Tag: Federal Contractors

OFCCP Issues New Directive Clarifying Expectations for Federal Contractors Regarding Compliance Reviews The United States Department of Labor has announced that its Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) has released a new set of directives intended to improve its enforcement capability and strengthen compliance by federal contractors with equal employment opportunity laws. This provides significant updates to the agency's existing compliance and scheduling standards and significantly increases transparency and clarity regarding the contractor's obligations regarding compliance reviews and submission of Affirmative Action Programs. The first of the OFCCP's new directives, DIR 2022-02: "Effective Compliance Evaluations and Enforcement," regards the agency's compliance evaluations. Which are a critical part of the OFCCP's ability to identify systemic barriers to equal employment opportunity and ensure compliance. This new guidance provides federal contractors with updated guidance regarding the agency's policies for evaluation and its expectations for compliance from contractors. Learn More According to the OFCCP, this should "strengthen the agency's compliance evaluations and reduce delays by promoting the timely exchange of information. " This sets out new policies regarding the scheduling of compliance evaluations for contractors, which includes the agency's enhanced policies regarding neutral scheduling procedures, which it claims will help, too, "reach a broader universe of federal contractors" and eliminate scheduling delays. This new directive creates a considerable increase in transparency and what the OFCCP expects from federal contractors regarding compliance and support in investigations. According to the Programs Director of the OFFIC of Federal Contract Compliance, Jenny R. Yang, "By providing transparency and clarity on OFCCP's policies and expectations, the directive will foster consistent accountability and avoid delay in compliance evaluations. It will also promote a proactive approach to compliance by federal contractors." This directive additionally provides information concerning federal contractors' obligations to submit Affirmative Action Programs and support data, including supplemental information and access to employees and other witnesses. According to the agency, these programs form the foundation for how the OFFCP will evaluate federal contractors' employment practices and compliance which makes them a critical focus for increasing clarity and understanding of the agency's expectations. The directive is also intended to increase accountability for covered federal contractors by clarifying that use of the Contractor Portal to certify annual compliance with affirmative action programs also means that a contractor is certifying that they have developed and maintained programs that are compliant with the OFCCP's requirements. The directive reaffirms that the OFCCP is dedicated to providing transparency and clarity in its evaluation process and is willing to help federal contractors meet their obligations and achieve efficient resolutions for compliance evaluations. Finally, the directive also rescinds four of the agency's previous directives regarding timelines and expectations regarding the submission of information which were dubbed the Four Pillars by the OFCCP's previous Director, Craig Leen. These are: Directive 2018-06: "Contractor Recognition Program" (Aug. 24, 2018) Directive 2018-08: "Transparency in OFCCP Compliance Activities" (Sept. 19, 2018) Directive 2020-02: "Efficiency in Compliance Evaluations" (April 17, 2020) Directive 2021-02: "Certainty in OFCCP Policies and Practices" (Dec. 11, 2020) You can learn more about Adverse Action Notice Protocols in Compliance With FCRA by downloading Pre-employ’s free guides and resources. Sources

Tag: Federal Contractors

OFCCP Issues New Directive Clarifying Expectations for Federal Contractors Regarding Compliance Reviews

Federal Contractors Now Covered by Ban-the-Box Law

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