Defense contractor HR and recruiting teams must ensure that they are compliant under the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) rules and regulations. For cleared recruiters, this means effectively tracking data, reaching diverse talent pools with job descriptions, and other affirmative action and equal employment opportunity obligations, generally speaking. This office hopes to help employ and advance individuals in a non-discriminatory manner, and there are many obligations to adhere to.
EEO-1 reports have recently made headlines. Required data collections are done annually, making all federal contractors with 50+ workers (along with other parameters) submit demographic personnel data, including race/ethnicity, sex and job types.
According to the DOL OFCCP, they received a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request from Will Evans of the Center for Investigative Reporting for all Type 2 Consolidated Employer Information Reports that were filed by contractors between 2016-2020. Evans is also a reporter for Reveal, highlighting labor issues that have previously triggered government investigations, legislation updates, and even prosecutions. The type 2 reports, in comparison to type 1, are only required for multi-establishment organizations. This report merges all workers from across the company in different locations into one, single report, regardless of job function.
However, the OFCCP office believes that the data that has been asked of them may not be released because of Exemption 4 under FOIA, which safeguards “trade secrets and commercial or financial information obtained from a person that is privileged or confidential.” Exemption 4 is in place to protect the interests of the parties required to release information and the government.
We still don’t know if the requested data is in fact protected under that exemption.
WHAT THIS MEANS FOR CONTRACTORS THAT filed EEO Reports
If you filed a type 2 EEO-1 Report, OFCCP is asking those businesses that filed to submit objections by September 19, 2022. Objections can mean it would harm your organizational interests if this information was released, or if the data is under the trade secret or financial information protection.
OFCCP will release this data from the filed reports unless contractors present written objections. Any defense contractor that seeks to stop the release of their report must file objections with the OFCCP either through the online OFCCP Submitter Notice Response Portal or through email to OFCCPSubmitterResponse@dol.gov.
We will keep readers informed as this story develops.
THE CLEARED RECRUITING CHRONICLES: YOUR WEEKLY DoD RECRUITING TIPS TO OUT COMPETE THE NEXT NATIONAL SECURITY STAFFER.
