OFCCP has never provided effective guidance regarding promotions. Many people read the agency's "Internet Applicant" regulations as a guideline to dealing with promotions, but a close reading of those regulations suggest that they were developed to deal with issues surrounding new hires (that is, external selections) rather than promotions (that is, internal selections). OFCCP does not force employers to provide an avenue for employees to express interest in every internal opening. The agency recognizes that some internal openings will be filled through natural progression or through the selection of an obvious candidate for the opening. What OFCCP does require is that employers ensure there is no discrimination in regard to the selection process for internal or external openings. There is value in providing a mechanism for employees to express interest in internal openings. From a regulatory perspective, such a mechanism establishes a clearly defined pool of candidates for the opening. From an employee morale perspective, such a mechanism establishes that the employer is interested in the welfare and advancement of employees. However, this does not mean that every internal opening must provide for a mechanism to consider multiple candidates. The best course of action is to establish a policy for which internal openings will be opened to multiple candidates. A policy that says "All openings except those where there is a natural line of progression will be posted for employees to express interest" would be one approach to dealing with situations where there are these natural lines of progression. A policy that says "All openings except those in senior management" or that says "All openings except those at a defined grade or wage level" would also be acceptable to OFCCP so long as such a policy does not artificially prevent any particular demographic group from receiving consideration. You ask "Is there a process I can implement so we can shoulder-tap and stay compliant?" The old-fashioned "shoulder tap" is a form of promotion where you should be wary. Designating certain employees for advancement may be entirely logical where there are pre-defined criteria suggesting that a particular employee is the obvious choice for a new position. However, giving managers full discretion to determine who should be promoted without establishing some type of criteria for advancement and without providing a mechanism for others to advance may lead to decisions that will be questioned by OFCCP. OFCCP compliance reviews tend to hing on the following idea: have we selected the best qualified person for open positions? A posting procedure where employees are asked to express interest in new positions and there are established criteria used to determine who is best qualified is one way to demonstrate that the best qualified person has been selected. However, a policy that explicitly lays out paths for promotion and provides job-related limitations in who might be considered would be another way to demonstrate that the best qualified candidates has been selected. You do not need to post every position internally. You do need to have a mechanism to demonstrate that a person chosen for promotion is the best qualified employee for the new position.

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.