The following information was published on the OFCCP website today, September 7, 2018: https://www.dol.gov/ofccp/regs/compliance/faqs/csalfaqs.htm
750 CSAL letters were mailed to contractor establishments on September 7, 2018, as a supplement to the FY2018 Scheduling List released on March 19, 2018, (FY18 First Release).
This CSAL provided contractors a 45–day courtesy notice prior to OFCCP beginning to send OMB approved scheduling letters. After receiving the OMB approved scheduling letter, contractors will have the standard 30 days to submit their Affirmative Action Program (AAP). As a result, all contractors on the current list are receiving a minimum of 75 days advance notice to have the AAP ready. OFCCP will also grant a one-time 30-day extension for supporting data where AAPs are provided timely as indicated in OFCCP’s FAQ on requesting an extension for submission of AAPs and supporting data, which should be reviewed for more information on this topic.
This data collection is approved by OMB under the Paperwork Reduction Act.
When combining the FY2018 First Release with this supplemental scheduling list, OFCCP limited its scheduling to no more than 10 establishments of any parent company.
No more than four establishments of a single contractor are included in a single district office on this supplement.
The supplement includes 445 companies, 69 CMCEs, and 66 FAAP functional units. Universities were not included in this supplement due to currently available compliance workload. As per OFCCP Directive 2018–04, focused reviews of E.O. 11246, Section 503, and VEVRAA will be included in Fiscal Year 2019 scheduling lists. Accordingly, this supplement does not include such focused reviews.
No establishment that received a CSAL, concluded a review, or concluded progress report monitoring resulting from a conciliation agreement or consent decree, within the last five years, is included on this supplement:
Requesting Extensions to Submit AAP(s) and Supporting Data
1. What is OFCCP’s policy for approving a request for extension to submit the AAPs and support data in response to the Scheduling Letter and Itemized Listing?Upon release of a scheduling list, it is OFCCP’s practice to issue a courtesy Corporate Scheduling Announcement Letter (CSAL). The CSAL is an advanced courtesy notification to a company establishment that appears on OFCCP’s list of establishments selected to undergo a compliance review. The CSAL also serves as an invitation to contractors to utilize the various compliance assistance resources and activities provided by OFCCP through its website, and through the district and regional offices.
The CSAL is different from the Scheduling Letter and Itemized Listing, which is the OMB–approved letter OFCCP sends to an establishment to start the evaluation process and to formally request submission of the contractor’s EO 11246, Section 503 and VEVRAA Affirmative Action Program(s) and the supporting data.
Upon receipt of the OFCCP formal Scheduling Letter and Itemized Listing, a contractor is required to submit its EO 11246, Section 503 and VEVRAA AAPs and supporting data within 30 days. To facilitate a timely submission, OFCCP will contact the contractor within 15 days of the contractor’s receipt of the Scheduling Letter and Itemized Listing to establish the compliance officer as the primary point of contact for the evaluation, offer technical assistance on OFCCP requirements, and explain allowable extensions for the AAPs and supporting data.
OFCCP will provide a 30–day extension for supporting data related to the EO 11246, VEVRAA and Section 503 AAPs, provided that: 1) the contractor requests the extension prior to the initial 30–day due date for the AAPs and 2) the contractor timely submits the basic EO 11246, Section 503 and VEVRAA AAPs within the initial 30–day period after receiving the Scheduling Letter and Itemized Listing. See Directive 2018–07, Section 7 (stating that the AAP Verification Program includes "[r]equesting proffer of the AAP by contractors when requesting extensions of time to provide support data in response to a scheduling letter.")
OFCCP generally will not allow extensions for submission of the basic EO 11246, Section 503 and VEVRAA AAPs, which contractors are required to maintain and update annually, nor allow extensions of supporting data if requested after the submission date for the AAPs has passed. OFCCP, however, reserves discretion to grant such extensions in extraordinary circumstances.
Failure to submit AAPs and/or supporting data timely, with approved extensions, will result in an immediate Notice to Show Cause why OFCCP should not initiate enforcement proceedings. During this period, the contractor will have an additional 30-days to provide the AAPs and supporting data in response the Notice to Show Cause. A procedural Notice to Show Cause for failure to submit AAPs and/or supporting data does not require OFCCP National Office approval.
This policy applies to any compliance review scheduled on or after September 7, 2018.
By Rosemary Cox, Senior Consultant at DCI Consulting
