OFCCP Week In Review: August 26, 2019

The DE OFCCP Week in Review (WIR) is a simple, fast and direct summary of relevant happenings in the OFCCP regulatory environment, authored by experts John C. Fox, Candee Chambers and Jennifer Polcer. In today’s edition, they discuss:

• DOL Seeks Comments on Compliant Process
• Revised FAAP Directive
• OFCCP Corrected its Religious Exemption Proposed Rule
• WHD Requests Comments on Benefits
• ETA requests Comments on Occupational Codes
• REMINDER: OFCCP Native American Outreach Town Hall
  
• REMINDER: Last Chance to Apply for Disability Inclusion Award!
  

Wednesday, August 21, 2019: DOL Seeks Comments on Compliant Process

The Department of Labor (DOL) submitted the Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS) sponsored information collection request (ICR) titled, “Notification of Employee Rights Under Federal Labor Laws Complaint Process” to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval for continued use without change. This procedure is in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

The Details

Regulations 29 CFR 471.11 provide for DOL to accept a written complaint alleging that a contractor doing business with the Federal government has failed to post the notice required by Executive Order (E.O.) 13496, “Notification of Employee Rights Under Federal Labor Laws.” The section establishes that a complaint must be in writing, must contain certain information, including the name, address, and telephone number of the person submitting the complaint and the name and address of the Federal contractor alleged to have violated the rule. The section also establishes that a written complaint may be submitted to either the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs or the OLMS.

The OMB will consider all written comments that Agency receives on or before September 20, 2019.

See OFCCP FAQS on Executive Order 13496 for additional information.

Wednesday, August 21, 2019: Revised FAAP Directive

The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs announced the release of a revision to the Functional Affirmative Action Program (FAAP) Directive. In a return to the processing architecture the Bush OFCCP ushered in to make FAAPs more attractive to contractors, DIR 2013-01 Revision 2 contains many significant changes to the program including but not limited to:

• OFCCP no longer requires that FAAP contractors undergo at least one Compliance Evaluation during the term of their FAAP agreements;
• OFCCP no longer considers compliance history when reviewing a request for a new FAAP agreement or termination;
• The extended agreement term is five years, up from three years.
• There will be a minimum of 36 months between Compliance Evaluations for a single functional unit. This is 12 months longer than an establishment review.
•  OFCCP will now review and approve FAAP applications within 60 days. Currently, there is no deadline operating on OFCCP to approve an application.

See OFCCP FAQs on FAAPs for additional information, including the process for FAAP certification.

Thursday, August 22, 2019: OFCCP Corrected its Religious Exemption Proposed Rule

The Office of Federal Contract Compliance (OFCCP) issued a correction to its recent Notice of Proposed Rulemaking regarding the Equal Opportunity Clause’s Religious Exemption. On August 15, 2019, OFCCP published a proposed rule to clarify the scope and application of the religious exemption contained in section 204(c) of Executive Order 11246, as amended. That document included incorrect information for the quantifiable costs that appear in Table 2. The revised document corrects Table 2 in the proposed rule.

The Correction

On page 41687, the first line of Table 2. Quantifiable Costs “First-Year Costs $24,197,500” is corrected to read “First-Year Costs $20,325,900.”

Friday, August 23, 2019: WHD Requests Comments on Benefits

The Department of Labor (DOL) submitted the Wage and Hour Division (WHD) sponsored information collection request (ICR) titled, “Requests to Approve Conformed Wage Classifications and Unconventional Fringe Benefit Plans Under the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts and Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act,” to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval for continued use, without change. This in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

Regulations 29 CFR part 5 prescribe labor standards for federally financed and assisted construction contracts subject to the Davis Bacon Act (DBA), 40 U.S.C. 3141 et seq., the Davis-Bacon Related Acts (DBRA), and labor standards for all contracts subject to the Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act (CWHSSA), 40 U.S.C. 3701 et seq.

The OMB will consider all written comments that Agency receives on or before September 23, 2019.

Friday, August 23, 2019: ETA requests Comments on Occupational Codes

The Department of Labor (DOL) submitted the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) sponsored information collection request (ICR) titled, “Occupational Code Assignment,” to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval for continued use, without change. This in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

The OMB will consider all written comments that Agency receives on or before September 23, 2019.

REMINDER: OFCCP Native American Outreach Town Hall

The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs is accepting reservations to attend their public town hall meeting in Phoenix, Arizona on Wednesday, September 4, 2019. The Agency seeks input on how to improve outreach and compliance assistance to the Native American Community.

REMINDER: Last Chance to Apply for Disability Inclusion Award!

It is the last week to get applications in for the Excellence in Disability Inclusion Award. Don’t wait! Submit applications by Saturday, August 31, 2019.

THIS COLUMN IS MEANT TO ASSIST IN A GENERAL UNDERSTANDING OF THE CURRENT LAW AND PRACTICE RELATING TO OFCCP. IT IS NOT TO BE REGARDED AS LEGAL ADVICE. COMPANIES OR INDIVIDUALS WITH PARTICULAR QUESTIONS SHOULD SEEK ADVICE OF COUNSEL.