What does OFCCP mean for recruiters writing job descriptions? Or Human Resources (HR) teams managing PII data? Or for candidates applying to jobs under businesses that do work for the federal government?
On this episode of ClearedCast, we invite Jessica Reynolds back on the line, one of our recruiters who you can find on ClearanceJobs.com, and we discuss one of those government acronyms, OFCCP compliance. The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs is a part of the U.S. Department of Labor, and this program is responsible for ensuring that employers that are doing business with the federal government comply with the laws and regulations that require non-discrimination. There are a ton of boxes to check with OFCCP if you are a defense contractor, and a lot of policy to keep in mind as a recruiter or an HR professional. Tune in to this episode to learn more about what it means for cleared recruiters, HR teams, and candidates in the national security job search.
Katie Keller:
Thank you for tuning in to this episode of ClearedCast. Today we have Jessica Reynolds back on the line, one of our recruiters that you can find on ClearanceJobs.com, and today we’re going to be discussing one of those government acronyms, OFCCP compliance. The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs is a part of the US Department of Labor, and this program is responsible for ensuring that employers that are doing business with the federal government comply with the laws and regulations that require non-discrimination. So there are a ton of boxes to check with OFCCP if you are a defense contractor, and a lot of policy to keep in mind as a recruiter or an HR professional. So Jessica, welcome back to the podcast, and I’d like to start, if you could kind of give us the rundown on OFCCP and what it means for defense contractors.
Jessica Reynolds:
OFCCP, if you work with some of the bigger names, they have entire compliance departments that run this, but for me, I’m at a smaller company, and so it’s really a lot of onus on the HR and recruiting teams. And at the base of it, it’s really making sure that our job descriptions are written properly and that we’re following procedure to allow all qualified candidates to be considered and have a shot at the jobs that we’re posting. And from a candidate perspective, it can be kind of confusing, because, well, half of HR doesn’t really even know what this means either.
But the big thing about it is our job descriptions are doctrine, which is where a lot of the candidates can get confused and where writing a very thorough job description is paramount, because anything in that job description has to be met by the candidate hired, or a new job description has to be created and posted for the minimum, which is five business days.
Katie Keller:
Okay. So yeah, a ton of boxes to check as you’re writing those job descriptions. Anything else specifically that recruiters or HR teams have to do, like having inclusive language and things like that? But aside from the job description, what are the other kind of steps to take note of?
Jessica Reynolds:
Making sure that you are screening every resume. And that goes back to the last conversation that we had, that the applicant tracking system isn’t doing this for us. The recruiter or the HR or whomever is in charge of screening the resumes that come through, they have to check all of the boxes. So if it requires a bachelor’s degree, five years and a sec+ certification, every candidate that has those three things has to be given the opportunity to be considered, and that’s where we come in to make sure that there is no implicit bias in hiring, which is the goal of this. The government said, “Hey, if we’re going to give you money and we’re going to do business with you, we want to know that you are practicing ethical and fair hiring programs.” So inclusive language, making sure you have a diverse slate presented, because again, it’s not inclusive if you’re only picking and choosing the people who meet your bias.
Katie Keller:
Sure. And so you might be able to school me on this, because it has been a few years since I’ve been a recruiter directly, but I think from a defense contractor perspective, especially one that may be headquartered in Virginia, but have a couple of positions at Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas, NV, there are posting requirements in terms of posting requisitions on state job boards. Is that still a thing?
Jessica Reynolds:
That is still a thing. There are minimum requirements, especially for small businesses. Anybody who falls under the 8(a) category 100% has to post on all state employment boards. And to clarify that, those are the ones that are quantified by the state employment agencies, so whatever the local municipality for Nellis’ Employment Commission, it would have to go on theirs, and then the overarching Nevada State Workforce Commission, it would have to be posted there and it has to be there for five days.
Katie Keller:
You’re from a small business, and you mentioned that some of these larger contractors obviously have dedicated compliance teams to make sure that all of these things are teed up. Tell me a little bit more, if you are knowledgeable on this, about the differences, because if you are an 8(a) set aside and you have these other hurdles to go over, what are the differences between those small business set asides and what OFCCP compliance means for them, and then maybe some of the larger defense contractors?
Jessica Reynolds:
So, at the heart of it, OFCCP compliance applies blanketly across federal contractors who receive at least $10,000 a year in federal funds. The Small Business Association, however, does require more of the small businesses. So for example, working at an 8(a), I’m not allowed to list citizenship as a requirement of employment. It can be a condition of employment, but I am not allowed to word it as such. Working as a contractor requiring a clearance alleviates me from explicitly saying, “Must be a US citizen,” even though it is a requirement.
Katie Keller:
Super interesting. And I’m going to have to comb through some requisitions after this, because I feel like I see US citizenship required listed quite a bit, so kind of taking note of what kind of contractor you’re applying to, or what kind of contractor you are as a recruiter and what you’re listing on that job description. So from a candidate’s perspective, I know that you mentioned it’s a little bit confusing sometimes, but what are some things that they have to keep in mind, or should they even care about OFCCP compliance?
Jessica Reynolds:
From a candidate perspective, it can be a little confusing, because you’ve got these LinkedIn influencers and these TikTok career coaches saying, “Oh, if you meet 60% of the qualifications, shoot your shot. If you’re 100% qualified, you’re overqualified. You’ll be bored. There’s no room for growth.” In an OFCCP driven market like defense, you have to meet 100% of the required qualifications or the company, if found during an audit hiring people that do not meet the requirements of the job description, will face a fine, and it’s sizeable. And if you get so many fines within one audit period or within so many years, they will pause your ability to receive federal contract funds, or completely restrict you permanently from receiving contract funds, and as a government contractor, that is detrimental to your income streams.
So for candidates, when you’re applying to anything that requires a clearance, it is safe to say that that is an OFCCP environment and you have to meet anything listed as required, which is why you’re seeing a lot of the contracting companies list two things under required, but a laundry list of preferred requirements, because it gives them more wiggle room to hire people without being as stringent. It’s why you’ll see the requirement is only a degree and years of experience, and maybe a certification, but then the rest of it is this is what we would like to see, not what we require to see.
Katie Keller:
Hopefully that gives candidates listening a little bit of insight in potentially why they might be rejected, because of those influencers saying, “Shoot your shot,” like you said. And it is kind of a different world when it comes to contracting, and it’s not even in the recruiter’s decision-making ability. It’s so far beyond that.
Jessica Reynolds:
Yeah. I mean, we work against what’s called a labor category, we call them LCATs for short, and that is what our government customer has said quantifies as this particular position and its level and everything, and the government has said, “This is what is required to be considered.” The recruiter and the program manager all have very little say in what the requirements are, because the government has said, “This is what is required.”
Katie Keller:
Sure. And I know that LCAT reform has been kind of a hotter topic at ClearanceJobs, especially in terms of LCATs being so strict and the candidate pool meeting those LCAT requirements really not being as abundant as recruiters would like. And so let’s talk a little bit about scary things like being audited. I’ve never been audited for OFCCP compliance. Have you, or anyone that you know, or have you heard stories about companies being audited?
Jessica Reynolds:
Not at the company I am at now, but at the company I was at previously. They went through an audit right before I came on board, and it cost them $80,000. I mean, luckily, it’s a ginormous contractor. $80,000 is a drop in the bucket. However, if that were to happen to a small contractor, that is substantial to a small to mid-size contractor, to have to pay $80,000 to the government and then have your HR department under a microscope, because that’s what happens. You fail an audit to that magnitude, and now everything you do is under scrutiny. All of your applicants, your resumes, who applied, who was selected, who interviewed, all of that is looked at even more closely, because OFCCP is to help push, along with your affirmative action plans, to ensure that we’re bringing on diverse candidates and not hiring all of the upper-echelon friends. Because that’s the whole point, is to make sure that we are hiring the best candidate, not the CEO’s next-door neighbor’s son.
Katie Keller:
Sure. And for candidates, it is about who you know. It is about networking and things like that. But that’s why you will be asked to formally apply to a position, because recruitment and HR teams are trying to evaluate all candidates involved. And so, $80,000, like you said, that is a lot of money for a small business. Do you recall what the process looked like for that company?
Jessica Reynolds:
These companies are audited annually. Usually, it’s just, “Hey, send us a sample size of this much of your catalog. Send us X number of job reqs with all of the attached candidates and let us see what you’ve done.” Usually, it’s just document share and then they go from there, which is why accuracy from an HR standpoint is so important. One of the biggest red flags for an HR department is if you have a requisition that is a one-for-one hire, and what that means is you have one candidate on one requisition and you hired that one candidate.
Sometimes, it just is what it is. If it’s a niche role or not a great location, sometimes you only get one applicant and it turns out well, because it’s niche, not a lot of people have the experience, so the right candidate applied the first time. But it is a red flag that will cause the OFCCP to dig deeper into that. Why did you only have one applicant? Why were there not more applicants? Did your recruiter not source? Was this requisition opened just for this one person to apply, just so we could close it for that one person, which is against OFCCP policy?
Katie Keller:
Affirmative action programs and inclusivity in your recruiting are really just the starting point for OFCCP compliance. And I know that there are guides to help you better comply with policy, and there are compliance checklists that are available for download, especially for small businesses where they are handling this with kind of a smaller, scrappy team. It’s really important to make sure that you’re dotting the I’s and crossing the T’s. So Jessica, are there any other closing thoughts that you’d like to leave our audience with today regarding OFCCP compliance?
Jessica Reynolds:
Going through and just educating yourself regardless of your positiob in the hiring process. SHRM, the Society for Human Resources Management, is a great avenue to learn more of an HR focused, and then going through, even just to the OFCCP’s website under the Department of Labor, really just helps you understand why it’s there, why we have to do this, and why it’s important.
It also gives the candidate a better understanding of, “I don’t have these requirements, so can I reach out and see if maybe they’re willing to talk to me still?” Absolutely. And it gives everybody a better understanding, because currently recruiters in HR do kind of get a black eye for their mysterious processes and rules that nobody seems to understand. Well, this is one of those big ones, and educating everyone on it, regardless of where you stand in the process, just makes processes that much better.
Katie Keller:
Sure, absolutely. And so OFCCP obviously affects candidates, recruiters and HR teams. It affects both contractors and subcontractors. So, for anyone doing business with the federal government, these entities have to comply with the legal requirement to take affirmative action, not discriminate on the basis of race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, national origin, etc. When it comes to compliance, HR accuracy is really important. So, don’t let your data gather dust, and make sure that your HR departments are up-to-date on the current policy, since it is forever changing. And for more recruiting and HR news or advice, you can visit news.clearancejobs.com.
