Most federal contractors have been eagerly awaiting news on the Section 503 and 4212 regulations that have been in the works for several years now. The future of the regulations relied upon the outcome of the 2012 presidential election. There was a good chance that if Mitt Romney was elected these two regulations may have died on the vine. That didn’t happen. Now that President Obama has been reelected it is “full speed ahead” with the OFCCP’s agenda. The number question is “What is OFCCP working on and when do we expect it to be released?” Some insight into the plans of the agency recently arrived with the posting of the OFCCP’s unified agenda on OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs website (http://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/eAgendaViewRule?pubId=201210&RIN=1250-AA02).
According to the unified agenda, it appears that OFCCP is gearing up for five major regulatory initiatives. These initiatives are as follows:
Section 503 regulation – This regulation is currently at the final rule stage and is scheduled to be finalized in April 2013.
4212 Protected Veteran regulation - This regulation is currently at the final rule stage and is scheduled to be finalized in April 2013.
Construction Contractors’ regulation – This regulation is in the proposed rule stage and a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) is scheduled to be released in October 2013.
Sex Discrimination Guidelines - This regulation is in the proposed rule stage and a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) is scheduled to be released in August 2013.
Compensation Data Collection Tool - This regulation is in the proposed rule stage and a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) is scheduled to be released in June 2013.
Contractors should strap on a helmet because it is going to be a very interesting and challenging year!
