In February, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs ("OFCCP") sent Corporate Scheduling Announcement Letters ("CSALs") to 1,000 contractor establishments. Shortly thereafter, in March, OFCCP mailed follow-up compliance review scheduling letters ("Scheduling letters"). On September 7, 2018, OFCCP sent a second round of CSALs to an additional 750 contractor establishments.
Further, on September 19, 2018, OFCCP issued Directive 2018-08: Transparency in OFCCP Compliance Activities. The purpose of the Directive is to "ensure transparency in all stages of OFCCP compliance activities to help contractors comply with their obligations and know what to expect during a compliance evaluation, and to protect workers from discrimination through the consistent enforcement of OFCCP legal authorities." The Directive identifies the "Roles and Responsibilities" of OFCCP and contractors during a compliance review and the "Policies and Procedures" that will be followed.
A CSAL should not be confused with a Scheduling letter. A CSAL is OFCCP's courtesy notice to a contractor that its establishment is on the current compliance evaluation scheduling list. It informs a contractor that it will receive a compliance review Scheduling letter from OFCCP in 45 days—that would be on or about, October 22, 2018. After receipt of the Scheduling letter, a contractor has 30 days to submit its Affirmative Action Program ("AAP") and required supporting data.
Historically, contractors have routinely received extensions of the 30-day response deadline, but OFCCP has reined in granting such extensions. Now, a 30-day extension is available for the submission of supporting data if:
- the extension is requested prior to the initial 30-day due date and
- the contractor timely submits the basic AAPs within the initial 30-day period.
Extensions generally are not available for AAP submission since contractors are required to maintain and update their AAPs annually.
CSALs are mailed to the Human Resource Director (or designated point of contact) for the "establishment" on the Scheduling List. Thus, contractors need to alert their facilities to be on the lookout for a CSAL. To confirm whether any of your establishments received a CSAL, you can access the recipient list in OFCCP's FOIA Library here. Alternatively, you can send a written request on company letterhead (e-mail is acceptable) to the Division of Program Operations at OFCCP-DPO-Scheduling@dol.gov.
If you received a CSAL, you have 75 days (CSAL courtesy 45-day notice plus 30-day response period after receipt of a Scheduling letter) to make sure your house is in order. While it may sound like plenty of time, 75 days is not a lot of time for contractors, large or small, and regardless of whether one or multiple of your establishments received a CSAL. Take advantage of the 75-day time period and get started now. A good place to start is reviewing the just released Transparency in OFCCP Compliance Activities Directive.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
