OFCCP Director Pat Shui stated that “all federal contractors on notice that in the Obama administration we will be persistent when it comes to rooting out workplace discrimination and will vigilantly monitor employers who violate the law until they get it right.” OFCCP has recently proposed new regulations that would make the affirmative action and affirmative action plan requirements more burdensome and costly.

JacintoPort and been previously found in violation of recordkeeping and as part of the settlement was to implement an Applicant Tracking System (ATS) in order to track new hires as well as put in place action oriented programs to recruit blacks and women. The recordkeeping requirement is part of their affirmative action and affirmative action plan reporting responsibilities. This settlement took place in June of 2006 and resulted in a conciliation agreement that stated the violations and corrective measures that JacintoPort agreed to. As part of the conciliation agreement JacintoPort was to submit several reports to OFCCP in order to demonstrate that the corrective action required in the conciliation agreement was being implemented. It was the results of these reports that led OFCCP to conclude that blacks and whites were being discriminated against for the longshoreman position and that JacintoPort was giving preferential hiring treatment to Hispanics. As a result, JacintoPort will pay $219,000 in back wages and make whole relief to the affected black and white applicants as well as make offers to seventeen of the affected class members.

Who is Career Resources, Inc.

Founded in 1979, Career Resources is a privately owned company which develops Affirmative Action and Diversity Plans, provides Diversity and Affirmative Action Plan implementation, online e-Learning courses, Sexual Harassment Training, EEOC and OFCCP vulnerability audits, OFCCP audit support used by hundreds of organizations nationwide including fortune 500 companies and small/medium size businesses in all industries. For more information about Career Resources, Inc., go to http://www.crincorporated.com or email us INFO at Career Resources, Inc.

NCS Pearson has consented to reconcile claims of hiring/recruitment discrimination on the basis of race. The settlement involved sixty seven Asian applicants that were rejected for NCS’s associate software developer positions at NCS’s Iowa City, Iowa, facility. Within the provisions of the agreement, the NCS’s will pay back pay and make whole relief of $100,000 to the affected job seekers/applicants a offer preferential hiring treatment to four of the 67 affected class members, when positions become available. NCS Pearson will also revise their selection practices and policies in order to ensure that the situation is not repeated and that all future applicants are afforded equal opportunity.

The settlement of this case and other recent cases have placed federal contractors with affirmative action plans and affirmative action responsibilities on notice. OFCCP is currently revising their audit strategies in an effort to make the requirements of affirmative action for federal contractors even more burdensome.

Who is Career Resources, Inc.

Founded in 1979, Career Resources is a privately owned company which develops Affirmative Action and Diversity Plans, provides Diversity and Affirmative Action Plan implementation, online e-Learning courses, Sexual Harassment Training, EEOC and OFCCP vulnerability audits, OFCCP audit support used by hundreds of organizations nationwide including fortune 500 companies and small/medium size businesses in all industries. For more information about Career Resources, Inc., go to http://www.crincorporated.com or email us INFO at Career Resources, Inc.

The United States Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contractors Compliance Program’s (OFCCP), announced a $3,000,000 settlement with FedEx. The settlement involved the alleged discrimination against 21,635 applicants/job seekers at 22 FedEx ground unit facilites, an accusation that FedEx denies.

The Labor Department asserted it had discovered indications of discrimination in relation to hiring at the 22 FedEx facilities based upon sex, race and national origin. The determination was based on a random audit of the 22 FedEx facilities Affirmative Action Plans.

FedEx settled with OFCCP, admitting no wrongdoing and agreed to Implement changes to eliminatediscriminatory hiring procedures. The settlement also requires FedEx to make a give preferential hiring treatment to 1,703 of 21,635 job seekers/applicants that were rejected for the part-time positions. The $3 million will be divided amongst the 21,635 individuals providing them with a whopping $138.66 each on average.

FedEx states that the reason for the settlement (without admitting any wrongdoing) was to steer clear of what might have been a extended and expensive resolution process. FedEx was also quick to point out that the allegations were based on a computer statistical analysis and that no individual complaints had been filed. The initial statistics would have been provided in FedEx’s Affirmative Action Plan.

OFCCP states that they had uncovered the initial proof of discrimination over seven years ago. The initial inference of discrimination involved blacks, Hispanics, Asian and Native Americans. OFCCP conducts approximately 4,000 affirmative action plan audits each year.

According to University documents, Jessica Dorrell applied for the teams Player Development Coordinator, the position required two years of experience as well as other criteria, Ms. Dorrell’s resume stated no prior experience or that she possessed other essential qualification of the job. Many federal contractors with affirmative action plans know that one of the key affirmative action responsibilities is to ensure that all applicants meet the minimum requirements of the job.

In addition to Ms. Dorrell’s not meeting the essential functions of the job, Mr. Petrino had solicited a waiver from the university’s affirmative action policy that required the position to be posted for thirty days before interviews could begin. Before the waiver was approved the first interview with Ms. Dorrell was already scheduled 5 days after the position was posted and Ms. Dorrell was subsequently hired.

Once it was discovered that Petrino had an inappropriate relationship with the 25 year old, which gave her an unfair and unrevealed advantage, Petrino was terminated and Ms. Dorrel was placed on paid leave.

One other key item worth mentioning is that the “most qualified” candidate for the position was a black male. The University failed in its affirmative action efforts and this can be a lesson to all especially federal contractors with affirmative action plan responsibilities.

Who is Career Resources, Inc.

Founded in 1979, Career Resources is a privately owned company which develops Affirmative Action and Diversity Plans, provides Diversity and Affirmative Action Plan implementation, online e-Learning courses, Sexual Harassment Training, EEOC and OFCCP vulnerability audits, OFCCP audit support used by hundreds of organizations nationwide including fortune 500 companies and small/medium size businesses in all industries. For more information about Career Resources, Inc., go to http://www.crincorporated.com or email us INFO at Career Resources, Inc.

Give vegetable container gardening a try
The Purdue University Cooperative Extension Service is an Affirmative Action, Equal Opportunity institution. Elysia Berry is the agriculture and natural resources educator in DeKalb County with the Purdue University Cooperative Extension Service.
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OFCCP Director Patricia Shiu, stated “the old regulations were simply not cutting it”. Directors Shiu added that the new NPRM “is going to be a game changer” for federal contractors.

Pushing the Limits

Contractors are finding themselves producing additional compensation data to OFCCP even if the “threshold tests conducted by OFCCP during the desk audit do not produce indicators of discrimination. Cases like the one with United Space Alliance have emboldened the OFCCP even further. New Wave of OFCCP Scheduling Letters Coming Soon

Be ready for the new Scheduling Letter – and make sure you have the resources availble

The proposed revision to the OFCCP’s Scheduling Letter should put contractors on notice that OFCCP is playing for keeps. The new Scheduling Letter and Itemized Listing requires contractors to produce detailed personnel records at the start of the desk audit phase and not when contractors have indicators of discrimination.

Changes to the Scheduling letter will impact the the labor intensity of recordkeeping efforts of contractors, meaning that contractors must be more diligent in their recordkeeping efforts and in conducting self-audits. A few of the changes are listed below:

Have your policies ready, OFCCP will be requiring contractors to submit policies concerning employment leave, this will cover accommodations for religious observances, pregnancy leave and medical leave; however, the agency’s request will not be limited to just these.

Detailed records for applicants, hires, promotions and terminations by job title and job group broken down by gender and race. Contractors will also be required to provide the pool of candidates considered for terminations and promotions.

Moving forward contractors should work closely with their consultant to ensure that they are clearly understand the new regulations as they apply to their affirmative action plan requirements, recordkeeping and document retention. The current changes will impact hiring managers and recruiters as well, ensure that they are brought up to speed on their affirmative action plan responsibilities.

Founded in 1979, Career Resources is a privately owned company which develops Affirmative Action and Diversity Plans, provides Diversity and Affirmative Action Plan implementation, online e-Learning courses, Sexual Harassment Training, EEOC and OFCCP vulnerability audits, OFCCP audit support used by hundreds of organizations nationwide including fortune 500 companies and small/medium size businesses in all industries. For more information about Career Resources, Inc., go to http://www.crincorporated.com or contact info@crincorporated.com.

He said in a statement the correctional services department’s affirmative action plan aimed to reflect the national demographics in every workplace, including provincial and regional levels. Hermann said there was an “outcry” last year after government …
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Texas Affirmative Action Ban: Study Finds Hispanics Are More Underrepresented …
But some argue that this policy is not as effective as the prior affirmative action at selecting a racially and ethnically diverse student body. After analyzing administrative data from the two “most selective public institutions”, University of Texas …
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Solidarity plans affirmative action case
He said in a statement the correctional services department’s affirmative action plan aimed to reflect the national demographics in every workplace, including provincial and regional levels. Hermann said there was an “outcry” last year after government …
Read more on Independent Online

The inability of the OFCCP to provide contractors clear guidance regarding their affirmative action efforts suggests that OFCCP has not thought the matter through and should withdraw the proposed requirement all together.

The Agency’s failure to endorse a national employment service further confirmst their lack of seriousness regarding the Proposed Rule. When one reviews current sources listed by OFCCP as linkage programs it is evident that such sources will not provide the quality referrals OFCCP suggests. In addition these organizations have not been vetted to ensure that they will accept and be able to handle the 10′s of thousands of requests for contractors.

Again, OFCCP should clearly reassess or completely withdraw the mandated requirement affirmative action/federal contractors recruit from such lists or resources. no assurances that these organizations are prepared to handle this volume of requests.

One more issue with the OFCCP’s Notice is that the disregard the years contractors have spent establishing relationships with organizations for individuals with a disability that are much better qualified to provide suitable candidates. We are concerned that they will have to forego these beneficial relationships yielding qualified individuals with a disability for other agencies dictated by the OFCCP. Thus, the NILG suggests that, to the extent the OFCCP requires contractors select sources from the lists provided by the Agency, the OFCCP implement a process whereby contractors can suggest entities to be added to the pool of eligible agencies.