On September 14, 2020, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFFCP) requested approval from the Office of Management and Budget to require government contractors to certify on an annual basis that they are in...more
The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (“OFCCP”) recently issued new FAQ guidance on how federal government contractors should treat non-binary employees (i.e., those who do not exclusively identify as either male...more
9/10/2020
/ Affirmative Action ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Gender Identity ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
OFCCP ,
Sexual Orientation Discrimination ,
Title VII
The Department of Labor (“DOL”) settled a claim of gender pay discrimination against Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health USA Inc., a pharmaceutical company, on August 18, 2020. The Office of Federal Contract Compliance...more
On June 24, 2020, a Department of Labor Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) denied J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.’s motion for summary judgment seeking to dismiss an OFCCP enforcement action....more
The first round of VEVRAA focused reviews is on the horizon. Last year, OFCCP released its scheduling list identifying the federal contractors who were selected for focused reviews of their compliance with the Vietnam Era...more
On April 17, 2020, OFCCP released three new directives that aim to advance outgoing Director Craig Leen’s longstanding focus on increasing the agency’s transparency and efficiency....more
The frank discussion during the roundtable highlighted contractors’ ongoing concerns regarding OFCCP’s approach to the evaluation of the compensation of small groups of specialized employees and smaller AAP groups....more
On February 21, 2020, OFCCP announced the launch of its new Contractor Compliance Institute as part of its ongoing efforts to provide guidance and training to aid federal government contractors in meeting their compliance...more
On December 30, 2019, OFCCP issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Nondiscrimination Obligations of Federal Contractors and Subcontractors: Procedures to Resolve Potential Employment Discrimination....more
1/2/2020
/ Comment Period ,
Compensation & Benefits ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Federal Contractors ,
NPRM ,
OFCCP ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Reviewability Determinations ,
Rulemaking Process
On November 8, 2019, OFCCP released another opinion letter clarifying the extent of its jurisdiction over government contractors. In the letter, OFCCP opined that participants in the Department of Defense’s SkillBridge...more
Maintaining its recent focus on compliance issues particular to educational institutions, OFCCP published a technical assistance guide for educational institutions on October 11, 2019. The guide follows a flurry of OFCCP...more
10/21/2019
/ Affirmative Action ,
Contractors ,
Disparate Treatment ,
Educational Institutions ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Gender Discrimination ,
Hiring & Firing ,
New Guidance ,
OFCCP ,
Opinion Letter ,
Race Discrimination ,
Student Employees ,
Tenure ,
Town Hall Meetings ,
Wage and Hour
The OFCCP opened the month of October by announcing three multimillion dollar settlements with major government contractors. The agency entered into early resolution conciliation agreements with Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC and...more
10/9/2019
/ Affirmative Action ,
Bank of America ,
Bias ,
Compensation & Benefits ,
Conciliation ,
Dell ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Enforcement Actions ,
FAAP ,
Federal Contractors ,
Gender Discrimination ,
Goldman Sachs ,
Hiring & Firing ,
OFCCP ,
Race Discrimination ,
Settlement ,
Statistical Analysis ,
Wage and Hour
Following closely on its release of guidance for higher education institutions, and its promise of a forthcoming technical assistance guide for contractors in this field, OFCCP announced it will hold a town hall forum for...more
After devoting its first opinion letter to addressing aspects of its jurisdiction over higher education institutions, OFCCP recently provided additional guidance about the AAP obligations of educational institutions....more
On August 15, 2019, the Office of Federal Compliance Contract Programs (OFCCP) proposed a new rule broadening the religious exemption that applies to its equal employment opportunity regulations. ...more
On July 31, 2019, OFCCP Director Craig Leen gave the opening remarks at the National Industry Liaison Group conference in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Director Leen described several new and renewed areas of focus for OFCCP and...more
8/5/2019
/ Compensation & Benefits ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Federal Contractors ,
Internal Audit Functions ,
OFCCP ,
Policy Statement ,
Protected Activity ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Transparency ,
Veterans ,
Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA)
On August 2, 2019, OFCCP published six new compliance guides on its website. The new guides include:
OFCCP At A Glance, which provides an overview of the functions performed by OFCCP...more
In a welcome development for federal government contractors, OFCCP issued its second opinion letter on July 22, 2019. The opinion letter endorsed a process through which contractors can submit proposed pay analysis groups...more
On August 7, 2019, OFCCP and the Veterans’ Employment and Training Service (VETS) will hold a joint town hall focused on VEVRAA and USERRA compliance issues. ...more
On May 23, 2019, the OFCCP -- without fanfare -- issued its first opinion letter since its announcement last year that it would begin issuing opinions to provide guidance to the contractor community.
...more
On May 22, 2019, the Trump administration released its Spring 2019 Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions. This agenda reports on the actions that administrative agencies plan to issue in both the near and...more
6/6/2019
/ Deregulation ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Federal Contractors ,
Health Care Providers ,
Moratorium ,
NPRM ,
OFCCP ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Religious Exemption ,
TRICARE ,
Trump Administration
On April 12, 2019, the OFCCP submitted new forms of its scheduling, compliance check, and Section 503 focused review letters to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for approval. ...more
On April 22, 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court heard argument in Food Marketing Institute v. Argus Leader Media. Polsinelli attended the oral arguments to provide insight concerning the potential implications for federal...more
4/25/2019
/ Burden of Proof ,
Competition ,
Confidential Information ,
Exemptions ,
Federal Contractors ,
FOIA ,
Food Marketing Institute v Argus Leader Media ,
OFCCP ,
Public Disclosure ,
SCOTUS ,
Split of Authority ,
Substantial-Competitive-Harm Test ,
Trade Secrets
“Glaring,” “concerning,” “troubling,” “problematic,” and “systemic” were some of the words used by OFCCP Director Craig Leen to describe the underrepresentation of women, minorities, and individuals with disabilities at large...more
4/12/2019
/ Affirmative Action ,
Discrimination ,
Disparate Impact ,
Diversity ,
Federal Contractors ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
OFCCP ,
Pay Equity Laws ,
Pay Gap ,
Recruitment Policies ,
Women in the Law
On March 27, 2019, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) announced that it was lowering the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA) hiring benchmark again this year. ...more