Effect of Election 2016 on labor and employment law. We asked our practice group heads and some thought leaders to tell us how they think employers will be affected by a Trump Administration on specific labor and employment law issues. This client bulletin is packed with prognostication about what we may see in the areas of affirmative action and OFCCP compliance, litigation ...

For the past eight years, as President Obama was unable to push much of his legislative agenda through Congress, federal contractors have faced an onslaught of increasing regulatory burdens and an aggressive enforcement agency. Will the positions of the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs soften under a Trump Administration? Here are my predictions.

Fair Pay ...

Federal contractors, will asking applicants to voluntarily self-identify by race -- a request that the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs requires you to make -- be used against you in a hiring-discrimination lawsuit?

A recent decision from a federal court in New Jersey indicates that the answer is NO, as long as you handle the information correctly.

In ...

Being part of the "in" crowd with the FBI apparently does not protect you from the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs.

To the contrary: It was an FBI contract that subjected a California-based technology company to an OFCCP review that has resulted in an administrative complaint.

Palantir Technologies is a large government contractor with more than $340 ...

UPDATE (10/25/16): They did, they did! Judge Marcia Crone has issued a preliminary injunction against the Rule, which blocks it from going into effect. She agreed with the plaintiffs on just about every point (although she declined to block the paycheck transparency provisions). Here is a copy of the Order.

Many federal contractors are on the verge of having to ...

The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that employment in construction and extraction occupations will grow 10 percent from 2014 to 2024 - increasing from 6.5 million to 7.2 million jobs - the biggest increase in any industry. As a result, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, which is responsible for ensuring that contractors meet their ...

According to a study recently published by the U.S. Government Accountability Office, there are indications that the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs is not effective in stopping discrimination.

But before contractors get excited, they'd better take a look at the reasons. According to the GAO study, the OFCCP doesn't focus its efforts at those ...

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced yesterday that it will indeed start requiring employers with 100 or more employees to include compensation information in their annual EEO-1 reports. This includes companies that are not federal contractors as well as those that are.

The new reporting obligations will begin on March 31, 2018, for the 2017 calendar year.

For ...

The U.S. Department of Labor announced today its Final Rule implementing Executive Order 13706, Establishing Paid Sick Leave for Federal Contractors. We are reviewing the Final Rule and will publish an Affirmative Action Alert with more details.

In the meantime, here are the highlights from the DOL’s Fact Sheet:

*Covered contractors are “nearly identical” to ...

The U.S. Department of Labor announced last week that covered federal contractors and subcontractors will be required to pay workers an hourly minimum wage of $10.20 an hour beginning January 1, 2017.  The minimum cash wage for tipped workers will increase to $6.80 an hour.

The annual increases are required by an Executive Order issued in February 2014, which mandates that ...