Nothing sinks the stomach of a federal contractor faster than receiving the dreaded “Your facility has been selected for a compliance review by the OFCCP.” For those who have been in the federal contracting field long enough, the dread has only increased with many new compliance requirements. See our previous articles detailing enacted in 2015 and this year.
The Careers section of an employer’s website is accessible to any who cares to search for it. It means OFCCP auditors can easily access it too. Use this checklist to make sure your website is in compliance.
EEO Tag Line
Most employment website includes a simple statement such as “We are an Equal Opportunity Employer.” This might not be enough in the eyes of the OFCCP.
The minimum recommended is something like this: “Our company is an Equal Opportunity employer – Veterans/Disabled and other protected categories.” A more robust statement would be along the lines of “qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability or protected veteran status.” Note the LGBT statement, a requirement for federal employers since early 2015. The same EO language is also required on each job postings.
Include a link to “EEO is the Law” Posters
The OFCCP’s “EEO is the Law” posters must be “conspicuously accessible with the electronic application.” There are 2 posters and there are available in 3 languages (English, Spanish, Chinese):
- The original “EEO is the Law” published in November 2009)
- The Supplement poster published in September 2015 addresses:
- EEO statement including gender identity and sexual orientation
- The pay transparency provision
- Updates related to individuals with disabilities and those protected under the veteran status
This obligation is to ensure that candidate applying for jobs online are informed of their equal employment opportunity protections. It is recommended to have a .pdf version of the poster on the employment website.
Post your EEO Policy Statement
It is good practice to post on the employment webpage a copy of your company’s EEO policy statement. Employers who choose not to post this EEO policy are required to provide a copy to applicants during the hiring process.
Posting it on the website is probably easier. Once it’s posted, it’s done. No need to worry about having copies available on interview day.
Pay Transparency Non-Discrimination Statement
Since January, employers are required to protect applicants and employees from discrimination based on inquiring about, disclosing, or discussing their compensation or the compensation of other applicants or employees.
That is why federal employers must now post their pay transparency nondiscrimination statement on the Careers webpage. By including the pdf of the updated OFCCP supplemental poster on your career webpage, you will achieve just that.
Accessibility Statement
Federal contractors need to provide disabled applicants who need assistance with the application process an alternative means of contacting the company to obtain assistance. OFCCP auditors expect to see two methods for contacting the employer (e.g. e-mail and a phone number).
Make sure the e-mail inbox and voicemail for the phone number provided are monitored regularly. Ideally, you should respond to enquiries within 1 business day for both methods of contact.
There are a whole host of new compliance obligations for government contractors to contend with. Those that involve job seekers are not only crucial, but easy for OFCCP to check during a compliance review.
