The Department of Labor's Office of Federal Contract Compliance programs, or OFCCP, has issued revised regulations governing affirmative action programs required under Executive Order 11246 for covered federal contractors, federal subcontractors, and federally assisted construction contractors and subcontractors.
Under the new regulatory regime, the OFCCP is placing increased importance on the actual implementation of the affirmative action program "into the overall management plan of the contractor." The new regulations expand the OFCCP's glass ceiling initiative through "corporate management compliance evaluations." These evaluations will look beyond the corporate headquarters, to examine management "feeder pools" at other company offices.
Undoubtedly the most controversial aspect of the new regulations is the establishment of the new "Equal Opportunity Survey" for non-construction contractors. Employers should take care in answering the questions presented in the survey, since they can trigger an OFCCP compliance evaluation.
The new regulations add provisions requiring contractors to make their affirmative action program and related documents available to the OFCCP "upon request." Therefore, covered contractors should review their record-keeping procedures, to ensure they will be able to comply with this requirement.
The regulations retain the requirement that affirmative action programs be written. In addition, they require that existing affirmative action programs be revised to reflect the regulatory changes. Accordingly, covered employers should review their existing affirmative action programs, and should amend them to reflect the new rules. The revisions must be made by the beginning of the employer's next program year. A new contractor must develop its program within 120 days of commencement of the contact.
