The election has passed, and soon there will be changes at OFCCP. These changes primarily include a new politically appointed OFCCP Director and the shifts this new leadership will bring with it. Looking forward, we have noted recent changes in the agency’s leadership that will be in effect until the Trump administration.
- Director Patricia Shiu left OFCCP on November 6,2016, 2 days before the presidential election. Upon her departure, Director Shiu stated that nothing is likely to change until a new Director is put in place, however, she indicated that the new administration is more likely to focus on finance and technology industries.
- Tom Dowd, a current Deputy Director of OFCCP, will serve as the Acting Director of OFCCP until a new Director is appointed by President Trump.
- Dr. Marika Litras was selected to serve as OFCCP’s Director of Enforcement by Director Shiu. Prior to this, Litras was the Director of the Division of Program Operations with OFCCP and has held several roles with the agency as a Senior Statistician, Director of Regional Operations, and Deputy Director of Program Operations. Director of Enforcement is a newly established Senior Executive Service level position with OFCCP and her responsibilities in this role will include:
- Collaborating with the regions and National Office Divisions in planning and evaluating the overall enforcement program;
- Working in partnership with the regions on cases referred to the Office of the Solicitor for potential litigation;
- Managing and overseeing agency-wide enforcement strategies, investigative techniques and related resources;
- Coordinating and participating in significant, complex, and multi-establishment investigations
Along with personnel shifts, DCI has noticed some continuing audit trends. We mentioned in a previous blog that OFCCP’s district offices are handling audits outside of their geographic enforcement zones. This trend has continued. We speculate that this may be an indicator of upcoming changes to OFCCP enforcement. Recently, OFCCP has considered “paperless audits” in order to streamline the process and reduce the administrative burden for both sides. Additionally, per their budget for FY 2017, OFCCP plans to establish two “skilled regional centers” in New York and San Francisco. These two centers will be tasked with handling large, complex discrimination investigations and providing new and efficient ways to support high-quality enforcement. Stay tuned for more updates on OFCCP and other industry trends.
By Vinaya Sakpal, HR Analyst, and Rachel Monroe, HR Analyst, at DCI Consulting Group
