The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) has now mailed 1,750 corporate scheduling announcement letters (CSALs) to federal contractors and subcontractors for FY 2018.
The CSALs are being sent to service and supply contractors this month to provide them with advance notice that they may be selected for an OFCCP compliance review. OFCCP mails the CSAL to the Human Resources Director (or designated point of contact) of each establishment that has been selected to undergo a compliance evaluation. The list is generated from OFCCP’s Federal Contractor Selection System (FCSS).
The initial 1,000 letters were sent in February. A supplemental list of 750 letters were mailed this month.
The CSAL is a courtesy notification to a company that one or more establishments may be reviewed. It is not a letter scheduling a compliance evaluation. The objectives of issuing the CSAL are to:
- Provide internal EEO staff at least 45–days advance notice to obtain management support for EEO and self–audit efforts at contractor establishments;
- Encourage contractors to take advantage of OFCCP compliance assistance offerings;
- Encourage contractors to focus on self–audit efforts that, if problems are adequately addressed, saves OFCCP time/resources in the evaluation; and
- Help contractors manage/budget the amount of time required for the evaluation.
Not sure if your company received a CSAL? OFCCP released its current CSAL supplement list, as well as two past CSAL lists (2017 and 2018).
If you don’t receive a CSAL, contractors may still be scheduled for compliance reviews. And if contractors receive a CSAL for one location, the OFCCP may conduct a compliance review at another location. Notably, CSALs are not sent to contractors with functioning affirmative action programs.
OFFCP began mailing scheduling letters on March 19, 2018 to establishments to start the evaluation process. The letter notifies a particular contractor establishment that it has been scheduled for a compliance evaluation and requests submission of the contractor’s Affirmative Action Program and the supporting data. The letters are expected to continue to be sent through the end of this month.
Between the 45-day notice provided by the CSAL and an additional 30-days notice after receiving the scheduling letter, contractors should have a minimum of 75 days advance notice to have their AAPs ready. Given this advance notice, OFCCP says extensions to submit the AAP will not be granted for routine business reasons and would generally be limited to 15 days.
The OFCCP says that for 2018 no more than 10 establishments of a single contractor are placed on the scheduling list and no more than four establishments of a single contractor are placed in a single district office. No establishment with a review that closed in the last five years will be placed on the scheduling list.
Corporations may confirm whether an establishment was mailed a CSAL by e–mailing a written request on company letterhead to the Division of Program Operations at OFCCP-DPO-Scheduling@dol.gov.
Questions about the compliance evaluation process should be directed to your district or regional OFCCP office. Addresses and telephone numbers are available here.
Earlier this month, OFCCP provided new guidance on requesting extensions in effect on or after September 7, 2018. As part of this guidance, OFCCP notes:
“OFCCP will provide a 30–day extension for supporting data related to the EO 11246, VEVRAA and Section 503 AAPs, provided that: 1) the contractor requests the extension prior to the initial 30–day due date for the AAPs and 2) the contractor timely submits the basic EO 11246, Section 503 and VEVRAA AAPs within the initial 30–day period after receiving the Scheduling Letter and Itemized Listing. See Directive 2018–07, Section 7 (stating that the AAP Verification Program includes “[r]equesting proffer of the AAP by contractors when requesting extensions of time to provide support data in response to a scheduling letter.”)
“OFCCP generally will not allow extensions for submission of the basic EO 11246, Section 503 and VEVRAA AAPs, which contractors are required to maintain and update annually, nor allow extensions of supporting data if requested after the submission date for the AAPs has passed. OFCCP, however, reserves discretion to grant such extensions in extraordinary circumstances.”
If your company has received a CSAL and has been targeted to undertake a Corporate Management Compliance Evaluation, it should be taken seriously. For more information on how companies are selected to undertake Corporate Management Compliance Evaluations, click here.
Take time to review your company’s current affirmative action program to determine that all supporting documentation is in place and up-to-date. For more information on OFCCP’s handling of Functional Affirmative Action Programs, visit their website.
Review adverse impact data and look for potential pay disparities in compensation policies.
And with CSALs being sent directly to Human Resources Directors, alert them that these letters may be in the mail and that they should let management know immediately if a CSAL arrives.
To learn more about achieving pay equity, click here.
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