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Category: Agency Enforcement

OFCCP’s AAP-VI Contractor Portal Remains Open (For Now)

Despite a June 30 deadline set by the Labor Department’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) for federal contractors to certify to OFCCP, via the agency’s new online Affirmative Action Program Verification Interface (AAP-VI) Contractor Portal, that they have developed and maintained AAPs in accordance with OFCCP regulations, the AAP-VI portal remains open as of this writing. OFCCP has...
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Category: Agency Enforcement

New Biden Regulatory Agenda Still Ambitious, But Little Changed From December Version

The Biden Administration has published its latest semi-annual regulatory agenda, a document required by statute that contains a list of each regulatory action federal agencies plan to take during the next 12 months, along with a time estimate by each agency as to when the action will be taken. As was the case with the agenda published last December that...
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Category: Agency Enforcement

Unanimous ARB Reverses Pro-OFCCP Ruling, Finds ALJ Applied Wrong Legal Theories

In a rare decision involving the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP), the Labor Department’s (DOL) Administrative Review Board (ARB) has unanimously reversed a 2019 DOL administrative law judge’s (ALJ) ruling that a federal contractor violated Executive Order (E.O.) 11246 by committing hiring discrimination against thousands of African American job applicants. The ARB is the Secretary of Labor-appointed tribunal...
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Category: Agency Enforcement

Before You Certify to OFCCP: AAP-VI Checklist

As the June 30 deadline approaches for supply and service federal contractors to certify that they have developed and maintained Affirmative Action Programs (AAPs) using the Labor Department’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) new Affirmative Action Program Verification Interface (AAP-VI) Contractor Portal, we wanted to provide you with assistance in determining exactly what it means to have “developed...
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Category: Agency Enforcement

EEOC Releases New Studies Highlighting Success of Agency’s Online Mediation Program

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has made public two new studies prepared by independent researchers showing that the agency’s shift to virtual or remote mediation, prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic, has been a success. In fact, the reports indicate that the EEOC’s online dispute resolution is, in some respects, even more popular than the agency’s traditional mediation program. Members...
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Category: Agency Enforcement

OFCCP Submits FAAP Directive to OMB for Approval, With Minor Improvements

As anticipated, the Labor Department’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) has submitted a formal request to the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for approval of a revised agency directive that would extend OFCCP’s functional affirmative action program (FAAP) process for several more years. The version of the FAAP Directive sent to OMB for approval does...
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Category: Agency Enforcement

Plaintiffs’ Lawyer Karla Gilbride Tapped To Be EEOC’s New General Counsel

The White House announced last week that President Biden intends to nominate plaintiffs’ lawyer and employment arbitration opponent Karla Gilbride to serve as the new General Counsel (GC) of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC or Commission), a position that has been vacant since Biden fired former General Counsel Sharon Fast Gustafson fifteen months ago. Ms. Gilbride currently is...
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Category: Agency Enforcement

OFCCP Now Saying That Small AAPs Must Be Added to AAP-VI

In an unexpected and frankly disturbing new development, especially in light of its timing and earlier agency guidance, the Labor Department’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) announced late last week that establishments with fewer than 50 employees must be added to the agency’s online Affirmative Action Program Verification Interface (AAP-VI) Contractor Portal, if the contractor maintains an affirmative...
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Category: Agency Enforcement

What To Expect From OFCCP’s Upcoming “Modernizing AAPs” Proposal

Sometime later this year, perhaps as early as September, the Labor Department’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) is expected to publish a formal proposal entitled Modernizing Affirmative Action Programs, Recordkeeping, and Other Components of the Executive Order 11246 Supply and Service Obligations for Federal Contractors and Subcontractors. The “Modernizing AAPs” proposal is the most ambitious of several new...
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Category: Agency Enforcement

Court Rules Challenge by Texas to EEOC’s SOGI Discrimination Guidance Can Go Forward

The State of Texas has cleared its first legal hurdle in a lawsuit filed by the state in federal court challenging guidance issued last year by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) regarding discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI). The ruling by a federal district court in Texas clears the way for the court to begin considering...

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