On September 11, 2020, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) published a Corporate Scheduling Announcement List (CSAL) of “Supply & Service” contractors and subcontractors and, for the first time, a CSAL of construction contractors identified for potential compliance evaluations to its Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Library. According to OFCCP, the CSAL provides advance notice to federal contractors and subcontractors that they have been selected for compliance evaluations and alerts them that they can take advantage of OFCCP compliance assistance offerings. The CSAL is not required by law and differs from the scheduling letter, which is the Office of Management Budget (OMB) approved letter sent to an establishment to start the compliance evaluation process. OFCCP notes in the answers to its updated CSAL frequently asked questions (FAQs) that the list of establishments on the CSAL is non all-inclusive, and establishments not included in the CSAL could be scheduled for a compliance evaluation.
The fiscal year (FY) 2020 Supply & Service CSAL identifies 2,250 establishments selected for different types of compliance evaluations, including compliance checks, establishment reviews, corporate management compliance evaluations, Section 503 Focused Reviews, and Functional Affirmative Action Program (FAAP) reviews. In addition, for the first time, the list includes Supply & Service contractors selected for Promotion Focused Reviews and Accommodation Focused Reviews. OFCCP has not provided much guidance about Promotion Focused Reviews and Accommodation Focused Reviews, but states more information about Promotion and Accommodation focused reviews will be available before those types of reviews are scheduled.
OFCCP stated that it “limited the Supply & Service scheduling list to no more than 10 establishments of any parent company” and does not include any “establishment that concluded a review or concluded progress report monitoring resulting from a conciliation agreement or consent decree, within the last two years.”
In its FAQs, OFCCP points out that “[t]he CSALs provide contractors a minimum 45-day courtesy notification before OFCCP begins sending its OMB-approved scheduling letters,” which OFCCP intends to start issuing as soon as the end of October 2020. With the publication of the CSAL, OFCCP contends that federal contractors and subcontractors will have received 75 days of advance notice to have their affirmative action programs (AAPs) ready for submission. This includes the 45 days before it will begin sending scheduling letters and the standard 30 days OFCCP provides for contractors to submit their AAPs. OFCCP also acknowledges it will continue its practice of “grant[ing] a one-time 30-day extension for supporting data where AAPs are provided timely as indicated in OFCCP’s FAQ on requesting an extension for submission of AAPs and supporting data.”
The Supply & Service CSAL includes institutions of higher education, which were excluded from previous CSALs as OFCCP engaged in targeted outreach. Even though the CSAL does not include them as a “Review Type” in the CSAL itself, OFCCP does provide some clarification about how it intends to define establishments for higher education institutions. Interestingly, OFCCP appears to define establishments for university reviews to include the “entire university campus located in one city.” OFCCP notes it will treat as separate establishments the various university campuses in different cities and medical schools and hospitals affiliated with universities.
This is also the first time the agency has included construction contractors in a CSAL. OFCCP notes that the 200 construction contractors on the FY 2020 CSAL will all be scheduled for compliance checks but that later lists will include construction contractors scheduled for compliance evaluations.
Ogletree Deakins’ Affirmative Action and OFCCP Compliance Practice Group will continue to monitor further developments on the FY 2020 CSAL Supply & Service and Construction lists, and will update the Affirmative Action/OFCCP blog with any additional news.
