Affirmative Action and Equal Employment Opportunity

Affirmative Action & Equal Employment Laws; Q & A

Affirmative Action & Equal Employment laws are an important part of keeping the US workplace fair and equitable.  The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs is part of the process of keeping our affirmative action laws enforced.  Below are some answers to commonly asked questions about those laws.

What laws are handled by OFCCP?

The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) administers and enforces three equal employment opportunity laws: Executive Order 11246, as amended; Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended; and the Vietnam Era Veterans' Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974 (38 U.S.C. 4212) (VEVRAA), as amended. These laws prohibit Federal contractors and subcontractors from discriminating on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, or status as a qualified individual with a disability or protected veteran. They also require Federal contractors and subcontractors to take affirmative steps to ensure equal employment opportunity in their employment processes. OFCCP also shares responsibility with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in enforcing Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

 Does OFCCP have a preferred or recommended applicant rating system?

OFCCP does not have or recommend a particular applicant rating or ranking system. Federal contractors have flexibility in using the systems they prefer in identifying and ranking qualified applicants provided that the systems do not discriminate against individuals on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, or status as a qualified individual with a disability or protected veteran.

 Are all construction contractors and subcontractors subject to the laws enforced by OFCCP?

All contractors and subcontractors who hold a Federal or federally-assisted construction contract in excess of $10,000 will be subject to regulatory requirements under one or more of the laws enforced by OFCCP depending upon the amount of the contract. Once it has been determined that a contractor or subcontractor is subject to OFCCP jurisdiction, the regulations implementing the civil rights requirements enforced by OFCCP apply to all of the contractor's or subcontractor's employees who are engaged in on site construction, including those construction employees who work on a non-Federal or non-federally assisted construction site.

We don't do any government work here. Federal Government work is performed in some other division in another state. Are we subject to the equal employment laws enforced by OFCCP?

Yes.  Generally speaking, once it has been determined that a business or organization is subject to the civil rights requirements enforced by OFCCP, all of the business's or organization's establishments or facilities will be subject to the same regulatory requirements, regardless of where the Federal contract is to be performed.

In addition, some businesses or organizations that do not independently hold Government contracts/subcontracts may still be covered under the laws enforced by OFCCP if they are considered a "single entity" with a related business or organization that holds such contracts. In such instances, OFCCP uses a "single entity" test to determine whether the businesses or organizations are so closely related that they may constitute a single entity for purposes of OFCCP jurisdiction. The test requires OFCCP to consider whether:

the entities have common ownership;
the entities have common directors and/or officers;
one entity has de facto day-to-day control over the other through policies, management or supervision of the entity's operations;
the personnel policies of the entities emanate from a common or centralized source; and
the operations of the entities are dependent on each other, e.g., services are provided principally for the benefit of one entity by another and/or both entities share management, offices, or other services.
The test focuses primarily on whether the ownership, management, and operations of the separate entities are, in fact, sufficiently interrelated to warrant treating them as an integrated enterprise or a single entity. A business or organization need not meet all five factors to be considered a single entity with a covered Federal contractor. However, there is growing recognition that centralized control over labor relations and personnel functions is the most important factor. By way of example, say that two entities are under common ownership, with a common board of directors, and have a central corporate office that determines and issues personnel policy for both entities, and generally manages most personnel-related issues for both entities. At the same time, the operations of the two entities are not particularly dependent on each other. Despite the fact that one of the factors did not apply, the four factors that did outweigh the one that did not, so that the two entities being analyzed will most likely be considered a single entity.