On November 25, 2024, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) announced it was reinstating the revised Monthly Employment Utilization Report (CC-257). Employers with a federal construction contract or subcontract and/or federally assisted construction contract or subcontract in excess of $10,000 must complete and submit monthly Form CC-257 reports to OFCCP. The first report will cover the calendar month of March 2025 and is due April 15, 2025.
OFCCP discontinued the use of Form CC-257 in December 1995 because the reports were burdensome for employers to create, and the information provided did not appear to be utilized by the agency. In seeking permission from the Office of Management and Budget to resume the collection of this information, OFCCP argued that it would be able to leverage electronic systems to review Form CC-257 reports so as to “strengthen OFCCP’s enforcement, outreach, and compliance assistance activities, and [. . . ] help the agency better meet its mission of protecting workers in the construction trades, as employment discrimination continues to be a problem in the construction industry.” In February 2024, the OFCCP published its proposal to reinstate a revised version of the Form CC-257 in the Federal Register and solicited public comments through April 23, 2024. The OMB approved Form CC-257 in September 2024.
The Form CC-257 covers a full calendar month and is due by the 15th of the following month. If this date falls on a weekend or federal holiday, the report is due on the following business day. The Form CC-257 seeks the following Company Profile information:
- Federal Contractor or Subcontractor Information: This includes the (sub)contractor’s name, registered address, Employer Identification Number (EIN), and Unique Entity ID (UEI) or Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number.
- All Federal Funding Agencies: The name(s) of all U.S. government agencies funding the project, in whole or in part.
- The Reporting Period: The employee counts and work hours monthly for each calendar month. The employee counts provided must reflect the employee count on the last day of the month.
- The Certifying Company’s Official Contact Information and Signature: The name, title, phone number, email address, signature, date, and certification of the information’s accuracy must be provided by the company official submitting the report. A typed signature is acceptable.
- Number of Covered Areas with Projects During the Reporting Period: The number of standard metropolitan statistical areas (SMSA) or economic areas (EA) in which the (sub)contractor has projects during the reporting period. The geographic areas identified are required under 41 CFR 60-4.2.
The Form CC-257 seeks the following information reported by each SMSA or EA (“covered area”):
- Project Type: Whether the company performed work on a project designated by OFCCP as a Megaproject through its Mega Construction Project Program.
- Type of Entity: Whether the contractor is a prime contractor, subcontractor, or both.
- Total Employee Count: The total number of trade employees in each trade, by race, gender, and classification (e.g., foreperson, journey workers, apprentices, trainees, and non-apprenticed laborers or helpers) at the end of the reporting period. The form lists the same race and ethnicity classifications used on the EEO-1 form.
- Total Work Hours: The total construction work hours performed for each trade by race, gender, and classification (e.g., foreperson, journey workers, apprentices, trainees, and non-apprenticed laborers or helpers) for the entire reporting period (up to one decimal, in six-minute increments).
- Optional Comments: This field may be used to share any additional context on the submission. It may be used to report information on Employee Counts and Work Hours for non-binary employees.
Contrary to some predictions that the Form CC-257 would be submitted through a portal or website, the Form CC-257 must be submitted either by sending an excel report via email to ofccp-construction@dol.gov (identified by OFCCP as its preferred method) or by submitting a pdf version to ofccp-construction@dol.gov or via mail to: United States Department of Labor, Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs Division of Program Operations 200 Constitution Ave NW, Room C-3325 Washington, DC 20210. OFCCP purports it will “provide robust compliance assistance and outreach, including a webinar that OFCCP plans to schedule for early 2025” and make its help desk available to answer questions or provide technical assistance.
In its Notice proposing to reinstate the form, OFCCP estimated on average it would take 1.5 hours each month for a contractor or subcontractor to submit Form CC-257. Like OFCCP’s new construction scheduling letter and itemized listing, OFCCP has substantially underestimated the amount of time required to submit monthly Form CC-257 reports, particularly if the contractor or subcontractor does not have an electronic recordkeeping system or operates in multiple Covered Areas (SMSAs or EAs).
Next Steps
Construction contractors and subcontractors should work with their Human Resources (HR) team and experienced counsel to understand their obligations and their current electronic recordkeeping systems and develop a plan to submit monthly Form CC-257 reports, which may include changing their electronic recordkeeping systems, hiring additional HR staff, and/or revising job duties.
It is unknown whether the incoming Trump administration will maintain this new obligation or how quickly it may retract it. We will monitor and report on agency actions as the first deadline approaches in April 2025.
