Among the many “hot” topics for federal contractors, OFCCP’s intention for AAP verification and/or certification ranks among the top.  In September 2020, OFCCP published a notice seeking comment on the possibility of an annual AAP certification and verification process.  Towards that end, the Agency also sought Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approval for an “AAP Verification Interface” (AAP-VI).

Yesterday, OFCCP cleared a major hurdle toward AAP verification with OMB’s approval of the “AAP-VI.”  Although the AAP-VI is not “live,” a page at OFCCP’s website explains:

“Affirmative Action Program Verification Interface (AAP-VI) is a secure web based interface created to improve communication and the transfer of Affirmative Action Program data, between Federal Contractors and the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs.

Questions remain, including whether the AAP-VI will be used only for audit submissions or whether it will also be used for annual AAP certification, and whether certification will entail uploading of data.  At the current time, contractors are only required to submit an AAP to OFCCP in the context of a compliance review.

As part of its approval, OMB also approved a User Guide and an “Admin Guide.”  At 23 and 22 pages in length, respectively, there is a lot to digest in these documents but not much clarification about the context in which the information will be submitted.

In the Purpose & Scope section of the User Guide, OFCCP says:

“Currently, federal contractors submit their AAPs via mail or email. The AAP-VI system will be the primary source for entering, tracking and submitting your Affirmative Action Programs for review by OFCCP. AAP-VI will provide federal contractors a system to submit their Programs in a more efficient manner and provide visibility and reporting capabilities of the data submitted by the Programs.

Stay tuned as we dive into the User Guides and await further information from the Agency.