Ask the Experts is an exclusive online forum provided by Circa. Federal contractors and subcontractors are invited to submit questions to industry experts related to OFCCP compliance, affirmative action planning, and equal employment opportunity.
I understand background and drug tests should not take place prior to the offer. What about reference checks?
You are allowed to do reference checks at whatever point in the selection process it makes sense to do reference checks. There is no OFCCP-related rule that dictates when reference checks must occur. OFCCP may be concerned if it finds that you are doing reference checks at a different stage in the selection process for members of a certain classification (i.e. you do reference checks for African Americans earlier than reference checks for whites), but so long as you do...
I am in the process of establishing a more comprehensive E-Verify program for our company. We are Federal Contractors. I cannot find on IDES, or the Illinois Dept. of Labor if we still need to do the “E-Verify Employer Attestation Form”? Does anyone know?
Executive Order 13465, which amended Executive Order 12989, required contractors with covered federal contracts to use an electronic employment verification system (E-Verify) to verify the employment eligibility of employees performing work on a federal contract. To see if you have a covered federal contract and for guidance on using E-Verify, please refer to the U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services’ E-Verify section for federal contractors. Under the Right to Privacy in the Workplace Act (820 ILCS 55), the Illinois Department of...
We have won a contract that will have task orders issued in different regions across the US and we would like to build a pipeline of candidates for the possible positions coming in the future. Many of these positions are in states and/or US territories that we currently don’t have work in. There are a total of 300 possible openings. Are we able to post one job per job title and state that we are accepting applications and that the work could be in multiple states (listing out the states) or do we need to do an opening per job per location? We are unable to register with the ESDS in many of the states because we do not have any current work there.
Here's the relevant language from the federal regulations: 41 CFR 60-300.5(a) 2. The contractor agrees to immediately list all employment openings which exist at the time of the execution of this contract and those which occur during the performance of this contract...with the appropriate employment service delivery system where the opening occurs....In order to satisfy the listing requirement described herein, contractors must provide information about the job vacancy in any manner and format permitted by the appropriate employment service delivery...
If we utilize a staffing agency to assist us in sourcing for candidates, are those candidates also required to apply to the position posted on our site? If not, how do we capture the applicant information?
If the staffing agency is sourcing candidates for positions that are part of your regular workforce, you need to collect applicant information from those candidates, including demographic information for all candidates who are "Internet applicants." ("Internet applicants" are basically those applicants who are viable candidates for the positions in which they express interest.) If you have a rule that in order to receive additional consideration, a candidate must express interest via your website, then the candidates referred by the staffing...
Are federal contractors required to track/document reasonable accommodations made for applicants in order to comply with a potential OFCCP audit? If so, what is the best way to do this?
Number 20 of the Itemized Listing does include documentation of all requested accommodations and their resolution. That would include any accommodations requested by applicants. Here is a link to the itemized listing: https://www.dol.gov/ofccp/regs/compliance/faqs/SchedulingLetter_ItemizedListing_508c.pdf. With regard to the best way to track and document the information, that is really dependent upon your recruiting process. In general I would suggest identifying who is responsible for taking the requests at each stage of the recruiting/hiring process and create a template/form for them to...
In the webinar on 1/31/17 – Strategic Applicant Tracking and Analysis, they talked about the differences between candidates and applicants and that if they weren’t considered they don’t have to be included in the data. Slides 22-24 – The individual’s expression of interested indicated that individual possess the basic qualifications for the position. The reason code “does not meet internet application definition/Exclude from AAP”. Maybe I misunderstood, but if I ask basic qualification questions like those below and they say no, then they weren’t a candidate???? Do I need to use reason codes calling them a jobseeker vs. applicant. I’m not sure how the data would differentiate between someone I didn’t consider (jobseeker) and applicant.
Q3. Do you have at least three years’ experience in a regulated industry in a Quality role? (required) A. Yes
Q4. Do you have at least three years’ experience in an ISO 13485 environment in a Quality role? (required) A. No
Q5. Do you have at least three years’ experience inspecting incoming machined parts and/or welded sub-assemblies? (required) A. No
Q6. Do you have at least three years’ experience conducting root cause analysis and corrective/preventative actions? (required) A. Yes
Q7. Do you have at least three years’ experience maintaining inspection and non-conformance records? (required) A. No
Q8. How did you hear about this position? (For example, if through an agency, name the agency. If through a referral, name the person that referred you. If through a website or ad, name the location). (required)
I didn't view this webinar, so the speaker may have provided additional information on some of these points. However, I understand your confusion about this question of who must be included in applicant data to be presented to OFCCP. There are many technical terms that are used in this context that aren't explicitly defined in the federal affirmative action regulations and that are frequently not defined by people who are talking about the selection process. You ask about the difference...
In addition to collecting applications from job seekers for a specific job requisition, our ATS allows our Recruiters to search for an existing applicant for any requisition and submit them to a different/new job requisition manually. These candidates would then be included in the data on which we report for this job requisition.
What are the legal implications with this? Should we always request that candidates apply directly instead of manually submitting them to a job requisition if we find them to be a competitive match for a new position?
For a full explanation of the legal implications I would suggest talking to your employment attorney. However, the OFCCP's FAQs might shed some light on your recordkeeping requirements when it comes to internal and external database searches. There is always going to be a balancing act between proactive recruiting and compliance. Understanding your requirements is key to identifying your level of risk/liability tolerance, which will help you decide what process to use to either get as many or limit the...
At my employer, we have internal diversity networks for Veteran’s, Individuals with Disabilities, Females, and minorities. The purpose of these networks is to encourage and support diversity and inclusion for associates that are already employed. From time to time, these networks will participate in public/external events as a way to show support to that community. Would this count as an “outreach” activity for purposes of meeting our obligation or does outreach need to be more recruiting focused? As a Federal Contractor, we are required to show the effectiveness of our efforts and since the external event is not recruiting focused and doesn’t yield any applicants, I would think that it doesn’t count but wanted to hear from the experts on this please. Thank you!
The obligation to conduct outreach efforts is a component of a contractor’s affirmative action program. The regulations intend for it to help with achieving a contractor’s hiring benchmark for veterans, its utilization goal for individuals with disabilities (IWD), and its placement goals for minorities and women. Therefore, the expectation is for outreach to be undertaken with the goal of recruiting and hiring from these demographic groups. Is information on careers and open jobs at your company being disseminated at these...
We want to plan a facility tour for state employment and career services professionals to help them understand the roles and the working environment at one of our locations. We’ve never hosted a facility tour before – is there a standard agenda to follow? How much time should we allow? Our initial thoughts include:
– Welcome and brief business overview by a business leader
– Overview of hiring by a HR BUsiness Partner or Recruiter (a summary of the most hired roles along with their qualifications)
– Facility Tour
– Q&A
Any and all guidance on hosting these tours is greatly appreciated. We’re eager to understand the do’s and don’t’s of these events.
Thank you!
This is a great idea and a good way to get to know and build a relationship with your local state employment services personnel. This will also help them provide you with better qualified candidates based on the higher level of understanding they will have of your jobs, the job tasks, and what is required. There is no one prescribed way for conducting these, but I would include in the facility tour a chance for them to shadow one or...
Is the EEO Tagline required for a job advertisement that is trying to hire “Contractors” only? If so, does the staffing firm say something along the lines as “Our client is an EO/AA….” or can we simply put something along the lines as “Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability or protected veteran status”? Also, should we as the Federal Contractor be posting our Temp Positions on behalf of these Third-Party staffing firms or should the accountability be on their part?” These positions can be short or long-term contracts and if we were to consider a temp to hire scenario then the position would be posted on our career site, which would include the EEO tagline in the actual job advertisement.
Federal contractors are required under Executive Order 11246, Vietnam Era Veterans' Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA), Section 503, and Executive Order 13672 final rules to state in all solicitations or advertisements for employees that all qualified applicants will receive consideration without regard to their status as a member of a protected group. Technically speaking, your obligations apply to positions that are in your payroll. If the contractor is going to be in the staffing agency’s payroll, then the EEO tagline needs...
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