The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs quietly released the new annual hiring benchmark for protected veterans. The new benchmark is 5.1 percent and applies to affirmative action plans developed on or after July...more
The Ninth Circuit rules that FOIA does not protect data from disclosure. As we previously reported, the Center for Investigative Reporting and its reporter Will Evans are battling the U.S. Department of Labor over its...more
8/1/2025
/ Affirmative Action ,
Appeals ,
Appellate Courts ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
EEO-1 ,
Employment Litigation ,
Federal Contractors ,
FOIA ,
OFCCP ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Transparency
They’ve all but shut the door, turned off the lights, and put up the “closed” sign.
On July 2, Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer lifted the pause on investigations and enforcement of Section 503 of the Rehabilitation...more
7/3/2025
/ Affirmative Action ,
Biden Administration ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Contractors ,
OFCCP ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Rehabilitation Act ,
Section 503 ,
Trump Administration ,
Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA)
Spoiler: Section 503 takes center stage.
The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs dropped three proposed rules on July 1, offering revisions to its existing regulatory scheme.
Key highlights:
• Executive Order...more
7/2/2025
/ Affirmative Action ,
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Contractors ,
OFCCP ,
Proposed Rules ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Rehabilitation Act ,
Rescission ,
Reverse Discrimination ,
Section 503 ,
Trump Administration ,
Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA)
File under “thanks, but no thanks.”
In an open letter to contractors, Catherine Eschbach, Director of the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, offers contractors the opportunity to explain how they have wound...more
7/1/2025
/ Affirmative Action ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Disparate Treatment ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Enforcement ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Contractors ,
OFCCP ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Reverse Discrimination ,
Trump Administration ,
Voluntary Disclosure
A cautionary tale for employers.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Our Affirmative Action Alert blog has been re-titled EEO Compliance Dispatch.
Many companies proactively analyze employee compensation to ensure that any disparities...more
6/10/2025
/ Affirmative Action ,
Compensation & Benefits ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Equal Pay ,
Pay Equity Laws ,
Race Discrimination ,
Risk Management ,
Sex Discrimination
DOL proposes to eliminate agency.
The U.S. Department of Labor released its proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2026, which runs from October 1, 2025 through September 30, 2026. The budget proposal is the agency’s request to...more
6/2/2025
/ Affirmative Action ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Enforcement ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Government Agencies ,
OFCCP ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Regulatory Authority ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Regulatory Requirements
The U.S. DOT agrees to end contract goals for DBEs.
In 1983, Congress enacted the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Program, which requires that the Department of Transportation spend ten percent of federal highway...more
OFCCP has had three heads in the first three months of 2025. Catherine Eschbach, a lawyer formerly with Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, is the newly appointed Director of the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs. In...more
Certification requirements for contractors are back in play. As we previously reported, a federal judge issued a nationwide preliminary injunction prohibiting the federal government from enforcing certain portions of...more
3/20/2025
/ Affirmative Action ,
Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Compliance ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Executive Orders ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Federal Contractors ,
First Amendment ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Reverse Discrimination ,
Trump Administration
Did you hear that? It was the other shoe dropping. Approximately one month after President Trump rescinded Executive Order 11246, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs is preparing to reduce its staff by 90...more
The first challenge to President Trump’s Executive Orders targeting Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the private sector has resulted in a preliminary injunction. As we previously reported, several organizations filed a...more
2/25/2025
/ Affirmative Action ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Diversity ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Executive Orders ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Federal Contractors ,
First Amendment ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Private Sector ,
Separation of Powers ,
Trump Administration
DOL’s first step in the dismantling of EO 11246.
As we previously reported, President Trump has rescinded Executive Order 11246, which required federal contractors to comply with a vast regulatory scheme relating to...more
1/27/2025
/ Affirmative Action ,
Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Compliance ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Enforcement ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Contractors ,
Labor Regulations ,
OFCCP ,
Rehabilitation Act ,
Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA)
President Lyndon B. Johnson signed Executive Order 11246 in 1965. Since then, organizations doing business with the federal government had to affirmatively recruit women and minorities for employment and ensure employment...more
1/23/2025
/ Affirmative Action ,
Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Diversity ,
Donald Trump ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Contractors ,
OFCCP ,
OMB ,
Popular ,
Rescission ,
Title VII ,
Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA)
The future of DOL’s administrative law judges is now murky.
When the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Program believes that a contractor has violated affirmative action obligations, its tried-and-true practice for...more
11/25/2024
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Affirmative Action ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Federal Contractors ,
OFCCP ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
SEC v Jarkesy ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Unconstitutional Condition ,
Wage and Hour
Corporate Scheduling Announcement List identifies 2,000 lucky establishments.
The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs issued a Corporate Scheduling Announcement List, which provides advance notice to...more
Spoiler alert: DEI policy wasn't enough to establish discrimination. Five journalists who were formerly employed with Gannett Co., Inc., alleged that the media company’s diversity policies resulted in “reverse”...more
9/11/2024
/ Affirmative Action ,
Bias ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Race Discrimination ,
Reverse Discrimination ,
SCOTUS ,
Separation Agreement ,
Students for Fair Admissions v Harvard College ,
Students for Fair Admissions v University of North Carolina ,
Wage and Hour
How prepared is your organization? Since the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President & Fellows of Harvard College, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion policies have faced increased...more
8/23/2024
/ Affirmative Action ,
Diversity ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Federal Contractors ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
Mentor-Protege Program ,
Race Discrimination ,
Reverse Discrimination ,
SCOTUS ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Students for Fair Admissions v Harvard College ,
Training
New audit list dropped June 7th. The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs released a new Corporate Scheduling Announcement List (CSAL). The CSAL is a courtesy notification for contractors that they will be...more
6/10/2024
/ Affirmative Action ,
Audits ,
Compliance ,
Contractor Audits ,
CSALs ,
EEO-1 ,
Equal Pay ,
Federal Contractors ,
OFCCP ,
Recruitment Policies ,
Scheduling Letters ,
Training
BREAKING: OFCCP announces this year's reporting cycle. The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs now requires covered contractors to certify on an annual basis that they have affirmative action plans in place. The...more
Another chapter has unfolded in the ongoing saga relating to the unprecedented and massive FOIA request for all federal contractors’ EEO-1 Reports. As we previously reported, Will Evans, a reporter with The Center for...more
Another 1,000 contractors slated for audit.
The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs announced a new Corporate Scheduling Announcement List. This new list includes 1,000 contractors for establishment reviews,...more
Your next audit will be significantly more burdensome.
The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs announced its new Scheduling Letter and Itemized Listing effective immediately. As anticipated, the new desk audit...more
On June 29, the U.S. Supreme Court held that admissions policies at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution by using...more
7/6/2023
/ Affirmative Action ,
Civil Rights Act ,
College Admissions ,
Diversity ,
Educational Institutions ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Equal Protection ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Employees ,
Fourteenth Amendment ,
SCOTUS ,
Students for Fair Admissions v Harvard College ,
Students for Fair Admissions v University of North Carolina ,
Title VII
The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs announced that the Contractor Portal will open on March 31 and that contractors will have until June 29 to certify compliance.
The procedures appear to be similar to last...more