The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs portal for contractors to report this year’s compliance with the Affirmative Action Program requirements will open March 31.
Though the portal opens soon, contractors still have about three months left before the deadline to certify compliance on June 29. You can access the portal here.
The portal exists to provide all non-exempt contractors with an avenue to annually confirm they satisfy the the requirement to develop and keep on file an affirmative action program. OFCCP does not require contractors to upload a copy of the plan. Instead, they must merely certify that they have developed one and have it on file.
Those who miss the deadline will find themselves more likely the wind up on OFCCP’s scheduling list. In other words, they’ll be up for a compliance check and will likely receive a letter like this one from the Department of Labor.
If you’re wondering whether this applies to your federal contracting business, there’s a decent chance it does. As my colleague John Mattox pointed out as part of his Understanding the Basics series the requirement applies to any service or supply contractor with more than 50 employees and a contract worth more than $50,000. Incidentally, prime contractors must require their subcontractors who meet the same criteria to certify.
If you’re a new contractor, you have 120 days to develop a plan and must certify through the portal within 90 days of developing the plan. (For what it’s worth, this seems overly complicated. Why not just make the deadline to develop and certify 210 days?)
Once you’re logged in, certifying should not prove difficult. OFCCP claims contractors will be able to certify each of its locations that meet the threshold in about six minutes.
If you have questions about certifying, developing a plan, or otherwise, feel free to reach out to us.