DirectEmployers Blog
OFCCP Compliance
EEOC Sends UGESP Rescission to OIRA, with a January 2027 Effective Date in Sight
Key Takeaways On October 16, 2026, the EEOC sent the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) a final rule (RIN 3046-AB43) that would rescind the interpretive portions of its version of the Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures (UGESP), 29 CFR...
AI Readiness Framework for HR: 9 Checks, 5 Hits, and the Misses That Should Keep You Up at Night (Playbook Recap, Part 2)
Key Takeaways Start with the "why." PJ Rossi says that about 75% of the time, organizations can't clearly say what problem their AI tool is meant to solve. An AI readiness framework has nine checks in three phases: Prepare (strategy, AI visibility, people readiness),...
AI Hiring Compliance Playbook Recap, Part 1: The Legal Landscape, the Efficacy Data, and Why the 80% Rule Isn’t Enough
Key Takeaways AI is already in your hiring process. 58% of attendees are piloting AI or using approved tools in their workflows. 40% said their biggest AI hiring compliance worry is simply figuring out which rules apply. Federal law is still the bedrock. Title VII,...
Protected Veteran Hiring Lags at S&P 500 Federal Contractors: What the RAND Report Means for Your Protected Veteran Hiring Program
Key Takeaways Protected veteran hiring is below the benchmark. RAND found that protected veterans were 2.4 percent of new hires at S&P 500 federal contractor establishments in the 2025 VETS-4212 filing cycle. The national VEVRAA hiring benchmark was 5.1 percent....
GAO Urges DOL to Resume Section 503 Audits: What the Report Found, How DOL Responded, & What Federal Contractors Should Know
Key Takeaways GAO report GAO-26-107937, dated September 29, 2026, found that DOL has reduced its Section 503 oversight of federal contractors since January 2025. From fiscal years 2017 through 2025, 532 OFCCP audits found Section 503 violations. OFCCP's workforce fell...
DE Talk Unplugged | Section 503 Changes: What Employers and the Disability Community Need to Know
Major regulatory shifts can create uncertainty, but they also offer a rare opportunity to re-evaluate what truly drives workplace culture. On the latest episode of the DE Talk Podcast, guest host and Chief Advisor at Forte Advisory Group PJ Rossi sits down with...
HR Compliance Foundations Recap: Five Sessions, Zero Slide Decks, and a Federal Contractor Compliance Playbook Built to Support the Shifting Regulator Landscape
Key Takeaways The foundation hasn't changed. DirectEmployers' virtual event HR Compliance Foundations: A Federal Contractor's Guide to Getting It Right had one clear message for federal contractor compliance: the rules keep changing, but the foundation hasn't....
OFCCP Compliance Doesn’t Scale Down for Small Contractors—So Neither Should Your Compliance Solution
Key Takeaways Federal contractor and subcontractor compliance obligations don't vary by company size. Any covered contractor or subcontractor—regardless of headcount—is subject to the same VEVRAA and Section 503 requirements as large enterprises. VEVRAA requires...
DE Talk Unplugged | EEO Data in Flux: Navigating the EEOC’s Proposal to Rescind EEO-1 Reporting
In the season eight opener of the DE Talk Podcast, host Alicia Wallace sits down with Nita Beecher, Of Counsel at FortneyScott, for a timely and candid conversation on the future of demographic data collection and the EEOC’s proposed rescission of the longstanding...
EEOC’s August 11, 2026 Public Hearing Provides a Preview of the Comments That Will Be Submitted In Response to the Proposed Elimination of Race and Sex Data Reporting Obligations
Key Takeaways The EEOC has proposed ending race and sex data collection through the EEO-1, EEO-3, EEO-4, and EEO-5 reports. The EEOC shortened the comment period to 30 days. The authors believe the timing could allow the agency to act before the next EEO-1 collection....