Several proposed, modified letters are now final for Supply and Service Contractors, as well as Construction Contractors. Revisions to the Supply and Service letters were first proposed in April 2019 (with updates in July 2019). All six letters are approved for use for three years, with an expiration date of April 30, 2023.
At first blush, the compliance check letter for Supply and Service Contractors appears to only have minor changes to the narrative portion of the letter. The supporting statement for OMB Control No. 1250-0003 further corroborates this, as it notes the following regarding the compliance check scheduling letter: "OFCCP proposed minor adjustments to the letter, and received some comments on the changes. After reviewing the comments, OFCCP withdraws the proposed changes." In reviewing the letter there were, however, changes to the regulatory citations included for the three items required for submission. While most changes appear to just remove unneeded citations, the changes made for item 1, “AAP results for the preceding year”, seem to expand the regulatory reference. For example, OFCCP has expanded the reference for VEVRAA and Section 503, as the citations changed from 60-300.44(f)(4), and 60-741.44(f)(4) to the more general citation of 60-300.44 and 60-741.44. These citations are critical in instructing contractors on the exact regulatory citation in determining what in fact should be submitted. However, the supporting document submitted to OMB describes “AAP results” under VEVRAA and Section 503 as: "results of the assessments they conduct to determine the effectiveness of their external outreach and recruitment efforts”. For Executive Order 11246, “AAP results” are described as “on goals for women and minorities, as well as the good faith efforts they undertook to remove barriers and expand employment opportunities for those groups”.
As with the prior focused review letter for Section 503, the newly approved letters for both Section 503 and VEVRAA focused reviews are condensed versions of the standard compliance review letter. The changes to the Section 503 letter clarify or remove confusing language, without adding new, substantive requirements. Notably, the requirement to provide EEO-1 reports in the submission were removed. The VEVRAA letter, which was not previously approved or in circulation, largely models the Section 503 letter and itemized listing. Both letters continue to require submission of the current Executive Order 11246 AAP (41 CFR §§ 60-1.40 and 60-2.1 through 60-2.17).
The approved scheduling letter for standard compliance reviews is largely unchanged from the previous letter. As with the Section 503 Focused Review Letter, changes to the letter predominately clarified or removed confusing language. Notably, Item 15 was revised to clarify that only Component 1 reports should be submitted when providing EEO-1 reports, which was expected.
Stay tuned for additional information as we continue to review and digest the four revised letters for Supply and Service Contractors. A detailed review of the two Construction Contractor Compliance Check Letters can be found here.
By Amanda Bowman, Associate Principal Consultant at DCI Consulting Group
