Tag: office of federal contract compliance programs

OFCCP Requiring Construction Companies to Submit Monthly Data Reports starting April 2025

OFCCP announced it is reinstating a monthly reporting requirement (CC-257 Report) for federal construction contractors, nearly 30 years after discontinuing it. Beginning April 15, 2025, covered construction contractors must submit a report to OFCCP by the 15th of each month, with detailed data on its number of employees and work hours by race/ethnicity and gender.

In its announcement, the Agency explained it will use the monthly report to further its “mission of protecting workers in the construction trades, as employment discrimination continues to be a problem in the construction industry.” OFCCP says the report will allow the Agency to strengthen both enforcement and compliance assistance.

OFCCP proposed reinstating CC-257 in February 2024, and in its Supporting Statement, indicated that the report would allow the Agency to “better identify if there are potential hiring or job assignment issues that warrant further investigation during a compliance evaluation.”

The new reporting requirement will include data on number of employees and trade employees’ hours worked by race and gender within each Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area (SMSA) or Economic Area (EA) each month. For contractors with employees working on multiple projects, either within a SMSA/EA or across several areas, gathering and preparing the relevant data each month may prove challenging. Contractors must also include whether the work performed is designated by OFCCP as a Megaproject. Other requirements include the contractor’s unique entity identifier (UEI) or Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number, both of which OFCCP uses to identify entities doing business with the federal government, and a list of the federal agencies funding their projects.

The Agency published Frequently Asked Questions on its CC-257 Report landing page and intends to provide additional compliance assistance, including a webinar, in early 2025.

Jackson Lewis P.C. © 2024
For more on the OFCCP, visit the NLR Government Contracts Maritime Military section

Federal Contractors Beware – More Data Disclosures Coming!

On October 29, 2024, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) published a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) notice, inviting federal contractors to respond to FOIA requests that the OFCCP received related to federal contractors’ 2021 Type 2 EEO-1 Consolidated Reports. These reports, required of federal contractors and subcontractors with at least 50 employees, contain data critical to the government’s diversity efforts consistent with anti-discrimination mandates under Title VII and Executive Order 11246. Contractors have previously relied on FOIA Exemption 4 to protect against disclosing sensitive commercial information that could impact competitive positioning, but in late December 2023 as previously reported here, a federal court ruling concluded that certain demographic data did not qualify as confidential under FOIA Exemption 4. That court decision may spur an increase in FOIA requests for EEO-1 reporting information.

Contractors who wish to object to the disclosure of their EEO-1 reporting information must do so via OFCCP’s online portal, email, or mail on or before December 9, 2024. Per the OFCCP’s notice, contractors can object to releasing their 2021 EEO-1 Type 2 data by providing evidence showing the data satisfies FOIA Exemption 4. To do this, contractors should:

  • Specifically identify the objectionable data;
  • Explain why this data is commercial or competitive to render it confidential;
  • Outline the processes the contractor has in place to safeguard the data;
  • Identify any prior assurances or expectations that the data would remain confidential; and
  • Detail the damage that would occur if the data were disclosed by conducting assessments to see how disclosure would impact business operations.

In addition to raising timely objections to disclosure of data, contractors should also implement clear policies to maintain a consistent approach to data confidentiality. Specifically, contractors should be thoughtful and consistent as to how they define confidential information and the protection measures they take related to such information.

FOIA requests and court decisions in this space will likely continue to make striking a balance between government transparency and protecting contractors’ confidential business information more difficult. To navigate these changes, federal contractors should remain vigilant by staying informed, preparing objections to FOIA requests, and consulting with legal counsel to ensure compliance with this evolving area of law.

Copyright © 2024, Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP. All Rights Reserved.
For more on Federal Contractors, visit the NLR Government Contracts Maritime Military section.

OFCCP Audits Focus on Veteran Hiring

Tina A. Syring-Petrocchi of Barnes & Thornburg LLP recently had an article regarding OFCCP Audits published in The National Law Review:

Although the new veterans hiring rules have been delayed, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) will focus its audits in aggressively interpreting the current regulations to support the affirmative action policies. The OFCCP has proposed new rules for veterans that would require contractors to track those who apply for jobs and write reports explaining decisions not to hire protected veterans. However, these proposed regulations have been delayed for at least nine months.

Despite the regulatory delay, the OFCCP will use the audits as a jump-start to the new hiring rules. It is anticipated that the OFCCP will scrutinize federal contractors’ good-faith efforts at hiring or attempting to hire veterans.  Employers should be prepared to review and evaluate hiring efforts, including how many military veteran applicants were referred by an agency, how many were interviewed and how many were hired.  Federal contractors also should begin tracking the number and quality of veteran applicants referred by recruitment sources and, if ineffective, cease using those sources. Failure to take these affirmative steps may give an appearance that the employer is just “going through the motions,” which will result in technical violations for being deficient in either outreach programs or recordkeeping.

While it is wise for employers to begin the tracking process and reviewing recruitment sources, federal contractors should avoid asking applicants if they are veterans. This particular question could result in further scrutiny by the OFCCP if the employer fails to hire the applicant as it would give the appearance of discrimination. Under the current regulations, employers are not required to make such an inquiry.

In addition to external recruitment efforts, employers should be prepared to demonstrate “known veteran” employees have been considered for promotions and retraining opportunities. The OFCCP’s position is that employers should look internally at known veteran employees (even if none apply for a position) to determine if that employee is qualified and interested for the position. Many companies and their advocates have argued that this runs contrary to equal employment opportunity since it results in preferential treatment of veterans as well as imposes a significant burden on employers.  Nonetheless, employers should be prepared for this inquiry during an OFCCP audit.

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