Effective Feb. 28, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) has released new procedures for reviewing contractor compensation programs and practices. As part of the change, OFCCP rescinded two documents from 2006 on Standards and Voluntary Guidelines: “Interpreting Non-Discrimination Requirements of Executive Order 11246 with Respect to Systematic Compensation Discrimination” and “The Voluntary Guidelines for Self-Evaluation of Compensation Practices for Compliance with Executive Order 11246 with Respect to Systematic Discrimination.” 

The agency has stated the new procedures allow for greater transparency on investigating pay discrimination; however, by rescinding the guidance documents, OFCCP has eliminated a previous “safe harbor” for government contractors attempting to comply with the agency’s unclear nondiscrimination requirements regarding equal pay to job groups of employees based on race, sex and other protected classes. It remains to be seen what the impact of this change will be on contractor efforts to comply with OFCCP’s requirements.

OFCCP is offering a free webinar to the public to address questions regarding the new procedures. The webinar is scheduled for Friday, March 22 from 11 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. (ET). To register, click here. 

OFCCP compliance information is available on their website: http://www.dol.gov/ofccp/regs/compliance/CompGuidance/index.htm.