At his closing remarks at the National Industry Liaison Group’s 2018 annual conference, Acting OFCCP Director Craig Leen announced that the OFCCP is working on a contractor certification program. Although light on details, Acting Director Leen forecast a system where contractors that did not certify compliance with their affirmative action obligations would be targeted for compliance evaluations.

Key Takeaway: For government contractors that take their compliance obligations seriously, a certification program that would reduce compliance evaluations should be a welcome development. OFCCP has noted in the past that only a very small percentage – as low as 2% – of compliance evaluations end in a finding of discrimination. A program that permits OFCCP to focus on contractors who are most likely not in compliance would not only spare contractors who work hard to achieve compliance from unnecessary and burdensome compliance evaluations, it would also permit OFCCP to be more effective.

As with most things, the devil will be in the details. We will continue to monitor this potential new program and report on any new developments.