by Keli Parody Wilson, Consultant, DCI Consulting Group
The contractor community has seen a shift in the agencies focus since Patricia Shiu started with the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP), such as increased attention on the area of individuals with a disability and veterans. Federal contractors may be wondering what other changes can be expected by the agency. One trend the contractor community has recently been experiencing is a prolonged approval process for amendments/renewal to Functional Affirmative Action Plan (FAAP) agreements.
A directive on the OFCCP website explains the process contractors must follow when requesting to conduct functional rather than establishment affirmative action plans. FAAP plans are identical in terms of the reports required to prepare and submit during an audit; however, the plan is put together by function or line of business rather than establishment. Agreements expire after 5 years, unless renewed, and as part of the agreement contractors are required to notify the OFCCP of any significant changes in structure that would alter the original agreement (e.g., mergers, acquisition, reorganization, etc.). Federal contractors have recently been finding that their amendments have not been approved by the agency, just prolonged by requests and questions from OFCCP.
For some federal contractors, if there is no communication between OFCCP and the contractor then it’s important to note one policy listed in the directive mentioned above because it may allow for approval through no response:
“After 120 calendar days from OFCCP’s confirmed receipt of the contractor’s request, if OFCCP has neither approved nor disapproved the contractor’s request for a functional AAP agreement, the request will be deemed approved by the DAS and may be implemented 120 calendar days after the date OFCCP received the written request.”