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Labor unveils new resources to boost contractor hiring compliance

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The Labor Department’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs unveiled two new resources Friday for government contractors to help comply with equal employment opportunity rules: an interactive contractor assistance portal and a newly appointed ombudsman.

“OFCCP is committed to transparency in the agency’s enforcement practices and providing more certainty to federal contractors,” Acting Labor Secretary Patrick Pizzella said in a statement.

As Labor’s civil rights agency, OFCCP enforces various federal laws that prohibit those who do business with the government from discriminating on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or status as a protected veteran.  The agency offers compliance assistance and conducts evaluations to ensure contractors and their subcontractors follow personnel policies and procedures, recommends enforcement actions to Labor’s solicitor when necessary and links stakeholders with Labor’s job training programs to help employers recruit qualified workers, among other duties.

As a compliance assistance resource, OFCCP’s new portal will act as its online help desk that companies can access to ask the agency direct questions about the specific issues they face when embarking on federal business, retrieve helpful reference and compliance assistance materials, learn about solutions to common compliance challenges and share successful strategies to support other stakeholders in their efforts.

Continue reading at:  Nextgov

Deadline looms for expanded EEO-1 filing

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For US employers with 100 or more employees, extensive new information relating to their prior EEO-1 filings must be submitted by September 30, 2019.  Specifically, in addition to categorizing employees by race/ethnicity, gender and job type, employers are now required to assemble and submit, with respect to each subcategory, aggregated employee data regarding compensation and annualized hours worked.  Assembling the required data may be much more complicated than many employers are expecting, so it is important to begin planning now.

What is the EEO-1?

For many years, the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has required employers with 100+ employees to complete and file an EEO-1 form annually.  The EEO-1 was essentially a relatively simple demographic snapshot of the employer’s workforce, capturing the number of employees in each of several job categories by gender and by race/ethnicity.  The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) also has long required the EEO-1 for federal government contractors with at least 50 employees.

What is different this year?

Late in the Obama administration, the EEOC and OFCCP issued rules requiring employers to start providing additional information regarding compensation groupings and hours worked for each of the existing job, gender and race categories.  Before these rules were fully implemented, however, the Trump administration’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) halted the rules, asserting that the revisions were overly burdensome and created privacy concerns.  Private organizations, in turn, challenged the OMB action, and in March 2019, a federal court ordered the EEOC to move forward with collecting the new compensation and hours data (collectively referred to as “Component 2” data).  Following further court hearings, the EEOC established September 30, 2019, as the new deadline for submission of the data.

Who needs to worry about this?

Only employers with 100 or more employees need to submit the new Component 2 data.  (Most federal contractors with 50 to 99 employees still must submit the Component 1 data annually, but need not submit the Component 2 data.)

The 100-employee benchmark is not based on a particular establishment, but on the employer’s workforce as a whole.  All full-time and part-time employees must be counted for purposes of determining whether the employer meets the 100-employee threshold.  The 100-employee benchmark is determined by the number of employees as of the years 2017 and 2018, not the current number of employee.

Continue reading at:  Dentons

OFCCP releases its new compliance assistance guides

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On August 2, 2019, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs announced the release of its new compliance assistance guides.  Among the new guides are:

  • OFCCP At A Glance, which introduces and provides an overview of OFCCP, “its mission, the equal employment opportunity laws it enforces, an overview of federal contractor obligations, and workers’ rights.”
  • What Federal Contractors Can Expect, which “provides general expectations that guide interactions between contractors and OFCCP.”
  • Construction Technical Assistance Guide, which “is being updated and is coming soon,” provides a general overview of construction contractors’ obligations.
  • Applicant Tracking Guide, which “provides the definitions for Internet and traditional applicants, identifies applicant records that contractors must keep, and provides other key terms to know.”
  • And more…

Continue reading at:  Ogletree Deakins

Department of Labor to host education, outreach event for veterans June 26th

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The U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs and Veterans’ Employment and Training Service are collaborating with the Georgia Department of Labor, the Atlanta VA Health Care System, and the Goodwill Career Center to host a veteran’s education and outreach event, according to a press release.

The event, titled “From Deployment to Employment: Hire a Veteran Career and Resource Linkage,” serves as an opportunity for qualified veterans, veterans with disabilities, and military spouses to connect with federal contractors offering employment.  The event will also assist federal contractors in meeting goals for hiring individuals with disabilities and veterans, and connect these companies with community-based organizations that provide training and rehabilitation services to veterans with disabilities.

Registration for the event is available at:  Eventbrite 

Continue reading at:  U.S. Department of Labor website

Fed watchdog wants DoD to have better insight into contractors’ safety records

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The U.S. Government Accountability Office, a congressional “watchdog,” has issued recommendations to the U.S. Department of Labor’s OSHA and the Department of Defense aimed at helping them better track defense contractor safety violations. GAO was tasked with reviewing safety and health records of contractors and how they were handled by DoD, the largest contracting agency in the government, with $320 billion in contracts in 2017.

The GAO report noted that OSHA’s inspection data does not include a corporate identification number, which means “website users will likely have difficulty obtaining accurate information on individual companies’ previous violations,” such as whether the violations occurred on defense projects. DoD also may be missing opportunities to consider a company’s safety performance when awarding contracts, it continued, because only a few parts of the agency rate contractors in this category.

GAO recommends that OSHA consider requiring a corporate identification number as part of the information it collects during an inspection, and that DoD officials use OSHA’s website to find contractor safety information and consider requiring a safety performance rating for contractors engaging in construction and other risky types of work.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.constructiondive.com/news/fed-watchdog-wants-dod-to-have-better-insight-into-contractors-safety-reco/550792/

General contractor can be cited for subcontractor safety violations

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A U.S. Appeals Court judge for the 5th Circuit in New Orleans has ruled that OSHA can cite general contractors — even if their employees are not affected — for subcontractor safety violations.

The ruling came after Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta requested that the 5th Circuit review an OSHA administrative court decision that said a general contractor could only be cited for safety threats to its own employees.

In 2017, a Denver Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Commission administrative judge ruled that Hensel Phelps could not be cited by the agency for safety hazards created by one of its subcontractors on a project in Austin, Texas. However, the 5th Circuit said more recent rulings have rendered the case law on which the administrative judge based his decision “obsolete” and said that Hensel Phelps could be held responsible for safety on the multi-employer site as a “controlling employer.”

According to court documents, Hensel Phelps hired subcontractor Haynes-Eaglin-Waters (HEW) for a library construction project, and HEW, in turn, hired CVI Development as a sub-subcontractor to perform demolition, excavation and other work. Hensel Phelps and HEW project staff allegedly directed CVI to work in an unsafe excavation area. An OSHA inspector cited both Hensel Phelps and CVI for safety violations. The OSH Commission will now review the matter again, taking the 5th Circuit’s decision into consideration.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.constructiondive.com/news/court-general-contractor-can-be-cited-for-subcontractor-violations/544678/

 

Women are the solution to the construction industry’s labor shortage

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Megan Ross is an assistant superintendent for a large Maryland-based general contractor.  Ross, a former architecture major, had realized she’d rather build structures than design them, and is now on construction sites every day, coordinating subcontractors and monitoring the progress of jobs.

At her first position out of college, she earned a salary of over $50,000; two years later she says, “I have friends in architecture who are making half of that.”  The work is a joy, she says. “It’s one of the best careers you can have.”

Ross is part of an overlooked group that, with some assistance, could easily solve the construction industry’s labor shortage: women. Currently, women make up less than 3 percent of the construction workforce, which includes the building trades—hands-on jobs like carpentry, bricklaying, and electrical work—as well as management. If twice as many women worked in the field, the industry’s labor shortage would, according to data available from the U.S. Department of Labor, practically be wiped out.

And finding a solution to the ongoing worker shortage is crucial.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.curbed.com/2018/11/5/18065266/construction-industry-labor-shortage-women

DOL announces new compliance assistance tools to assist new and small businesses

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The U.S. Department of Labor has announced the launch of the New and Small Business Assistance and the Compliance Assistance Toolkits web pages.

These new online tools assist American small businesses and workers with simple, straightforward resources that provide critical Wage and Hour Division (WHD) information, as well as links to other resources.

The web pages were established in response to feedback received from new and small business stakeholders voicing their need for a centralized location to secure the tools and information they need to comply with federal labor laws. The web pages also provide relevant publications and answer the questions most frequently asked by new and small business owners. These tools, in conjunction with worker.gov and employer.gov, ensure greater understanding of federal requirements and provide tools to help employers find resources offered by other regulatory agencies.

In addition to these new resources, WHD recently made available compliance assistance videos that provide brief, plain-language explanations of the Fair Labor Standards Act’s (FLSA) requirements and protections. The videos provide essential information employers need to understand their obligations under the law.

In August 2018, the Office of Compliance Initiatives (OCI) launched a revamped worker.gov to provide information about workers’ rights and an all-new employer.gov to provide information about the responsibilities of job creators toward their workers.

For more information about the FLSA and other laws enforced by the Wage and Hour Division, contact the Division’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE(487-9243).

Information is also available at https://www.dol.gov/whd including a search tool to use if you think you may be owed back wages collected by the Division.

Source: https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/whd/whd20181017

Orlando contractor to pay $575,000 after DOL investigation uncovers improper pay deductions

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Loyal Source Government Services LLC – a medical and support staff contactor based in Orlando, Florida – will pay $574,989 to 4,047 employees after a U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division (WHD) investigation determined the company violated the McNamara-O’Hara Service Contract Act (SCA).

WHD investigators found Loyal Source Government Services LLC unlawfully deducted $10 per paycheck from each employee for the administration of employee health and welfare benefits.

“This investigation demonstrates the Department of Labor will enforce all applicable laws to ensure that employees receive legally required pay and benefits,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Daniel White, in Jacksonville. “The Department’s Wage and Hour Division encourages all employers to make use of the many tools we provide to help them understand and comply with the law, and to call us for assistance.”

For more information about the SCA and other laws enforced by the Division, contact its toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Information is also available at http://www.dol.gov/whd/ including a search tool to use in the event a worker suspects he/she may be owed back wages.

Source: https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/whd/whd20180907

OFCCP promises clear guidance and consistency, laying out a program of carrots and sticks

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In his first two speeches after taking over as Acting Director of the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP), Craig Leen emphasized a commitment to the rule of law, promised to provide contractors with clear guidance and transparent enforcement processes, offered incentives for voluntary compliance, and outlined plans to identify and audit government contractors that are ignoring their obligations.

His speeches came at the beginning and end of a four-day Industry Liaison Group National Conference held in Anaheim, California that was attended by HR compliance professionals and officials from the Department of Labor (DOL), OFCCP, and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Although the conference included presentations from industry experts, the highlight for many was the opportunity to hear directly from the OFCCP, including its new acting director.

Mr. Leen opened the conference with a keynote address focusing on his goals for the OFCCP, including transparency, certainty, efficiency, and recognition. Mr. Leen highlighted OFCCP’s recent Directive 2018-01, which requires a Predetermination Notice (PDN) in all cases with preliminary individual and systemic discrimination findings. According to Mr. Leen, contractors can expect meaningful, good-faith conciliation.

Additionally, he noted that the OFCCP will no longer engage in fishing expeditions with information requests during a compliance evaluation. Instead, OFCCP compliance officers must have specific reasons for a request and be able to explain the need for the information upon request.

Importantly, in the information request context, Mr. Leen explicitly acknowledged that contractors will be given reasonable time to respond and that the age of “false deadlines” to show authority was over.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.mondaq.com/article.asp?articleid=727378

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