The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (“OFCCP”) published a “Nondiscrimination Obligations of Federal Contractors and Subcontractors: Procedures to Resolve Potential Employment Discrimination” final rule formalizing two notices it has used since 2017 when it finds potential findings of discrimination: the Predetermination Notice (“PDN”) and the Notice of Violation (“NOV”). These pre-enforcement notices provide federal contractors with an explanation of the agency's preliminary findings of discrimination, and give contractors an opportunity to respond, and providing opportunities to conciliate.  According to OFCCP, the notable changes from the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to the final rule include:

• Two new terms are defined in the final rule, “qualitative evidence” and “quantitative evidence.” These definitions serve to clarify the types of evidence OFCCP relies on to support the issuance of a PDN or NOV.
• The final rule differentiates between the evidence necessary dependent on the theory of discrimination at issue. Further, the timeframe for contractors to respond to a PDN increased from 15 days to 30 days.
• In addition to these changes, the final rule also codifies the expedited conciliation option proposed in the NPRM.

VEVRAA Focused Reviews Webinar

Additionally, OFCCP recently began scheduling Vietnam Era Veterans' Readjustment Assistance Act ("VEVRAA") focused reviews, and will be hosting a public webinar on VEVRAA focused reviews on Thursday, November 12, 9-10 a.m. HST.

New Technical Assistance Guidance

Finally, OFCCP released a new technical assistance guide for federal supply and service contractors.