Home Depot, U.S. Settle Sex Bias Allegations

Women who apply or seek promotion to sales jobs at a Southern California Home Depot store now have a fighting chance of actually getting selected over men who tended to be favored for those positions by the hiring managers.

The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs learned of the situation and investigated. And as a result of that investigation, the store has agreed to do right by the women who were denied the fair opportunity for those better-paying jobs.

OFCCP investigators examined personnel records and employment applications, interviewed rejected female job applicants and managers, and found that management at the Pomona store had routinely channeled or placed equally or more qualified females into cashier positions while male hires were put into sales associate positions with higher pay and promotion opportunities, the agency said.

Under terms of the settlement, 46 women who either were not hired or were placed into the lower-paying cashier jobs will share in $83,400; five women will be or hired promoted to sales positions as part of the settlement.

Home Depot is a federal contractor with multiple contracts north of $2 billion. And that means it can’t discrimination in employment on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or status as a protected veteran.

There’s a lesson here for all employers, noncontractors and contractors alike. Review your hiring and promotion procedures to make sure that all qualified candidates get a fair consideration. And never routinely route members of a protected class to a particular job or job category.

Read more about the settlement.

 

New Obama Executive Order Requires Paid Sick Leave for Employees of Government Contractors

The hits keep coming for employees.  Today’s upbeat news comes from the White House, where President Obama has signed an executive order requiring government contractors to offer employees up to seven paid days of sick leave each year.

Employees would earn one hour of leave for every 30 hours worked, with a maximum of 7 days a year. Eligible workers could use their paid leave if they are sick or are caring for a sick relative. The leave also could be used for absences resulting from domestic violence or sexual assault.

The requirement will take effect in early 2017.

Here’s the text of the order establishing paid sick leave for federal contractors.

 

Labor Department Proposes Guidance to Implement Fair Pay, Safety Executive Order

Federal contractors, take note.

The U.S. Department of Labor today issued proposed guidance on enforcement of an executive order signed last summer by President Obama requiring all government contractors to comply with fair pay and workplace safety rules.

The Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces Executive Order requires prospective federal contractors to disclose labor law violations and will give agencies more guidance on how to consider labor violations when awarding federal contracts.

The guidance is intended to assist contracting agencies and the contracting community in applying the order’s requirements, including evaluating the severity of labor violations.

DOL’s announcement said that under the guidance “most federal contractors will only have to attest that they comply with laws providing basic workplace protections; for those contractors that report violations, designated Labor Compliance Advisors will coordinate with the relevant enforcement agency experts to help them come into compliance.”

The public has 60 days to comment on the proposal.

Here’s the DOL announcement.

DOL Extends Sex Bias Rule Comment Period

The public will have until April 14 to comment on the Labor Department’s proposed rule on the obligation of federal contractors and subcontractors not to discriminate on the basis of sex in their employment practices, DOL announced today.

The original deadline for comments was March 31–next Tuesday–but that date was set before the U.S. Supreme Court ruled a few days ago that a former UPS employee could pursue a pregnancy bias claim against the company for denying her a light-duty job during her pregnancy.

In response to that ruling, DOL’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, which enforces those contractor obligations, decided another two weeks was necessary  to take into account the high court’s decision.

The DOL noted that the ruling in Young v. UPS involved Title VII’s application to sex discrimination in the workplace, and that DOL follows Title VII principles when enforcing the law against employment discrimination by contractors and subcontractors.

Here’s the announcement.

Comment Period Open on Pay Data Rule

Congress is on recess, but government regulators are at their posts, churning out new proposals for affected businesses to digest. The latest from the Department of Labor was a proposed rule published in today’s Federal Register concerning an “equal pay report” that DOL wants to require government contractors to submit.

Under the proposed rule, contractors would have to provide summary data on employee compensation for DOL to evaluate for potential equal pay violations.

DOL’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs put it this way in announcing the proposed rule:

“Under the terms of the proposal, this requirement would apply to companies that file EEO-1 reports, have more than 100 employees and hold federal contracts or subcontracts worth $50,000 or more for at least 30 days. Through the Equal Pay Report, OFCCP would be able to collect summary employee pay and demographic data using existing government reporting frameworks.”

The proposed rule is now open for comment by interested parties. The comment period expires on Nov. 6.

To read and comment on the proposed rule, visit http://www.dol.gov/ofccp/EPR.

 

Rule Compels “Good Faith” Effort by Treasury Dept. Contractors to Include Women, Minorities

Contractors that perform services for the U.S. Department of Treasury should use the next couple of weeks to gear up to a new requirement that they make good-faith efforts to include women and minorities in their workforces.

Under the new rule, which goes into effect April 21, contractors must provide a written statement that it will ensure, “to the maximum extent possible,” the fair inclusion of women and minorities in its workforce and in that of its subcontractors.

“Good-faith efforts” are efforts consistent with the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and Executive Order 11246, as amended, such as identification and elimination of employment barriers, widespread publication of employment opportunities, and other forms of outreach to minorities and women.

Documents demonstrating good-faith efforts may include but aren’t limited to:

• The total number of a contractor’s employees and the number of minority and women employees as provided on the contractor’s EEO-1 form;

• Information about subcontract awards, including the subcontractor’s race, ethnicity, and/or gender status;

• Race, ethnicity, and gender information about the subcontractor’s employees; and

• The contractor’s plan to ensure that minorities and women have opportunities to enter and advance in the workforce.

The department’s requirements will apply to all service contracts.

OFCCP: Future AAPs Must Use 2010 Census Data

Attention federal contractors: It’s time to throw out that old census data from 2000 that you’ve been using for your affirmative action plans.

Starting with 2014 affirmative action plans, contractors must use data from teh 2010 census, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs announced recently.

Known as the “2010 EEO Tab.” the 2010 data replaces the Census 2000 Special EEO file that OFCCP and covered federal contractors began using in January 2005.

The requirement to use the latest census data applies to all affirmative action plans that commence on or after Jan. 1, 2014, OFCCP said.

Here’s the text of the notice.

Gay Rights Groups Express Hope for State of the Union Address

A line in the president’s annual state of the union address can make all the difference between whether an issue moves to the front and center of the political debate or languishes on the back burner.

Thus, advocates for gay and lesbian equality in the workplace are hoping that President Obama will announce in tomorrow night’s State of the Union address that he is prepared to move on one or more fronts in the continuing drive to ban sexual orientation in all aspects of employment.

Executive Order 11246–the main president order banning discrimination in government contracts, does not ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. Obama could make that happen with the stroke of his pen.

On the legislative front, Obama could also give his rhetorical support to the Employment Nondiscrimination Act, which would ban sexual orientation discrimination in all private employment. The bill died in the last Congress.

Check back here for continuing developments in these and other HR areas.

 

 

OFCCP Gets Nod to Proceed With Functional Affirmative Action Plan Proposal

The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) can go ahead with its new process for government contractors seeking approval for an development of written affirmative action plans by business function or unit rather than by establishment.

Traditionally, government contractors have been required to submit their affirmative action by plans by establishment, basically where their workers are located. However, the OFCCP has also allowed contractors to submit AA plans by business function, for example, sales, IT, or HR.

The OFCCP issued a new directive on functional affirmative action plans in June 2011. Like all proposed federal rules, the directive had to get the approval of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget before it could go into effect.

OMB gave its approval on Dec. 11 of this year.

You can learn much more about the functional AAP and the new OFCCP directive at ofccpblogspot.com.

Filing Deadline Extended to Oct. 31 for VETS 100,100A Reports

The filing deadline for two forms detailing federal contractors’ efforts to hire more military veterans has been extended to October 31, the government announced this week.

The Veterans’ Employment & Service Training made the announcement on its website. The original deadline was Sept. 30, which is also when the EEO-1 reports are due.

Under the affirmative action program, contractors and subcontractors  who enter into, or modify a contract or subcontract with the federal  government, and whose contract meets the criteria set forth in the Vietnam era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act, are required to report annually on their affirmative  action efforts in employing veterans. VETS has a legislative requirement to  collect, and make available to the Office of Federal Contact Compliance Programs, reported data contained on the VETS-100  and/or VETS-100A reports for compliance enforcement.

The VETS-100 Report calls for federal contractors and subcontractors to report the number of employees and  new hires during the reporting period who are:

(1) Special disabled  veterans;

(2) Veterans of the Vietnam era;

(3) Other protected veterans (veterans  who served on active duty in the U.S. military during a war or in a  campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge is awarded); and

(4) Recently separated veterans (veterans within 12 months from discharge or release from active duty).

By comparison, the Vets 100A requests that contractors and subcontractors report the number of employees and new hires during the reporting period belonging to the following categories:

(1)  Disabled veterans;

(2) Other protected veterans (veterans  who served on active duty in the U.S. military during a war or in a campaign  or expedition for which a campaign badge is awarded);

(3) Armed  Forces service medal veterans (veterans who, while serving on active duty in  the Armed Forces, participated in a United States military operation for which  an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985);  and

(4) Recently  separated veterans (veterans within 36 months from discharge or release from  active duty).

Note, the U.S. Department of Labor has proposed regulations to require contractors to establish annual hiring benchmarks for veterans. You can read more about that proposal at OFCCP’s website.

The Cascade Employers Association, a resource on topics for Oregon employers, has more information on the extension and the requirements for VETS-100 and 100A filing.