The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs ("OFCCP") has issued new Executive Order 11246 regulations. E.O. 11246 requires federal contractors and subcontractors to adopt and implement affirmative action programs for women and minorities. Many insignificant changes were made in the regulations and only the important changes are described below. The revised regulations apply only to supply and service contractors, not to the construction industry.
- All employment records now must be retained for two years from the time the record was made or the personnel action involved occurred, whichever is later. Companies with fewer than 150 employees or whose government contract is less than $150,000 must keep employment records only for one year.
- Federal contractors must provide computerized records to the OFCCP during on-site compliance reviews.
- Federal contractors and subcontractors must maintain a copy of the affirmative action plan for the current year and for the preceding year, along with all supporting documentation for both years, including materials concerning good-faith efforts.
- The revisions clarify that E.O. 11246 applies to contracts in which the federal government sells goods or services, as well as when it is the purchaser.
- The requirement that contractors certify that their facilities are not segregated by race or sex has been discontinued.
- The current "compliance review", which is a three-step process involving an off-site desk audit of the written affirmative action plan and supporting documents, an on-site review of the employment policies and other investigations, and an off-site analysis of the data, has been replaced with a "compliance evaluation." This new compliance evaluation provides the OFCCP with more latitude in using one or any combination of the current three steps, as well as to add two new options. The first new option is the "compliance check," which is a visit to the facility to determine whether information earlier provided is complete and accurate. The second new option is an on-site "focused review," which is restricted to only part of the contractor's organization or employment practices. The OFCCP has stated that its use of compliance evaluations should allow it to review more federal contractors than it does at present. The OFCCP also has stated that it expects that the compliance evaluations will reduce the burdens imposed on companies when they are reviewed.