Since 2009, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) has been very interested in issues concerning the veterans that are protected under the agency’s affirmative action regulations. These regulations cover four categories of veterans, three of which are disabled veterans, recently separated veterans, and armed forces service medal veterans. Until recently, the fourt...

The last five years have been a time of monumental change for the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP). Five major regulatory changes to the federal affirmative action regulations went into effect between 2014 and 2016, and 13 new directives have been issued since February of 2018. We have never seen a period at OFCCP when so many new initiatives have been announced and so ma...

As we stand back and examine what happened during 2018, it is natural to simply catalogue the numerous changes that occurred at the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP). There were multiple new directives, new initiatives, and new personnel at the agency. There were actions taken that we had never seen before from the agency, including the public release of information on h...

During the last week of July 2018, the Department of Labor's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) experienced a change in leadership. Director Ondray Harris stepped down after a short tenure with the agency, and Senior Advisor Craig Leen was installed as Acting Director of OFCCP. Since then, Acting Director Leen has rolled out a number of priorities and initiatives for the agency. During his first f...

I have two subject areas that are of significant interest to me that I have written about on various occasions over the last several years. One of these areas involves the demographic surveying that must be done for applicants and employees. The other involves the availability analyses that must be a part of affirmative action plans produced under Executive Order 11246. Today, we’re going to return to this later top...

When we think about affirmative action in employment, the general tendency is to think about the federal affirmative action laws and regulations that are enforced by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP). However, there are many state and local units of government that also have affirmative action requirements for certain organizations. At times, these requirements can...

On February 1, 2018, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) sent 1,000 notices to federal contractors and subcontractors. These notices inform employers that one or more of their facilities are likely to be the subject of an affirmative action compliance review during 2018. OFCCP has been sending these notices to employers for about ten years. These notices, which are...

As we move into a new year, our tendency is to think about new projects and new possibilities. But the new year is also a good time to consider some of the things we should have been doing during the last year that have fallen off our radar screens. This article will cover some of these things that organizations subject to the federal affirmative action laws should ensure haven't fallen off the radar screen. During...

Many of us working in the affirmative action field had expected that 2017 might be a year of significant change at the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP). Instead, the year was striking for the number of things that did not change in regard to OFCCP. No Head of OFCCP Chosen Until November 2017 While it often takes some time for sub-cabinet positions in the federal gove...

In my last article for the The OFCCP Digest, I wrote about the changing perceptions of race, ethnicity, and gender and how these changes may affect regulatory compliance. For federal contractors and subcontractors, there are two remaining classes that are protected under the federal affirmative action laws: certain classes of veterans and individuals with disabilities. While changes affecting these classes may n...