Articles Discussing the OFCCP (Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs)

Executive Summary: The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) has announced final rules revising its Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA) and Rehabilitation Act regulations. The rules will take effect 180 days after publication in the Federal Register.

The DOL’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) has released an updated version of its Federal Contract Compliance Manual (FCCM). Spanning more than 500 pages and eight chapters, the FCCM provides a general framework for how federal contractor compliance evaluations and complaint investigations are conducted.

After briefly posting notices of the Corporate Scheduling Announcement Letters (CSAL) on its website on July 18, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) has now removed the posting. As noted in our July 19 Legal Alert, the OFCCP indicated that the release of the CSAL was accidental, and it has not yet implemented its policy of posting CSAL letters online. To review a spreadsheet of the companies that were identified on the OFCCP’s list, please click here. We will continue to monitor this situation for any further developments.

Executive Summary: The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (“OFCCP”) has jurisdiction over three hospitals that provided medical services to federal employees who were members of an HMO, according to Judge Paul L. Friedman of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. The hospitals, located in Pittsburgh, contracted with a prime contractor, the UPMC Health Plan, which had a contract with the federal government to provide medical services to federal employees. Despite the fact that the hospitals did not have an EEO clause in their contracts, and contrary to the arguments that the hospitals raised, the court found that each of the hospitals was a subcontractor that performed services necessary to the performance of the prime contract. Accordingly, even though the hospitals never consented to be bound by OFCCP’s requirements, the court found that OFCCP had jurisdiction over each of the hospitals. UMPC Braddock, et al. v. Seth D. Harris, Civil Action No. 09-1210 (PLF)(D.D.C. 3-30-13).

Executive Summary: The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) recently issued a new round of Corporate Scheduling Announcement Letters (CSALs), which notify an establishment that it has been selected to undergo a compliance review during the next scheduling cycle. These letters are not actual audit letters but rather a courtesy notice that a compliance review will likely start in the near future. Contractors who receive such letters should take steps to ensure their affirmative action plans and adverse impact analyses are complete and ready for submission and that compensation systems are reviewed and ready to be defended.

The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) announced that it is rescinding its “Voluntary Guidelines” and “Compensation Standards,” which the agency adopted in 2006 to evaluate pay discrimination claims against federal contractors. In their place, OFCCP has issued Policy Directive 307, which sets out the procedures OFCCP investigators will use to review the systems and practices by which government contractors pay their workers. The Directive is available on OFCCP’s web site at: http://www.dol.gov/ofccp/regs/compliance/CompGuidance/index.htm.

The OFCCP recently published two notices announcing the rescission of certain agency directives that either contain outdated information or address issues that are addressed in other agency materials. The OFCCP maintains a Directive System as one means of distributing guidance to its staff members and to the public. The OFCCP has been reviewing agency directives since December 2011 to determine whether they should remain active or be rescinded.

Frito-Lay Inc. has been involved in litigation with the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) over the agency’s ability to obtain data after the date of the compliance review scheduling letter. The Company prevailed before the ALJ but on May 8, the Administrative Review Board (ARB) reversed the ALJ decision and ruled in favor of the OFCCP. On June 5, 2012, the Company filed suit against the OFCCP in Texas federal district court in light of the ARB ruling.