The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs’ 2010 budget is expected to increase to over $100 million, according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s 2010 fiscal budget. This amount represents a more than $25 million dollar or approximately 33 percent increase from OFCCP’s 2009 budget, when it was $82.1 million.
According to Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, the additional funding will be used to develop a new case management system, hire an additional 213 compliance officers and other enforcement personnel, increase the number of compliance evaluations and complaint investigations, and bolster the Agency’s enforcement strategies. Secretary Solis has indicated that a significant percentage of the budget will support the Agency’s enforcement efforts related to the investigation of employers’ compensation practices.
What Can Employers Expect and How Can They Respond?
Fresh from its record-setting fiscal recoveries from fiscal year 2008, OFCCP can be expected to continue its systemic discrimination initiative. Despite the implementation of its systemic compensation discrimination and self-evaluation guidelines in 2006, OFCCP has placed relatively little emphasis on compensation during compliance reviews. With the new budget increase, Secretary Solis has indicated that the Agency will place additional emphasis on outreach and training, as well as improve the various approaches and investigative techniques used to evaluate compensation.
Given Secretary Solis’s comments, contractors should ensure that they monitor closely all employment processes, including compensation, for statistical indicators of potential discrimination problems. If statistical indicators are identified, employers should initiate investigations to ensure that pay differences are supported. If not, remedial action should be considered.
If you have any questions regarding OFCCP’s 2010 budget or affirmative action compliance issues in general, please feel free to contact a Jackson Lewis attorney.
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