Day two of the 2018 ILG National Conference has concluded and it was another day packed with information and insights for attendees.

Riding the “waves of change”, over the past two days OFCCP and officials from the U.S. Department of Labor Solicitor’s Office as well as the EEOC, have shared their insights, thoughts, and new initiatives and desires for enforcement and compliance.

Yesterday, in addition to releasing the “What Contractors Can Expect” expectations, Acting Director Craig Leen commented on a number of initiatives and “things in the works” in the OFCCP National Office.  As part of his discussion of OFCCP’s four points of focus, Acting Director Leen shared additional details about the Agency’s plans.

  1. Transparency
    • The Agency is exploring the idea of issuing Opinion Letters to address topics on which they get questions.
  2. Certainty
  3. Efficiency
    1. Citing the “unacceptable” length of its aged cases, Acting Director Leen shared the Agency is looking at ways to try to complete desk audits in 45 days.  Acting Deputy Director Marika Litras echoed ta similar commitment to more efficient reviews during her presentation to conference attendees Thursday morning.
  4. Recognition
    • Acknowledging the interest from the contractor community to bring back recognition awards Acting Director Leen shared the Agency is exploring the possibility.

Acting Director Leen also highlighted the Agency’s commitment to 100% compliance to every protected group as part of its responsibility and commitment to all.  As part of this commitment, he shared the Agency is looking to bring back focused reviews to check compliance with Section 503 and VEVRAA -noting they are exploring the possibility that a portion of establishments selected for audit would be subject to the focused reviews.

In his Thursday afternoon break-out session on Leading Practices in Disability Inclusion, Acting Director Leen expanded further on his vision for the focused reviews in the Section 503 space.  Specifically, the reviews would include:

  • an on-site visit
  • interviews with managers and ADA Coordinators to learn about the company’s practices
  • review of accommodation practices

He also shared, that as part of these focused reviews, he would like OFCCP to look into the hiring and promotion practices of the establishment, as well as an evaluation of the accommodation process to ensure it is not discriminatory or retaliatory.

In his impassioned address, Acting Director Leen emphasized

“inclusion is good for business  . . . when people feel welcome they succeed.

There is a plethora of information being shared and discussed among presenters and conference attendees and we are looking forward to the Acting Director’s impressions and concluding remarks tomorrow as the conference comes to a close.