For the first time, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (“OFCCP”) will post a Corporate Scheduling Announcement List (“CSAL”) on its website rather than mailing Corporate Scheduling Announcement Letters to individual establishments.

CSAL

The CSAL is a courtesy notice to federal contractors that OFCCP will begin sending Scheduling Letters in 45 days.  The Scheduling Letter notifies the contractor that it has been selected for an audit.  Receipt of the Scheduling Letter starts the 30-day clock for contractors to submit their Affirmative Action Programs (“AAP”) and supporting materials.

The CSAL should be posted in OFCCP’s FOIA Library any day now.  Because OFCCP is no longer mailing out letters, employers may want to subscribe to OFCCP Email Updates to receive notification of the CSAL and other announcements.

Section 503 Focused Reviews

In addition to compliance reviews, OFCCP announced that the list will include Section 503 Focused Reviews.  Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act prohibits federal contractors and subcontractors from discriminating in employment against individuals with disabilities and requires those employers to take affirmative action to recruit, hire, promote, and retain these individuals.  As discussed in a previous news digest article, OFCCP’s Section 503 Focused Review would include review of policies and practices related to compliance with Section 503; interviews with managers responsible for compliance and employees affected by those policies; evaluation of hiring and compensation data; and an analysis of accommodation requests.

OFCCP also just announced the launch of its new Section 503 Focused Review Landing Page, which will provide contractors with helpful information and assistance, including disability inclusion best practices and documents explaining what to expect during a Focused Review.

Compliance Checks

According to OFCCP’s announcement, the new list will also include compliance checks as outlined in its Affirmative Action Program Verification Initiative, which was discussed in a previous news digest article.