The DE OFCCP Week in Review (WIR) is a simple, fast and direct summary of relevant happenings in the OFCCP regulatory environment, authored by experts John C. Fox, Candee J. Chambers and Cynthia L. Hackerott. In today’s edition, they discuss:

• Contractors Have Second Opportunity to Comment on OFCCP’s Supply & Service Contractor Portal Information Collection
• In Brief
• New Publications
• Looking Ahead: Upcoming Date Reminders

Monday, April 13, 2024: Contractors Have Second Opportunity to Comment on OFCCP’s Supply & Service Contractor Portal Information Collection

Agency Wants Contractors to Provide UEIs for Parent Companies & Establishments

OFCCP published in the Federal Register Notice of a 30-day public comment period on its request for the Office of Management and Budget’s (“OMB”) approval to renew OFCCP’s information collection, pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act (“PRA”), for the online Supply & Service Contractor Portal interface (formerly the “Affirmative Action Program Verification Interface”). Comments for the 30-day Notice period are due by June 12, 2024. You may submit them here or here.

Editor’s Note: This PRA review is not a request for Notice and Comment pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act. As a result, OMB will not review OFCCP’s Notice to determine whether the authority OFCCP seeks is otherwise authorized by law.

The current OMB approval for this information collection expires on August 31, 2024. To allow for IT updates to the system, OFCCP also requested permission to use the currently approved information collection up to 90 days after OMB approves the new collection.

The 30-day Notice references OFCCP’s previous 60-day Notice published on December 12, 2023 (see our story here). The 60-day comment period closed on February 12, 2024, with three comments submitted.

Along with its renewal request, OFCCP wants to add a requirement for contractors to enter the Unique Entity ID (“UEI”) for the “Parent Company” and “Establishment” fields. As we reported in April 2022,  the federal government stopped using the Dun & Bradstreet (DUNS) Number to uniquely identify entities. Instead, all agencies of the federal government have transitioned to the use of the Unique Entity ID (UEI) number, which SAM.gov generates. (See our story on the 60-day Notice for more details.)

Administrative Procedure Act Notice & Comment Process Still Lacking

In our earlier story on the 60-day Notice, we explained that this PRA Notice and Comment process does not suffice to meet the separate requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act’s (“APA’s”) Notice and Comment process. For example, the OMB’s PRA process does not examine or concern itself with the APA’s primary (but not exclusive) concern whether the at-issue compliance requirement is “otherwise in accordance with law.” As a result, OFCCP more likely than not, cannot enforce compliance with its Contractor Portal since it imposes new burdens on the regulated community. (For additional explanation on this point, see our story here.)

Current Portal Certification Compliance “Deadline” is July 1, 2024

Nevertheless, on April 1, OFCCP once again opened its online Contractor Portal for federal contractors and subcontractors to certify that they have developed and maintained Affirmative Action Programs for each establishment or functional unit. OFCCP set a certification deadline of July 1, 2024. (See our story here.)

Wednesday, May 8, 2024: OSHA Announced Structural Changes to Its Regional Offices

The Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) announced structural changes to its regional operations “designed to direct its resources effectively and make the agency more resilient.” Details on those changes are included in the agency’s press release. A map of OSHA’s new regional structure and boundaries is available here.

Thursday, May 9, 2024: U.S. GAO Revised Report on Military Spouse Employment Focused on Challenges of Part-Time Work

Coinciding with Military Spouse Appreciation Day, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) updated its Report, originally released on February 8, focusing on the challenges of part-time employment for military spouses. Military spouses who the GAO interviewed said they worked part-time because they needed flexible schedules to care for children and to accommodate frequent military moves. The GAO updated and reissued this Report “to revise a paragraph on page 4 and related endnote 6 to clarify that the administrative and survey data we analyzed measured military spouse employment over different timeframes.” We discussed the Report in detail when it was originally released in February.

On a related note, the Labor Department’s Veterans’ Employment and Training Service (“VETS”) observed Military Spouse Appreciation Day by highlighting its Transition Employment Assistance for Military Spouses and Caregivers (“TEAMS”) workshops that are tailored specifically for military spouses and available virtually and on a flexible schedule. ​

Thursday, May 9, 2024: Julie Su’s Testimony on Fiscal Year 2025 Budget Before Senate Subcommittee Similar to Earlier Testimony Before House Subcommittees

Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su’s testimony before the Senate Appropriations Committee’s Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies was similar to her testimony in recent weeks before two House Subcommittees. On April 17, Ms. Su testified before the House Appropriations Committee’s Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education (see our story here). On May 1, she testified before the House Committee on Education and the Workforce (see our story here.)

Like the previous House Subcommittee hearings, the Senate Subcommittee hearing – lasting just under two hours – displayed the ongoing partisan squabbles over Ms. Su’s suitability for the position and the U.S. Department of Labor’s policies and enforcement activities. In all three hearings, Acting Secretary Su’s comments focused largely on child labor law enforcement and workforce development programs, including apprenticeship programs.