In an effort to increase contractor participation in the functional affirmative action program (FAAPs), OFCCP proposed a new directive simplifying the process for FAAP agreement requests. This proposed directive comes after Craig Leen, Acting Director of OFCCP, shared his support for FAAPs during the 2018 NILG conference in Anaheim, CA. The proposed directive acknowledges that traditional AAPs organized by physical location do not always reflect typical business operations. This proposed directive focuses on giving contractors the ability to “easily organize and analyze data, identify issues, establish clear lines of responsibility for implementing its AAP, and monitor progress”.
OFCCP seeks to reduce paperwork and regulatory burdens by proposing these changes to the proposed FAAP process:
- Increasing the length of agreement from 3 to 5 years;
- Eliminating the requirement that FAAP contractors undergo at least one compliance evaluation during the term of their agreements;
- Expanding the exemption period for FAAP units that have undergone a compliance evaluation from 24 months to 36 months from the date OFCCP closed the previous evaluation;
- Eliminating consideration of a contractor’s equal employment EEO compliance history when deciding whether to approve a FAAP request;
- Removing the three-year waiting period for reapplying for a FAAP following termination of an agreement; and
- Eliminating the annual requirement for contractors to modify their FAAP agreements.
The proposed directive is open to public comment until November 13, 2018. DCI will monitor the rule-making process and share new developments on the FAAP program.
By Macy Cheeks, M.S., Associate Consultant at DCI Consulting Group
