The OFCCP's Final Rule on Sex Discrimination took effect last month, on August 15, 2016. Many of you already know that sex discrimination has been illegal since at least 1964, when the Civil Rights Act was enacted. Pay discrimination based on sex has been illegal since at least 1963. Most employers know they cannot base employment decisions and practices on sex. Yet the OFCCP has issued new rules on sex discriminati...

The federal government is serious about combatting religious discrimination - serious enough to launch an interagency initiative designed to confront religious discrimination from pretty much every possible angle. The initiative’s stated goal is “to promote religious freedom, challenge religious discrimination in employment and education, and enhance enforcement of religion-based hate crimes”. Who exactl...

Many employers approach being a federal contractor based on what they read or hear...enforcement, audit, penalties, etc. Ahmed Younies, President and CEO of HR Unlimited, Inc., shares his perspective on how employers should approach being a federal contractor and subcontractor, and it might surprise you.

By now you may have heard that Target recently agreed to pay $2.8 million to settle a Commissioner’s charge of discrimination by the EEOC originating from its Minneapolis Area Office and arising out of Target's pre-employment testing practices. According to the EEOC, three of Target’s tests excluded a disproportionate number of otherwise qualified candidates based on race and sex and were not sufficiently job-related or...

The U.S. Supreme Court seems to have hammered the final nail into the coffin of Associated Builders and Contractors’ (ABC) challenge to the OFCCP’s recent regulations that impose additional requirements on federal contractors with respect to recruiting and hiring Individuals with Disabilities (IWDs). On Monday June 15, 2015, it refused to hear ABC’s appeal of the Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, uphol...

President Obama has just a bit over 18 months left in office. Consequently so does the OFCCP—in its current incarnation, that is. Once Mr. Obama leaves office, there will likely be a new Director, and the OFCCP will subsequently reflect shifting priorities. How much those priorities shift, of course, will depend on who gets voted into the White House next. In the meantime, the OFCCP has released its budget request—and the...

In our last two posts, we examined key actions taken by the OFCCP in 2014 through the lens of President Obama’s ambitious agenda. While some OFCCP actions have reflected Mr. Obama’s priorities, others have actually resulted directly from Executive Orders. Between the OFCCP’s actions, Mr. Obama’s Executive Orders and statements of his priorities, what can we project for the federal contractor community in 2015 and beyond? B...

In Part I of this post we examined the close connection between the OFCCP’s focus on pay equity and the hiring of veterans and individuals with disabilities (IWDs) in 2014 and President Obama’s agenda. We continue here by comparing the President’s agenda and actions regarding LGBT workers and other, more general workers’ rights issues with those of the OFCCP during 2014. LGBT Workers President Obama: The President h...

Every year we like to provide you, our readers in the federal contracting community, with a year-in-review and look ahead to the coming year to ensure that you are aware of trends that could impact your business. Typically, that means reviewing the OFCCP’s stated goals against its actions and then making an educated projection of what is to come. This year we will take our analysis a step further. As a federal government co...

Government contracts are a stable source of company revenue, but they come with strings attached. They are tough to obtain and maintain. Not only is the process of breaking into the government marketplace complicated, but complying with related regulations post award can also be a challenge. On the upside, doing business with the government is slightly affected by the expansion and contractions in the economy, resulting i...