By Fred Satterwhite
BLOG OVERVIEW:
The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs has proposed new changes to the regulations stemming from Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act, including the removal of Form CC-305 "Voluntary Self-Identification of Disability." Public Comments regarding this change are being collected until October 24, 2025.
The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) has proposed a revision of the information collection implementing the recordkeeping requirements of Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended (Section 503). The proposed changes include the elimination of the voluntary self-identification form for applicants and employees to disclose their disability status. OFCCP’s proposed revision was published in the Federal Register on August 25, 2025.
As discussed in a previous blog article, OFCCP issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) on July 1, 2025 to revise the Section 503 regulations at 41 CFR 60-741, which would remove the requirements for federal contractors to a) invite applicants and employees to voluntarily self-identify their disability status; b) apply a seven percent utilization goal for employment of qualified individuals with disabilities (IWD) to each of their job groups (or, to their entire workforce if the contractor has 100 or fewer employees) and conduct a utilization analysis evaluating the representation of IWD against that goal; and, c) use their hiring data for applicants with disabilities to evaluate the effectiveness of their external outreach and recruitment efforts. The July 1 NPRM is still open for public comments until September 2, 2025, and has received 318 comments as of the writing of this article.
It is important to note that OFCCP’s August 25 proposal does not change the contents of the July 1 NPRM or its comment-period deadline of September 2, 2025.
OFCCP’s August 25 proposal describes corresponding revisions to the Section 503 information collection that would only occur if OFCCP implements the regulatory changes described in the July 1 NPRM in a final rule. The revisions would include the removal of Form CC-305, “Voluntary Self-Identification of Disability” and a reduced burden estimate for the contractor community. OFCCP estimates a 94% reduction in hours required—with an annual cost savings of $147 million—if the newly proposed Section 503 regulatory changes are implemented in a final rule.
The August 25 information collection proposal is open for public comments until October 24, 2025. After the public comment period closes, OFCCP will consider the comments received and submit a final request to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) for a subsequent 30-day public comment period prior to OIRA’s review for approval. The current information collection expires on April 30, 2026.
As a reminder, all of the Section 503 requirements described at 41 CFR 60-741 and the voluntary self-ID form for disability status remain in effect for contractors until a final rule is issued and becomes effective.
DCI will continue to monitor developments and provide updates as they occur.
