Insights

April 04, 2024
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Category: Affirmative Action and Diversity

OMB Revises 1997 Federal Race/Ethnicity Reporting Standards, Adds New “MENA” Category

The standards that federal agencies have used for more than 25 years to collect race and ethnicity data are changing. The revised standards, published by the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in the Federal Register March 29, 2024, add a new race and ethnicity category for individuals identifying as Middle Eastern or North African (MENA). They also require...
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April 03, 2024
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Category: Discrimination and Harassment

Federal Court Rules DOC Minority Business Development Agency Discriminates Based on Race

A federal district court in Texas has permanently enjoined the U.S. Commerce Department’s Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) from considering an applicant’s race or ethnicity when determining eligibility for the agency’s business assistance programs. In Nuziard v. Minority Business Development Agency, (N.D. Tex. March 5, 2024), a group of White owners of small businesses sued the MBDA after they were denied assistance...
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April 02, 2024
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Category: Discrimination and Harassment

Fourth Circuit Affirms $3.4 Million Title VII Discrimination Award to White Male

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit has affirmed a jury verdict in favor of a white male employee who claims he was fired in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The Fourth Circuit found that there was sufficient evidence for the jury to conclude that the plaintiff’s White race and/or male sex...
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April 02, 2024
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Category: Affirmative Action and Diversity

OFCCP Resets Annual Vets Hiring Benchmark at 5.2%, Down 0.2% From 2023

The Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) has updated its annual Vets Hiring Benchmark to 5.2%. The annual benchmark represents the national percentage of veterans in the civilian labor force. Most federal contractors use it to measure whether their hiring of protected veterans complies with OFCCP’s affirmative action regulations under the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance...
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March 27, 2024
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Category: Compliance Reporting and Recordkeeping

EEOC’s EEO-1 Filing Instructions Indicate No Changes from Last Year

The process for filing 2023 EEO-1 Reports apparently will be the same as it was for filing 2022 reports, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC) website indicates. An updated Instruction Booklet and Data File Upload Specifications posted by the agency on its EEO-1 website indicate that the 2023 filing protocols and data specifications are unchanged from last year. The online portal for filing 2023...
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March 26, 2024
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Category: Affirmative Action and Diversity

Eleventh Circuit Rules Florida’s “Stop WOKE Act” Cannot Be Enforced Against DEI Training

Florida still cannot enforce its Individual Freedom Act, nicknamed the “Stop WOKE Act,” after a federal appeals court upheld a federal district court’s preliminary injunction. In Honeyfund v. Florida, 11th Cir. (March 4, 2024), a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the preliminary injunction granted by the U.S. District Court for the Northern...
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March 26, 2024
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Category: Appropriations

Congress Flat Funds OFCCP, NLRB and Other Workplace Regulators for Rest of FY 2024

Congress and the White House have finally reached a spending deal, six months after the government’s 2024 fiscal year began, with the approval of the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024 (H.R. 2882). This legislation funds a large portion of the government—including the Department of Labor (DOL) and the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)—through September 30, 2024. It follows an earlier...
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March 26, 2024
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Category: Immigration

FY 2025 H-1B Lottery Done, Increased Fees Scheduled to Go Into Effect

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agency that administers the nation’s immigration system, closed the H1-B visa lottery for fiscal year 2025 on March 25, 2024. Beginning April 1, selected petitioners are eligible to file an H-1B cap-subject petition (Form I-129) for beneficiaries to begin working October 1, 2024. The new Form I-129 (OMB No. 1615-0009,...
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March 25, 2024
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Category: Compliance Reporting and Recordkeeping

DOL Formally Asks OMB To Extend VETS-4212 Form for Three More Years, Without Change

The Labor Department’s Veterans’ Employment and Training Service (DOL-VETS) has formally requested permission from the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to continue using the current version of the VETS-4212 form for another three years. The Center for Workplace Compliance (CWC), our affiliated nonprofit membership association, supports DOL-VETS’ request. Covered federal contractors must file a VETS-4212 form annually...
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March 21, 2024
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Category: Compliance Reporting and Recordkeeping

EEOC Releases Data Dashboard of “Component 2” Pay Data to Public

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has made available to the public a new Data Dashboard based on data that the agency collected from employers for calendar years 2017 and 2018. The dashboard allows users to review and sort aggregate EEO-1 Component 2 pay band data. EEOC Chair Charlotte Burrows said the release of the Component 2 aggregated data can illuminate...
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