On July 26, 2024, OFCCP published Directive 2024-01: Expedited Conciliation Procedures (the “Directive”). The Directive is intended to “outline updated procedures for an expedited conciliation option, giving contractors and the agency flexibility in the resolution of violations.”
Background
Directive 2024-01 rescinds and replaces DIR 2019-02, Early Resolution Procedures, which established the OFCCP’s early dispute resolution procedures.
On May 24, 2024, the Federal Acquisition Regulation (“FAR”) Council published a Notice and request for comments for 9000-0177, Reporting Executive Compensation and First-tier Subcontract Awards.
If approved, the new FAR will require contractors to: (1) publicly report certain information on their first tier subcontractors; and (2) report compensation information for their top executives. The
As we previously reported, federal contractors and subcontractors (“Contractors”) have until July 1, 2024 to certify the status of their Affirmative Action Programs (“AAPs”) with the OFCCP Contractor Portal. Specifically, covered Contractors are asked to certify, on an annual basis, whether they have met their obligation “to develop and maintain annual AAPs.” Contractors
On June 7, 2024, OFCCP released its latest Corporate Scheduling Announcement List (CSAL). The list identifies 500 supply and service contractors and subcontractors selected for a Compliance Review (Establishment Review), Corporate Management Compliance Evaluation, Functional Affirmative Action Program Review, or University Review. Note that the list merely notifies contractors that they will be audited in
The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (“OFCCP”) has released its 2024 Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act (“VEVRAA”) benchmark. Effective March 31, 2024, the new benchmark is 5.2%, a slight decrease from 2023’s 5.4% benchmark. This is OFCCP’s ninth reduction of the benchmark, which has steadily declined since its inception in 2014.
The VEVRAA
On March 25, 2024, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) announced that its Contractor Portal will open to receive Affirmative Action Program (“AAP”) certification submissions on April 1, 2024. Certifications must be made by July 1, 2024.
Since launching the Contractor Portal in 2022, OFCCP has required covered federal contractors and subcontractors to “certify, on
On January 29, 2024, the 15th anniversary of the enactment of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, the Biden Administration announced that it would be taking new actions to implement the Executive Order on Advancing Economy, Efficiency, and Effectiveness in Federal Contracting by Promoting Pay Equity and Transparency issued by President Biden in March
On December 22, 2023, a court in the Northern District of California ordered the disclosure of EEO-1 Reports filed by federal contractors and subcontractors (“Contractors”) between 2016 and 2020 in the case, Center for Investigative Reporting v. U.S. Dep’t of Labor, No. 3:22-cv-07182-WHA (N.D. Cal. Dec. 22, 2023).
As we previously reported,
On October 30, 2023, President Biden issued an “Executive Order on the Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence” (the “EO”), the first executive order directly addressing artificial intelligence.
Of particular interest to federal government contractors, the EO provides that within 365 days of publication, “to prevent unlawful discrimination from
We appear to be on the precipice of another federal government shutdown. Absent a political compromise, the federal government’s funding will run out on September 30, 2023. During previous government shutdowns, government agencies and departments issued stop-work orders, grinding work on government projects and contracts to a halt. Contractors were then faced with the difficult task
