The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) is part of the U.S. Department of Labor's Employment Standards Administration. OFCCP is responsible for ensuring that employers doing business with the Federal government comply with the laws and regulations requiring nondiscrimination. This mission is based on the underlying principle that employment opportunities generated by Federal dollars should be available to all Americans on an equitable and fair basis.
Statutes and Executive Orders
OFCCP administers and enforces three legal authorities that require equal employment opportunity: Executive Order 11246, as amended; Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended; and the Vietnam Era Veterans' Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974, as amended, 38 U.S.C. 4212. These authorities prohibit Federal contractors and subcontractors from discriminating on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, and protected veteran status. They also require Federal contractors and subcontractors to take affirmative action to ensure equal employment opportunity in their employment processes. It's regulations can be found at CFR Title 41 Chapter 60: Public Contracts and Property Management.
Agency history
OFCCP, as it is today, was created in 1978 with Executive Order 12086 by President Jimmy Carter through a consolidation of all the Affirmative Action enforcement responsibilities at each federal agency with Executive Order 11246 to the United States Secretary of Labor.
The origins of the agency trace back to President Franklin D. Roosevelt and World War II when he signed an Executive Order preventing discrimination based on race by government contractors.
In 1953 President Dwight D. Eisenhower created the President’s Committee on Government Contracts. The order was a follow-up to Executive Order 10479 signed by President Harry S. Truman in 1951 establishing the anti-discrimination Committee on Government Contract Compliance.
In 1961 President Kennedy issued Executive Order 10925 which created the President’s Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity. This called for people to take affirmative to ensure that applicants are hired and employees are treated during employment without regards to race, creed, color or national origin.
On September 24, 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed EO 11246 transferring responsibility for supervising and coordinating the Federal Contract Compliance from the President’s Committee to the Secretary of Labor who established the Office of Federal Contract Compliance (OFCC).
Executive Order 11375 by President Richard Nixon in 1968 added sex discrimination to OFCCP’s mandate. In 1975 the name was changed from OFCC to OFCCP by President Gerald Ford. This reflected the addition of the responsibility to enforce laws prohibiting discrimination against the disabled and veterans.
The agency has recently helped develop new hiring guidelines with EEOC covering internet applicants. [1]
Current status of the agency
In 2003, the agency adopted its Active Case Management (ACM) procedures to speed up the processing of Supply and Service cases. This system was developed by then Deputy Director to the Deputy Assistant Secretary, William Doyle. [2]
The system was developed because of a lower number of high profile discrimination cases developed after the end of the Clinton Administration. This disparity was because of slow down in traditional enforcement implemented in 2001 and 2002.
The ACM procedure was a clear signal that OFCCP would no longer be enforcing the heart of its mandate, Affirmative Action. The implementation of the system also caused the agency to start 'creaming' its cases and only pursuing those cases that would produce a compensation or other discrimination case – this was a violation of the NationsBank court case.
Currently, OFCCP’s Compliance Officers are set to be privitized in FY 2010. Its functions will more than likely be given to EEOC with its decision to now focus on systemic discrimination. The recent compensation analysis guidelines developed by the agency by Secretary James in April 2007 were made moot by the Ledbetter v. Goodyear case decided in May 2007.[3][4] Fortunately for the agency, it settled a backpay case with Goodyear early in 2007.[4]
Constituency groups
- National Industrial Liaison Groups
- Affirmative Action Association of America
- National Urban League
See also
External links
References
- ^ FAQ's on OFCCP's Internet Applicant Recordkeeping Rule
- ^ William Doyle Biography
- ^ Supreme Court rules 5-4 for Goodyear in pay lawsuit - MarketWatch
- ^ a b http://www.dol.gov/esa/media/press/ofccp/of2007003.pdf
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