OFCCP’S REGULATORY AGENDA: WHAT WILL 2014 BRING?

[Editor's note: This blog entry was originally posted on December 17, 2013.]

The Department of Labor’s (DOL) semiannual regulatory agenda was released on November 26, 2013. With the year 2013 coming to an end, let’s take a look at what the OFCCP has accomplished from this agenda and what we should look forward to in the New Year.

• Final Regulations – Section 503 and VEVRAA
  • Affirmative Action and Nondiscriminatory Obligations of Contractors and Subcontractors Regarding Individuals with Disabilities (Section 503)
  • Affirmative Action and Discriminatory Obligations of Contractors and Subcontractors Regarding Protected Veterans (VEVRAA)
  • Published: September 24, 2013
  • Effective March 24, 2014
• Compensation Data Collection Tool
  • In order to eliminate sex- and race-based compensation discrimination, the OFCCP seeks to develop an effective and efficient data collection instrument that will identify contractors likely to violate EO 11246.
  • ANPRM released: August 2011
  • Proposed Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM): January 2014
• Construction Contractors’ Affirmative Action Requirements
  • Last revised in 1980, the OFCCP will introduce an NPRM to remove outdated regulatory provisions, propose a new method for establishing affirmative action goals and any other revisions to the affirmative action requirements that will reflect the realities of the labor market and employment practices in the construction industry.
  • Proposed NPRM: April 2014
• Sex Discrimination Guidelines
  • Revision of the sex discrimination regulations (part 60-20) to reflect the current state of the law.
  • Proposed NPRM: May 2014

Additionally, the DOL agenda includes coming changes for VETS100A reports. The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Veteran’s Employment and Training (ASVET) enforces 61-250 and 61-300, which require the filling of these reports.

• VETS100A reports 
  • Changes include: (a) eliminate the VETS-100 report; (b) add veteran employees and hires totals to the VETS-100A report; and (c) rename the VETS-100A report to “VETS-4212” report.
  • Proposed NPRM: February 2014

Two things that are absent from the agenda, but could make an appearance in 2014, are a revised scheduling letter/itemized listing and the release of the Federal Contract Compliance System (FCCS). OFCCP requested OMB approval to make changes to the current scheduling letter and itemized listing back in May of 2011; however, the letter has yet to be approved or revised. The FCCS is a modern, cloud-computing based integrated case and content management information technology solution. It would require contractors to upload AAPs into the FCCS once selected for a compliance review and would serve as a one-stop shop system for OFCCP. There is no indication when this will be finalized (the previous projection was 2013), but enough money has been invested that we expect it will come to fruition.

2013 was a busy year for the OFCCP, and their agenda for the beginning of 2014 is no less ambitious. Although OFCCP may not hit all of their projected targets, we fully expect that the NPRM’s for items 2-4 above will be released in 2014. For the VETS100A reports, a February target is achievable for an NPRM; however, from a practical perspective, this likely does not allow sufficient time for a final rule to be effective for the 2014 filing period, which would mean changes for 2015 rather than next year. Stay tuned for updates in 2014.

by Yevonessa Hall, M.P.S., Associate Consultant and Amanda Shapiro, Consultant, DCI Consulting Group