Are You Ready For Your Next Audit?

By now, federal contractors should have taken a hard look at their current Affirmative Action Plan (AAP) policies, procedures and documentation to ensure compliance with the new requirements. Under the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs' (OFCCP) Final Rule, effective March 27, 2014, contractors are required to gather data and set hiring goals for individuals with disabilities and protected veterans. Some of the other rules, however, will not become effective until contractors update their annual AAP. To be confident that your company is ready for a future Department of Labor audit, these are a few of the issues you need to understand.

1. Have you made the required changes to your EO clauses in contracts and subcontracts?

   Contractors are required to state in employment solicitations and other advertisements, among other things, that they are equal employment opportunity employers of individuals with disabilities and protected veterans. Contractors may combine the required equal opportunity (EO) clauses into a single "incorporation by reference" clause, provided that the clause is set in bold text and the prescribed content of the veteran and disability EO "incorporation by reference" clauses are preserved. The OFCCP provided an example of the combined EO clause:

   This contractor and subcontractor shall abide by the requirements of 41 CFR §§ 60-1.4(a), 60-300.5(a) and 60-741.5(a). These regulations prohibit discrimination against qualified individuals based on their status as protected veterans or individuals with disabilities, and prohibit discrimination against all individuals based on their race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. Moreover, these regulations require that covered prime contractors and subcontractors take affirmative action to employ and advance in employment individuals without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, protected veteran status or disability.

   Contractors also are permitted to incorporate the EO clause into subcontracts by reference.

2. What is your utilization goal and are you doing what you need to do to meet it?

   The new regulations include the utilization goal of 7 percent to give contractors a means to measure their success in outreach and recruitment of individuals with disabilities and a hiring benchmark of 8 percent for protected veterans in their workforce. Employers will need to know how many individuals with disabilities and protected veterans currently are in their...