Insights

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Category: Disability, Accommodations, and Leaves

OFCCP Makes Available Multiple Foreign Language Versions of Its CC-305 Disability Self-ID Form

The Labor Department’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) has posted on its website several foreign language versions of its prescribed disability self-identification form (CC-305). Until now, the CC-305—which a covered federal contractor must use, without modification, to comply with OFCCP requirements to collect applicant and employee disability data—has been available only in English. Contractors are not required to...
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Category: Affirmative Action and Diversity

Supreme Court Rejects Race as Factor in College Admissions: Impact on Company CD&I Programs?

The consideration of race in the admissions processes at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina (UNC) violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled June 29. The Court’s opinion does not appear to threaten federal contractors’ affirmative action plans that are consistent with current regulations. Still, because the...
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Category: Litigation

Ruling by Second Circuit Addresses Key WARN Act Trigger Term

In a relatively rare decision by a federal appellate court interpreting the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN Act), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued a ruling addressing whether an entity is an “operating unit” subject to WARN’s notice requirements. In Roberts v. Genting New York, LLC, the Second Circuit grappled with whether the Aqueduct Buffet, a...
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Category: Agency Enforcement

What Does Congress’ Debt Limit Agreement Mean for the Workforce Enforcement Agencies?

The debt limit agreement reached by Congress and signed by President Biden June 3, 2023, calls for cuts in discretionary federal spending during the next two years. The debt limit deal does not dictate where budget cuts should be made, so the final decisions will occur through the annual Congressional appropriations process. Funding for most agencies that regulate the workforce...
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Category: Affirmative Action and Diversity

OFCCP Confirms Pending AAP-VI Help Desk Requests Effectively Waive June Filing Deadline

The Labor Department’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) has announced that federal contractors that were unable to meet the June 29 filing deadline for certifying compliance via the agency’s online Affirmative Action Program Verification Interface (AAP-VI) Contractor Portal will be considered to have filed a timely certification if they requested assistance from the AAP-VI Help Desk by that...
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Category: Discrimination and Harassment

Supreme Court Clarifies Title VII Religious Accommodation Standard: Undue Hardship Means Substantial Cost

The Supreme Court has ruled that an employer must show that an employee’s requested religious accommodation under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII) will result in substantial cost to its business before the employer can deny the accommodation. The ruling in Groff v. DeJoy upends years of lower court case law holding that an employer...
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Category: Discrimination and Harassment

President Biden Nominates Charlotte Burrows to a Third Term on the EEOC

President Biden has nominated current Chair Charlotte Burrows to serve another five-year term on the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Her nomination will require confirmation by the U.S. Senate. Although her existing term was set to expire on July 1, 2023, statutory rules allow her to continue to serve until Congress adjourns for the year if the Senate fails to...
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Category: Discrimination and Harassment

EEOC Chair Burrows Issues Report Critical of Construction Industry EEO Practices

Pervasive harassment and discrimination in hiring practices and apprenticeships have contributed to the exclusion of women and minorities from jobs in the U.S. construction industry, according to a report issued by Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) Chair Charlotte Burrows. The 46-page report, entitled “Building for the Future: Advancing Equal Employment Opportunity in the Construction Industry,” is based on testimony from an EEOC public...
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Category: Affirmative Action and Diversity

“Unit Number” Issue Is Complicating OFCCP AAP-VI Portal Compliance

As the June 29, 2023, deadline approached for federal contractors and subcontractors to certify compliance with their AAP obligations via the Labor Department’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) online AAP-VI portal, an issue involving unit numbers arose for some federal contractors. OFCCP’s Contractor Portal requires every AAP establishment listing to have a unique Unit Number that aligns with the...
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Category: Disability, Accommodations, and Leaves

Pregnant Workers Fairness Act Becomes Effective This Week

The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) took effect on June 27, 2023.  The PWFA requires a covered employer to provide reasonable accommodations for known limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions, absent a showing of undue hardship. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) will enforce the new law. This memo provides guidance while we await interpretive regulations from...

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