By: Bill Osterndorf
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) recently released several proposals that would place new requirements on construction companies involved in federal construction projects. These proposals are part of OFCCP’s continuing focus on construction companies. That focus began in 2020 and has accelerated in the last few years with the launch of multiple compliance reviews involving construction companies, the release of a new letter used to gather information at the start of a construction compliance review, and the announcement of programs associated with Mega Construction Projects.
Proposed Monthly Information Collection
One of OFCCP’s new proposals is to reinstate the use of a form that collects information on a monthly basis from construction contractors and subcontractors. On February 23, 2024, OFCCP published a notice in the Federal Register asking for the reinstatement of form CC-257, the Monthly Employment Utilization Report for construction companies. OFCCP had discontinued the use of form CC-257 in 1995. The agency’s supporting statement indicates that the use of form CC-257 will “strengthen OFCCP’s enforcement, outreach, and compliance assistance activities” and “improve its process for neutrally scheduling contractors for compliance evaluations.”
The previous version of form CC-257 requested the following:
- Information within three categories (Journey Workers, Apprentices, and Trainees) for each construction trade within the geographic area(s) where construction work was being performed.
- Work hours for the three categories above by sex within each race category then being tracked by OFCCP.
- The total number of male and female employees and the total number of minority males and minority females within the three categories above.
The proposed version of form CC-257 requests the following:
- Information for four categories (including the new category Forepersons) for each construction trade within the geographic area(s) where construction work is being performed.
- The total number of employees by sex within each race and ethnic designation found on the EEO-1 form.
- Total work hours by sex within race and ethnic designation.
OFCCP expects that construction companies will submit form the new CC-257 electronically.
OFCCP suggests in its supporting statement that the average response time to complete form CC-257 each month will be 1.5 hours. This seems unlikely given the increase in the amount of data OFCCP is requesting compared to the previous CC-257 and the need to restart a reporting process that was suspended in 1995. Members of the public who want to comment on OFCCP’s proposal to reintroduce the use of form CC-257 should by April 23, 2024.
DCI will continue to monitor further developments.
