Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs 2015 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

On January 30, 2015, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) published a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) in the Federal Register. The NPRM (80 FR 5246) proposed regulations setting forth requirements that covered Federal Government contractors and subcontractors, and federally assisted construction contractors and subcontractors, must meet in fulfilling their obligations under Executive Order 11246, as amended. This includes ensuring nondiscrimination in employment on the basis of sex and taking affirmative action to ensure that applicants are employed, and that employees are treated during employment, without regard to their sex. This document extends the comment period for the proposed rule for 14 days. You do not need to resubmit your comment if you have already commented on the proposed rule. Should you choose to do so, you can submit additional or supplemental comments. OFCCP will consider all comments received from the date of publication of the proposed rule through the close of the extended comment period.

The U.S. Department of Labor's (``DOL'') Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (``OFCCP'') is proposing regulations that would set forth requirements that covered Federal Government contractors and subcontractors and federally assisted construction contractors and subcontractors must meet in fulfilling their obligations under Executive Order 11246, as amended, to ensure nondiscrimination in employment on the basis of sex and to take affirmative action to ensure that applicants are employed, and that employees are treated during employment, without regard to their sex. This proposal would substantially revise the existing Sex Discrimination Guidelines, which have not been substantively updated since 1970, and replace them with regulations that align with current law and legal principles and address their application to current workplace practices and issues. Most of the proposed provisions in this NPRM would clarify well-established case law or applicable requirements from other Federal agencies and therefore would not change existing requirements for entities affected by this rule. The NPRM's approach with respect to pregnancy accommodation is consistent with the interpretation of the Pregnancy Discrimination Act adopted by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and by the Government in Young v. United Parcel Serv., Inc., 707 F.3d 437 (4th Cir. 2013), cert. granted (U.S. No. 12-1226, July 1, 2014).