[acb-hsp] [employment] FW: For Employment and Training Task Force - Update onOFCCP Section 503 NPRM

[peter altschul]

From: Eric Bridges [mailto:ebridges at acb.org]
Sent: Tuesday, January 29, 2013 7:58 AM
To: mbrunson at acb.org; mitch.pomerantz at earthlink.net
Subject: FW: For Employment and Training Task Force - Update on 
OFCCP
Section 503 NPRM







From: Brenda Walker [mailto:Walker at thearc.org]
Sent: Tuesday, January 29, 2013 10:44 AM
To: undisclosed-recipients:
Subject: For Employment and Training Task Force - Update on OFCCP 
Section
503 NPRM



From: Epstein, Alicia/National [mailto:aepstein at nish.org]

  _____



OFCCP Plans Final Veterans, Disabilities Rules in 2013



According to the Labor Department's latest regulatory agenda 
issued this
past December, OFCCP expects to issue by April final rules under 
VEVRAA (41
C.F.R.  part 60-250 and 41 C.F.R.  part 60-300) and Section 503 
(41 C.F.R.
part 60-741).  The regulations potentially could require 
contractors for the
first time to establish annual hiring "benchmarks" for protected 
veterans
and to adhere to a national utilization goal for individuals with
disabilities.  Both rules also are anticipated to include a 
number of new
data collection, recordkeeping, job listing, and outreach 
requirements for
contractors.



OFCCP's upcoming final rules under VEVRAA and Section 503 
potentially could
require contractors for the first time to establish annual hiring
"benchmarks" for protected veterans and to adhere to a national 
utilization
goal for individuals with disabilities.



In response to both proposals, OFCCP received hundreds of 
comments that
praised the agency's efforts to improve employment opportunities 
for both
protected groups, but also raised concerns about undue burdens 
and costs for
contractors.  Although Shiu would not provide specific details 
about the
final rules, she said she thinks they "really reflect much of the 
comments
and suggestions that were made in the comment period." Shiu added 
that she
and other OFCCP officials also received feedback from 
stakeholders through
listening sessions and town hall meetings conducted around the 
nation over
the past three years.



"You will find that we tried to craft regulations which reflect 
the
realities of the modern workplace, and also provide really clear 
guidance
with specific information about what's going to be expected of 
government
contractors," she said.



Lynn A.  Clements, a management attorney with Jackson Lewis in 
Baltimore,
Jan.  15 told BNA that her firm encourages contractors to conduct 
a "gap
analysis" of their current employment practices in anticipation 
of the final
rules' new data collection requirements.  For instance, the rules 
potentially
could require contractors to collect data on veteran and disabled 
referrals,
applicants, and hires.  "Federal contractors should begin 
evaluating what
system changes will be needed in order to collect and maintain 
this data,
although they should not begin collecting it until the 
regulations are
finalized," said Clements, who previously served as acting 
director and
deputy director of OFCCP's Division of Policy, Planning & Program
Development.She said contractors also need to "take a long, hard 
look at
their current reasonable accommodation policies and processes," 
as most
employers "do not currently process reasonable accommodation 
requests in a
manner that would meet the requirements in the OFCCP's Section 
503
proposal."



Alissa Horvitz, a management attorney for Littler Mendelson in 
Washington,
D.C., and co-chair of the firm's OFCCP Practice Group, Jan.  14 
told BNA that
prior to the release of the final rules, contractors should 
ensure now that
they partner with organizations that will be able to refer 
qualified
veterans and individuals with disabilities for the types of job 
openings in
the contractors' workplaces.  "Establishing meaningful 
relationships with
such organizations will help alleviate some of the anticipated 
concerns that
contractors may face if the implementation period for the final 
regulations
is short," she said.  Even under the current regulatory 
framework, Horvitz
said, contractors' outreach efforts are "being audited, 
evaluated, and
critiqued by this administration, and it is important for 
employers to put
it on the front burner." "Mass mailings do not work," she 
continued.  "It
takes time and resources, both in terms of people and money, to 
do the
legwork on outreach, and it would be worthwhile to start someone 
on that
project sooner rather than later.  Even without the proverbial 
crystal ball,
strengthening meaningful outreach is not going to disappear from 
the final
regulations." Horvitz added that contractors would be "well 
advised" to
determine if their current applicant-tracking systems and 
existing hiring
processes will be able to handle potential new obligations in the 
final
rules, such as providing pre-offer invitations for job seekers to
self-identify as a protected veteran or a disabled individual, 
and
considering veteran and disabled applicants for available 
positions for
which they may be qualified if the position they originally 
sought is
unavailable.



Bloomberg BNA Daily Labor Report



Alicia Epstein | Senior Manager, Disability Policy

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