In this week’s entry into our blog series covering the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Program’s (OFCCP) Supply and Service Technical Assistance Guide (TAG), we’ll examine the requirements surrounding listing open jobs with the local employment service delivery system (ESDS).
Read previous installments of the TAG series:
Employers that have a single contract of $150,000 or more and thus are subject to the requirements under VEVRAA must list employment openings with local employment service delivery system (ESDS) offices. (The TAG notes that the term “employment service delivery system” generally refers to a local American Job Center or state workforce agency office.) Listing openings with local ESDS offices is meant to give priority referral to protected veterans seeking employment.
The TAG states that employers must list all employment openings except the following:
- Executive and senior management positions.
- Positions that will be filled from within the contractor’s organization, meaning openings for which no consideration will be given to persons outside the contractor’s organization, including openings which the contractor proposes to fill from regularly established “recall” lists.
- Positions lasting three days or less.
Immediate Actions Contractors Must Take
The requirement to list positions with the relevant ESDS office has a series of actions that organizations must take when they first become federal contractors or subcontractors subject to VEVRAA. These include the following:
- Notify ESDS offices for each state where the employer has an “establishment” of the employer’s status a federal contractor.
- Notify each ESDS office contacted above that the employer desires priority referral of protected veterans for job openings.
- Provide each ESDS with the name and address of each hiring location within the relevant state and the contact information for the person responsible for overseeing hiring at each location.
- List all employment openings with the appropriate ESDS where the opening exists. This includes employment openings that are not associated with any federal contract or subcontract.
Ongoing Actions Contractors Must Take
Once the ESDS offices have been contacted, there are ongoing actions that federal contractors and subcontractors must take:
- Submit employment listings in a manner and format permitted by the ESDS so that it can access and use the information to provide priority referral of protected veterans. The TAG does not mention that listing open jobs with the ESDS is meant to provide a 24 hour period during which only veterans can apply.
- List all employment openings with the appropriate ESDS office. This listing must occur at least concurrently with the use of any other recruitment source or effort.
- If any of the initially provided information about hiring locations or and contacts changes, update the appropriate ESDS office.
- Keep records of all job listings.
The TAG notes that the use of a third-party services does not relieve a federal contractor or subcontractor of any of its obligations regarding the listing of positions with the relevant ESDS office.
Next in this series…
In our next blog, we’ll examine the recordkeeping requirements federal contractors and subcontractors must follow, including surveying applicants and employees for ethnicity, race, gender, disability, and veteran status.
