, 2022, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) announced that it had updated its guidance for educational institutions with federal contracts and/or subcontracts.
On August 19, the Federal Register published a Notice that OFCCP received a request under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) from the Center for Investigative Reporting (CIR). CIR is seeking all federal prime contractors’ and first-tier subcontractors’ EEO-1 Type 2 Consolidated Reports for the period 2016-2020. The Type 2 Report includes data for all employees of the company (i.e., all employees at headquarters as well as all establishments) categorized by race/ethnicity, sex, and job category.
On August 18, 2022, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) issued unpublished notice of a broad Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) that impacts the federal contracting community.
On August 22, 2022, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) announced it will launch a new online platform whereby “contracting officers, contractors, and applicants seeking federal assistance for construction projects (such as a state [Department of Transportation])” can securely upload details about an awarded federal or federally-assisted construction
On August 19, 2022, OFCCP published a notice in the Federal Register for the stated purpose of advising employers that in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, it is planning to produce confidential information that is protected from disclosure pursuant to a statutory exemption.
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