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This Should Be A Year Of Change At OFCCP |
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One year into the Obama Administration, and four months into the tenure of its new Director Patricia Shiu, “change” is the mantra at the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP). This includes an increased focus on affirmative action, on veterans and disabled workers, and on the construction industry. It also includes increasing the agency’s staff to pre-2001 levels, and, of course, spending more taxpayer dollars. During the Clinton Administration, the OFCCP’s dual mandate — (1) advancing affirmative action in recruitment, hiring, and retention; and (2) rooting out systemic discrimination by federal contractors and covered subcontractors — tilted significantly in favor of the latter. This emphasis continued throughout the Bush Administration. By the end of 2008, OFCCP was allocating only 5% of its resources to affirmative action efforts, concentrating 95% on identifying and seeking compensation for female and minority employees and applicants who were allegedly victimized by discriminatory practices. As a result, fiscal years 2005 through 2008 produced record-breaking settlements, both in dollar amounts and in the number of individuals benefitting from back pay awards. The new OFCCP, under Director Shiu, plans to continue to pursue systemic discrimination claims, but will also broaden its efforts to focus on affirmative action. The agency believes it can accomplish its expansive agenda based on increased funding put in place for fiscal 2010 and planned for fiscal 2011 as well. OFCCP is using its bigger budget to hire and train more than 200 new employees throughout the country. Particularly when this wave of hiring is complete, contractors should expect more affirmative action audits, more on-site investigations, and more scrutiny of their affirmative action plans. OFCCP also plans to add focus on veterans and individuals with disabilities, both in terms of affirmative action efforts and enforcing the agency’s non-discrimination agenda. Many contractors already have experienced on-site audits limited primarily or exclusively to veterans and disability issues, as OFCCP studies these issues in anticipation of releasing proposed new regulations in the December 2010 timeframe. It would not be surprising to see these regulations require some statistical analysis, at least for veterans. Finally, OFCCP will reportedly increase its enforcement of construction industry regulations. OFCCP shifted its attention to its long-neglected construction provisions when the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) mandated that recipients of ARRA funding (primarily construction contractors) were required to undergo full compliance reviews — 59 of which OFCCP completed in 2009, with almost 400 more planned for this fiscal year. And, responding to criticism from civil rights groups that the 30-year old construction regulations and goals are outdated and ineffectual (for example, the agency has a 6.9 percent hiring goal for females nationwide), OFCCP has announced plans to publish new construction industry regulations by January 2011. Julia Turner Baumhart |
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