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.
First, I like some further clarification on whether Protected Veteran and Disability status needs to be collected on temporary hires as well as direct hire placement referrals that are sent over from a third party staffing firm. For temps, we’ve only been collected race/ethnicity and gender, so should we have our approved third party staffing firm vendors begin to collect the Protected Veteran and Disability Status information via our form for the Vets and OFCCP’s form for the IWD’s. Please clarify.
Secondly, we are currently collecting most direct placement hire self-Id info, including Protected Vets and Disability status via our ATS, however, I recently learned that we are not directing all of those referrals to apply online directly to the position, even though they meet the Basic Qualifications, but may not have the exact preferred skills and experience we are looking for. This results in us not capturing their Self-Id information anywhere nor do we ask out third party staffing firm to track or provide that information to us. That being said, do you recommend that I advise our TA team to have any third party referrals that meet BQ’s, which are all be directed to our website to apply directly to the position? Currently we are just having those that either are being phone screened and/or interviewed, however, still were initially reviewed by either a Recruiter or Hiring Manager on our end.
Yes to both questions. Federal contractors are responsible for ensuring that their third party vendors are collecting the self-ID data for race, gender, veterans, and individuals with disabilities. Likewise, it is incumbent on the federal contractor to solicit this data for all candidates who meet the minimum qualifications. Having them apply to the website is a good way to accomplish this.
I wanted to clarify Executive Order 13706 on paid sick leave for federal contractors. We are not sure we fall under the requirements. We are a collection agency contracted by the department of Education collection on defaulted student loans. The SCA wages do not state it as a required benefit and the Ex Order states that it applies to new contracts and replacements effective 1/1/2017. Our contract was initiated November 2016. It also states it applies to federal contracts for construction and “many types of federal contracts for service.” We didn’t feel it applied to us. But now we are wondering if it does or if we should implement it to error on the side of caution. I would love to hear your thoughts on this matter. Thank you for your time in advance!
Executive Order 13706 is enforced by the Wage and Hour Division, and is not under OFCCP enforcement. This Executive Order applies to new and replacement contracts with the federal government “that result from solicitations issued on or after January 1, 2017 (or that are awarded outside the solicitation process on or after January 1, 2017)." This covers contracts that fall under the following major categories: 1. Procurement contracts for construction covered by the Davis-Bacon Act (DBA) 2. Service contracts covered...
Hello,
We are currently looking at adding our Individual with Disabilities Accommodation Statement to our Applicant Tracking System (Taleo) to increase IWD candidates and hires at our bank.
Are there any best practices around this?
Thank you.
As a best practice, you should include your disability accommodation statement at the beginning of the application process. This should be prominently displayed and not buried deep in other pages on your career site. This would notify applicants that you are an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer and it would provide them with information on how to request an accommodation during the application process. Ideally, it should include the name of the person to contact, a phone number and/or an email...
We currently have a company goal to hire 7% of veterans and 7% of individuals with disabilities. We also have a Minority Workforce Goal.
New this year, we embedded D&I actions into our executives business lines for the hiring of minorities and women but we did not include actions for Individuals with Disabilities and Veterans.
Any best practices around that?
Thanks!
Please note that the practices for outreach for veterans (vets) and individuals with disabilities (IWDs) are slightly more aggressive in a sense. Companies are required to determine how current methods are working and then essentially re-evaluate connections to find more sources of these groups. The new Part 60-741.44(f)(3) requires that the contractor evaluate and "If the contractor concludes the totality of its efforts were not effective in identifying and recruiting qualified individuals with disabilities, it shall identify and implement alternative...
I am a little confused if my company needs to create an AAP. As a staffing agency we place individuals on an as needed basis to our clients who happen to be government subcontractors. For the positions that require a clearance we are listed on the DD 254 as the subcontractor, since we hold the clearances. To my understanding below are the requirements needed to complete an AAP. We as a staffing agency do not have any direct federal contracts or subcontracts with guaranteed funding. Nor do we bill the government directly for labor hours worked by our temporary individuals. We invoice the client, and they provide payment directly to us in the form of a company “logo” check. So as a staffing agency would we need to create an AAP?
-50 employees/$50,000 Federal contracts or
subcontracts
-Government bills of lading totaling $50,000 or
more in 12 months
The law on this is very confusing and companies are often surprised to learn they may be federal contractors. (41 CFR 60-1.40) Further, there may be disagreement between the OFCCP and a company on whether a company is in fact a federal contractor. There has been significant litigation with respect to jurisdiction (the requirement to have an AAP). It is not as clear cut as one might expect. The rules on whether a company needs an AAP are vaguely defined...
My question is: What census bureau information should we be using to conduct the Availability Analysis of our Affirmative Action Plan? All of our branches are in Dane County. In the past we have used the US Census Bureau’s Community Survey 2006-2010 (EEO-All3R) for both WI and Dane County. This was compiled by the WI Dept of Workforce Development. Is this the most up-to-date information available?
The regulations at 41 C.F.R. § 60-2.14(d) require companies to "use the most current and discrete statistical information available to derive availability figures," as you probably know from the manner in which you phrased your question. It may be a good idea to contact the WI Dept of Workforce Development for details on their process and how current the data may be and if it is the same data from the 2006-2010 EEO Tabulation. According to the OFCCP, "On November...
We are a federal contractor with 89 full-time employees. It is my understanding that we do not need an Affirmative Action Plan until we hit 100 employees. Is this accurate? If so, once we hit 100 employees will we need to report any years prior or just at 100 employees and above?
No, that is not correct. According to 41 CFR 60-1.40, which covers Affirmative Action Programs, the employee minimum for supply and service contractors which requires a written AAP is 50 employees.
We annually track and analyze our recruitment and outreach efforts as required, but I am curious if it is sufficient to do this through a spreadsheet tracker or if should be including a more comprehensive narrative analysis? Additionally, are we required to update the AAP narrative annually? I believe we are, but I am curious as to whether others do this or consider the outreach evaluation document as sufficient to meet this requirement.
To answer your last question first, AAP narratives should absolutely be updated annually. The narratives should correspondence to information associated with the statistical reports in your AAPs, and the statistical reports must be updated annually. In regard to the analysis of outreach that is required in the Vet and Disabled AAPs, this is an important section of the AAP narrative that absolutely should receive attention every year. The narrative should be revised each year to reflect information coming from your...
When comparing Promotions/Employees, is it appropriate to add selections back into the overall employee pool?
For example, say we have 500 active employees when our data snapshot is taken. During the plan year, 50 employees are selected for promotion. Should the promotions be added into the employee pool? I feel like this would falsely inflate the population by counting those employees twice.
Some federal contractors use "beginning of year" data to establish the pool from which promotions are selected. This avoids having to add the employees back into the denominator. However, if you are only using a single "end of year" snapshot, the successful promotions should be deleted from the job group into which they were promoted, and added to the job groups from which they came. This avoids the artificial inflation problem you identified.
How many people can be selected and offered a position based on successfully completing the next phase of the hiring process? Many of our positions must go through a long background check (6-12 months) and then at times people do not make it through that part of the process. If we have for example a position can we select 3 candidates from that one posting and offer the job based on successfully completing the background review? The first candidate that is successful begins in that position. As the others clear they are offered the same job but possibly a different shift time. Is this compliant? Do the other candidates have to formally apply to the other shifts or are they considered internal transfers?
To wait for one person who falls out in month 8 of the background check to start again creates a tremendous deficiency in people actually staffing open positions.
Nothing in the OFCCP regulations limits the amount of offers that a company may make. Of course ensuring the potential outcomes for offers is prudent under other laws and regulations. Careful record keeping and proper dispositioning of the applicants, offers and any changes to the offer would be very helpful should your company be audited. While the process appears facially neutral, it is a good idea to take a look to ensure no particular group is impacted by any changes...
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