Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP)
Policy/Regulatory Issues
- My company has been advised that OFCCP no longer uses the Letter of Commitment and that the only document for resolving a violation is a Conciliation Agreement no matter how minor the violation. Is this true?
- The scheduling letter used by OFCCP to commence a compliance evaluation requires the submission of an Executive Order Affirmative Action Program (AAP); Section 503/38 U.S.C. 4212 AAP(s); and support data on personnel activity from the preceding AAP year (a contractor that is 6 months or more into the AAP year must submit information that reflects progress on goals established in the current AAP). What does OFCCP consider to be a "current" Affirmative Action Program and support data?
My company has been advised that OFCCP no longer uses the Letter of Commitment and that the only document for resolving a violation is a Conciliation Agreement no matter how minor the violation. Is this true?
The use of a Letter of Commitment (LOC) was discontinued by Administrative Notice #226 on August 5, 1998; this document was used to resolve minor, technical violations which are generally correctable on-site. OFCCP now documents minor violations in its Compliance Evaluation Closure Letter. The Conciliation Agreement continues to be used to document and resolve major, substantive violations. You may access the administrative notice through our Web site.
The scheduling letter used by OFCCP to commence a compliance evaluation requires the submission of an Executive Order Affirmative Action Program (AAP); Section 503/38 U.S.C. 4212 AAP(s); and support data on personnel activity from the preceding AAP year (a contractor that is 6 months or more into the AAP year must submit information that reflects progress on goals established in the current AAP). What does OFCCP consider to be a "current" Affirmative Action Program and support data?
Contractors are obligated to update their AAPs on an annual basis. When a scheduling letter is received, there is an expectation that a contractor will submit "current" AAPs. When a scheduling letter has been received just prior to, or just after, the annual update, questions have arisen concerning which AAPs should be submitted as the "current" AAP(s). Contractors should submit to the agency the AAP(s) that are current as of the date the scheduling letter is received. The date of receipt will be considered to be the date that the Certified Mail Return Receipt is signed by a representative of the contractor. If the scheduling letter is received within 30 days of the annual update of a contractor's AAP(s), the contractor may, at its own option, submit the updated AAP(s) for desk audit. In the event the contractor decides to submit the AAP(s) that have not yet been updated, then support data for the eleven (11) month period preceding the updating of those AAP(s) must be provided, in addition to information on the preceding AAP year.
