In regard to having separate AAPs, the fundamental rules are found in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) at 41 CFR 60-2. Those regulations state as follows: "(d) Who is included in affirmative action programs. Contractors subject to the affirmative action program requirements must develop and maintain a written affirmative action program for each of their establishments. Each employee in the contractor’s workforce must be included in an affirmative action program. Each employee must be included in the affirmative action program of the establishment at which he or she works, except that: (1) Employees who work at establishments other than that of the manager to whom they report, must be included in the affirmative action program of their manager. (2) Employees who work at an establishment where the contractor employs fewer than 50 employees, may be included under any of the following three options: In an affirmative action program which covers just that establishment; in the affirmative action program which covers the location of the personnel function which supports the establishment; or, in the affirmative action program which covers the location of the official to whom they report. (3) Employees for whom selection decisions are made at a higher level establishment within the organization must be included in the affirmative action program of the establishment where the selection decision is made. (4) If a contractor wishes to establish an affirmative action program other than by establishment, the contractor may reach agreement with OFCCP on the development and use of affirmative action programs based on functional or business units. The Deputy Assistant Secretary, or his or her designee, must approve such agreements. Agreements allowing the use of functional or business unit affirmative action programs cannot be construed to limit or restrict how the OFCCP structures its compliance evaluations." Thus, the simple answer to your question is that every "establishment" of 50 or more employees must have an affirmative action program. There is no exception made for establishments in the same labor market or recruiting area. OFCCP will, at times, allow organizations to include two establishments in the same city to be combined into one AAP. However, the agency is not required to do so. The agency would unquestionably say that establishments of over 50 employees in Buffalo NY and New York NY would need to be in separate AAPs. If you want to combine establishments because they are part of a joined business unit or functional area, you could go through the process of reaching a functional AAP agreement with OFCCP. However, there are pros and cons to this approach which are too lengthy to discuss here. An important consideration is this: organizations are better off having a smaller number of employees in any given AAP. AAPs with larger numbers are more likely to have statistical disparities just because there is more data involved. Thus, having an AAP for each establishment often benefits an organization from a strategic standpoint, even if it creates more administrative work. A final note: organizations should actually have three AAPs for each establishment. There should be an AAP under the Executive Order, an AAP for individuals with disabilities, and an AAP for protected veterans. The federal regulations regarding individuals with disabilities and protected veterans do not contain the same exact rules regarding who should be included in each AAP like the Executive Order regulations do, but it makes sense that the persons and data in each AAP should be parallel.

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.