On August 27, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (“OFCCP”) announced its long awaited Final Rules regarding significant revisions to the affirmative action obligations pertaining to the hiring of veterans and the disabled under the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act and Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, respectively. For many years, most federal contractors have been developing two separate affirmative action plans: one relating to the employment of Minorities and Women under Executive Order 11246, and the other relating to the employment of the Disabled and Veterans under the two statutes mentioned previously. Up until now, the AAP for the Disabled and Veterans did not include any numerical goals, but the new Rules establish such goals and include new data collection and analysis requirements for contractors. Broadly, the goal for employment of the Disabled is 7%, but whether this is looked at in each job group or in the work force as a whole is dependent upon whether the contractor has 100 employees or more. The goal for the employment of Veterans is 8%, although there is a procedure established that would allow a contractor to develop a different goal based upon the “best available data.” If your firm does business with the U.S. Government as a contractor or subcontractor, you are probably subject to these new requirements.
Also, on August 23, the OFCCP announced the rollout of its updated Federal Contract Compliance Manual, a 500 page multi-chapter manual which provides guidance for OFCCP Compliance Officers in areas such as the conducting of desk audits of affirmative action programs, on-site reviews of supply and service contractors, and the appropriate remedial actions to take in the event of demonstrated noncompliance. This revised manual has been in the works for several years and seeks to incorporate some of the practices of the OFCCP under the Obama administration. For example, it provides guidance to Compliance Officers as to when and how to seek additional employment data from contractors for further analysis during the desk audit phase of an OFCCP audit. The Compliance Manual itself does not have the force of law, but it does allow us to anticipate the most likely actions of the OFCCP during any possible audits.
Harmon & Davies, P.C. has been working with federal contractors (both those providing supplies or services, as well as construction) to assist them with developing Affirmative Action Plans and dealing with the OFCCP during audits or investigations. Please contact us if you need assistance in these areas.
This article is authored by attorney Thomas R. Davies and is intended for educational purposes and to give you general information and a general understanding of the law only, not to provide specific legal advice. Any particular questions should be directed to your legal counsel or, if you do not have one, please feel free to contact us.
