The next round of audits is coming.
Doing its part to save the planet, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs has posted its most recent Corporate Scheduling Announcement List online. Corporate Scheduling Announcements used to be "snail-mailed" to individual contractors at thousands of establishments.
The environmentally friendly OFCCP.
CSALs provide contractors with notice that the OFCCP may be issuing a Scheduling Letter. Generally, the list is provided 45 days before Scheduling Letters are mailed. Contractors who receive a Scheduling Letter have 30 days to respond, so the CSAL in effect provides at least 75 days’ notice.
Contractors are advised to use this time wisely! The OFCCP is granting extensions for submission of affirmative action plans only if both (1) the request is made before the due date, and (2) the “basic” AAP information is provided by the due date.
The latest CSAL identifies 3,500 establishments that are likely to undergo a compliance evaluation, including the following:
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500 focused reviews under Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act
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83 Corporate Management Compliance Evaluations
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500 Compliance Checks
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2,345 Compliance Evaluations
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72 reviews of Functional Affirmative Action Plans
Even if your company does not appear on the list, you should not let your guard down because you could still be subject to an audit. In addition, if your company appeared on a prior CSAL but has not yet received a Scheduling Letter, you should continue to expect an audit. The OFCCP “does not purge unscheduled cases from prior lists before releasing a new scheduling list.”
The OFCCP has also released its methodology for selecting contractors. One interesting piece from this detailed description is the OFCCP’s decision to focus on industries with the highest rates of discrimination findings: Agriculture, Manufacturing, and Wholesale Trade. The OFCCP based its determination on "financial Conciliation Agreements (CA) that included discrimination findings." Contractors from these industries make up approximately a third of the Corporate Selection Announcement List.
Check the CSALs, and let us know if you have any questions or need help with OFCCP compliance.
