The FAQs issued by OFCCP in regard to how to count data for the data collection analyses in the veteran and disability AAPs are a serious problem. We can start with the idea that the definitions used in these FAQs are inconsistent with other materials published by OFCCP. For example, the FAQs define a "hire" as an internal or external selection through a competitive process. Typically, we would call an internal selection through a competitive process a "promotion," not a "hire." In the Executive Order AAP, federal contractors and subcontractors are instructed to analyze data on both "hires" and "promotions," and the itemized listing that organizations receive at the start of an OFCCP compliance review asks for data on both hires and promotions. Thus, OFCCP appears to have a major inconsistency in what constitutes a "hire". The question of "jobs opened" and "jobs filled" is somewhat simpler. "Jobs opened" are positions that were opened to candidates. Positions that were cancelled, filled in a subsequent AAP year, or otherwise unfilled where candidates were considered constitute "jobs opened." (I will leave the question of what is considered a "job filled" since your post does not ask about this issue, but I will say that the FAQs are not helpful on this issue.) Applicants who expressed interest in jobs opened but not filled would be included in the data collection analysis in the veteran and disability AAPs, while they would typically be excluded from data shown in the Executive Order AAP (i.e. the AAP for minorities and females). The bottom line is this: the FAQs would cause employers to treat data in the AAPs for veterans and individuals with disabilities differently than the data in the Executive Order AAP. Data on applicants that would not be included in the Executive Order AAP personnel activity summaries may be included in the data collection analyses in the veteran and disability AAPs. Data on hires in the Executive Order AAP personnnel activity summaries would be different than data on "hires" in the veteran and disability AAPs. As with so many things concerning OFCCP in the last few years, there is no clear answer here. OFCCP has provided little guidance on regularizing these two seemingly conflicting sets of standards. Thus, one choice is to follow the regulations for the Executive Order AAP and the FAQs for the veteran and disability AAPs, and realize you will have inconsistent data. Another choice to use the same rules in preparing data for inclusion in all AAPs, realizing that you will either not be following the FAQs for the veteran and disability AAPs or not following the regulations surrounding the Executive Order AAP. Two things may be helpful here. * First, FAQs are not law; they are interpretive guidance by OFCCP. OFCCP may be unhappy if you fail to follow its FAQs, but you would have a legitimate argument to suggest that OFCCP's FAQs are not a proper interpretation of the veteran and disability regulations. * Second, on a purely practical level, it's not clear OFCCP is doing an in-depth review of the data submitted in the veteran and disability regulations. It's more important to get your applicant and hire data right for the Executive Order AAP than it is to get your data metrics right for the veteran and disability AAPs, since OFCCP certainly does continue to closely review the applicant and hire data on race, ethnicity, and gender.

You can use this OFCCP audit checklist to ensure you're doing what is required to maintain OFCCP's regulations including VEVRAA, Section 503, and EO 11246. Or request a demo to streamline your compliance and recruiting efforts.