OFCCP Regulations In Effect

Author: Amy Schroeder Ireland
Organization: Leonard, Street and Deinard
Newsletter: Employment And Labor Update – March 2006

The Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs’ (OFCCP) final regulations defining “Internet Applicants” and setting forth new record keeping requirements went into effect on February 6, 2006. Although the regulations are already in effect, OFCCP has stated that it will exercise enforcement discretion for a period of 90 days. During that time, the department will not cite a contractor for purely technical record keeping violations where the contractor is taking reasonable steps to update its systems to comply with the rules and is maintaining records according to previously established procedures.

Under the new regulations, “Internet Applicants” are individuals who (1) submit an “expression of interest” in employment through the Internet or “related electronic data technologies”; (2) the contractor “considers” for employment in a particular position; (3) indicate that they meet the “basic qualifications” for the position; and (4) do not remove themselves from consideration prior to receiving an offer of employment. Where an employer accepts both traditional and “Internet” applications for a position, all applicants for that position are treated as “Internet Applicants” for OFCCP purposes.

Contractors must retain applications and résumés of all applicants, including those retrieved from online résumés or internal résumé databases. The regulations allow for some data management techniques as long as the contractor follows certain record keeping criteria. For example, contractors must maintain detailed records of the substantive search criteria used in searching internal databases and external electronic databases, such as Monster.com. Contractors must also retain records identifying all job seekers contacted regarding their interest in a particular position.

New EEO-1 Reporting Categories for 2007

In other related news, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced on January 27 that the Employer Information Report, also known as the EEO-1 Report, will have a new format for the reporting period due September 30, 2007. The new format will include new race and ethnic categories, including the category “Two or more races, not Hispanic or Latino.” Job categories will also be revised, including the division of “Officials and Managers” into two categories, “Executive/Senior Level Officials and Managers” and “First/Mid-Level Officials and Managers,” and the movement of non-managerial business and financial occupations from the “Officials and Managers” category to the “Professionals” category.