On September 8, 2014, the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) in the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) received a submission from OFCCP seeking approval to implement two non-material changes to the Voluntary Self-Identification form related to the Section 503 regulations.
The first change requested by OFCCP is to reproduce the previously approved form in an additional seven languages. The form is currently approved in English and Spanish. The seven additional languages requested include:
- German
- Russian
- French
- Chinese Traditional
- Chinese Standard
- Japanese
- Korean
The second change requested by OFCCP includes replacing the possible responses to the self-ID form with a drop down box, rather than a checkbox. This requested proposal was likely a result of contractor engagement and feedback provided at the NILG conference, as well as other similar meetings. An example mock-up of the revised form using a drop-down box instead of a checkbox can be found here.
There was some confusion at the 2014 NILG conference between contractors and the OFCCP related to the recordkeeping of the disability form upon completion by applicants and employees. The OFCCP indicated a desire to have a snapshot of the actual form being completed by an applicant or employee, rather than just the responses received electronically, stored in a data analysis file. Requiring a snapshot of the actual completed form is seemingly incongruent with the recordkeeping regulations, which require a data analysis file, and not a paper copy of each form:
§60-741.42 Invitation to self-identify.
(e)The contractor shall keep all information on self-identification confidential, and shall maintain it in a data analysis file (rather than in the medical files of individual employees). See §60-741.23(d). The contractor shall provide self-identification information to OFCCP upon request. Self-identification information may be used only in accordance with this part.
A drop-down response, rather than a check-box response, would seem to suggest that each employee and applicant response to the disability self-ID would be appropriate to simply store in an electronic database file, rather than a snapshot, or copy of each form completed in a .pdf format. This practice of storing responses as a field in a database is seemingly consistent with the regulatory guidance and common practice for storage of drop-down response information in HRIS and ATS systems. Hopefully, the contractor community will be given absolute clarity on the storage of the self-identification information through future OFCCP FAQs.
In the meantime, contractors should still utilize the approved version of the disability self-id form. The proposed non-material edits to the form have not yet been approved by OMB to date.
By Joanna Colosimo, Senior Consultant, DCI Consulting Group
