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.
Do we know what percentage of EEOC claims filed in 2018, stemmed from hiring irregularities?
The EEOC publishes Enforcement and Litigation Data on its website. Currently, you can view data from FY2009 to FY2018. In looking at the charge statistics by issue, there were a total of 5,900 charges filed in FY 2018 that were classified under “Hiring.” The number of hiring claims filed under each statute are as follows: Title VI - 2,665 ADEA - 1,884 ADA - 1,291 EPA: 10 GINA: 50 This represents roughly 8% of the 76,418 total charges filed with...
We work with a number of outside recruiters. They will send us resumes of potential candidates for a posted job. If the candidate they send is deemed not qualified (based on some factor like experience, education, lack of license, salary requirements), do we need to include that candidate in our Applicant Tracking System (we currently import any candidate sent from a recruiter into our ATS and then have the candidate formally “apply” if we decide to interview them)? Or, if we are not interested in the candidate from the recruiter, can we just tell the recruiter “no thanks” and not bring that candidate into our ATS?
This question has many layers. You, as the contractor, are responsible for the actions of the outside recruiters. The outside recruiters, standing in for you -- the federal contractor -- are responsible for obtaining demographic (race, gender, disability status and veteran status) for all candidates that they believe meet the minimum qualifications. A best practice is to have the recruiters ask all interested applicants to apply to the ATS, as OFCCP may ultimately have a different determination regarding minimum qualifications.
When we have a position posted and have no intention of offering relocation or paying for a candidate to travel for an interview, must we consider candidates who are outside of a reasonable commuting distance? Is asking the following question sufficient?
Your resume indicates that you are in Shreveport, LA. Are you planning to relocate to WI in the near future? Or are you planning to relocate to wherever you find a position?
The key is to handle all out of state candidates the same. Your questions are appropriate, but they must be asked of all out of state candidates. Alternatively, you could decide not to interview anyone outside the commuting area, but I prefer your approach, as you could otherwise be eliminating candidates already headed your way.
I believe the 5 year period is almost up with regard to asking our current employees to complete the post hire Voluntary Self ID of disability form and the VEVRAA Invitation to self ID for protected vets form. And as I understand it, our company needs to invite all current active employees to complete this paperwork again – for the Section 503 that the OFCCP is looking at very closely now with their audits.
My question is: How does this request get communicated? Should it come from our President or owner explaining why the OFCCP looks at this? And is the reason this gets audited is because the government wants to make sure we, as a government contractor, are hiring enough people with disabilities and protected veterans?
Do we also need to have something about Section 503 in our employee handbook?
Thank you!
There are a variety of methods that companies use to communicate this obligation. As you are probably aware, you must use the language and manner prescribed by the Director and published on the OFCCP Web site, that is, the OFCCP solicitation form. It is appropriate to take the language from the form (copied below) to communicate to employees. There is no requirement in the laws and regulations enforced by the agency that it come from a particular person or position....
We actively search for candidates using various sites. When we find candidates that might be a good fit for a future opening, we enter their information into our ATS and use a specific source code of “manual add” to identify that the individual did not apply for a position but, rather, was manually added by a recruiter. Is this an acceptable tracking mechanism or should we track them outside of our ATS altogether? Thank you for your insight!
Yes, you can use your ATS to collect candidates from various sites into a pipeline, and an annotation of "manual add" within the ATS is a good record keeping practice. The individuals you add are not Internet Applicants, though, until you actually consider them for a particular vacant position and they express an interest in the opportunity. If the manual add flag is a signal to you that you still need to get the candidate to express interest (to apply...
With the release of this year’s CSAL (Corporate Scheduling Announcement List), I have noticed that the different types of reviews seem to overlap. What are the differences between CMCE Reviews, Compliance Checks and Establishment Reviews?
An Establishment Review is equivalent to an audit. It would cover compliance with all laws and regulations (E.O. 11246, Section 503, and VEVRAA)enforced by the OFCCP. CMCEs are similar to an Establishment Review in that they cover the full scope of a contractor’s compliance as stated above, but at the corporate level. Section 503 Focused Reviews cover only those obligations in one area, i.e., Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. However, if other violations are found, the agency...
Would anyone be open to discussing/sharing a diversity recruiting strategy with me for mid level and senior level hiring?
The OFCCP typically is expecting a government contractor to tailor its diversity recruiting strategy to the specific types of mid-level and senior-level hiring that you do in your industry. For example, assuming that these positions in your organization require an advanced degree, developing a strategy that includes tapping into graduate degree programs at Historically Black Colleges and Universities might be helpful. Other resources you could consider are associations or affinity groups such as the Society of Women Engineers, the Council...
We are a small sub-contractor (9 employees) in the Intelligence Community. How far does the OFCCP go to enforcing compliance, if at all, for a company of this size?
All companies (within the U.S.) that contract with the federal government that have contracts or subcontracts in excess of $10,000 are subject to the requirements of Section 503 and the Executive Order. While an AAP is not required for a company with under 50 employees, other obligations still apply (see language below from the OFCCP's website). I would recommend that your company implement compliant record keeping procedures. The Executive Order prohibits federal contractors and federally–assisted construction contractors and subcontractors, who...
Hi,
I know that the requirements for 8a companies differ from the more robust and stringent requirements for non-8a companies for OFCCP compliance and AAPs. How can I get clear guidance to be compliant as an 8a company?
The obligations under E.O. 11246, VEVRAA, and Section 503 apply equally to all federal contractors and subcontractors, unless exempted under 41 C.F.R. §60-1.5. However, they may be other requirements that companies have to comply with if they are in the Small Business Administration’s 8(a) program. I am not aware of separate affirmative action or equal opportunity obligations on top of what the federal regulations require, but the SBA does have certain requirements for eligibility into the program, which the SBA...
Do you have any advice to provide when selecting interview evaluation questions? The hiring manager will be required to answer these questions for all applicants following each interview and ultimately will show how they got to their hiring decision for example:
Did applicant demonstrate required skills for the position: Yes/No
Is the applicant a good fit for the team: Yes/No
Does applicant values/goals align with company values/goals: Yes/No
Move forward: Yes/No
Thank you for posting additional information. From an objective perspective, the only relevant question is the first one. If the applicant does not possess the required skills, then the company should not move forward. If it moves forward with an applicant that does not have the required skills, then those skills are not required for the job and should not be part of the screening process. A "good fit for the team" and "Does applicant values/goals align with company values/goals"...
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