In the latest Weekly Wright Report:
FMLA Forms Updated
The old FMLA forms provided by the DOL expired in May, 2018 and the Department of Labor has finally issued its updated FMLA forms and notices which can be found on DOL’s website. The forms are essentially unchanged from the prior version and employers should roll them into their policies.
- WH-380-E Certification of Health Care Provider for Employee’s Serious Health Condition (PDF)
- WH-380-F Certification of Health Care Provider for Family Member’s Serious Health Condition (PDF)
- WH-381 Notice of Eligibility and Rights & Responsibilities (PDF)
- WH-382 Designation Notice (PDF)
- WH-384 Certification of Qualifying Exigency For Military Family Leave (PDF)
- WH-385 Certification for Serious Injury or Illness of Current Servicemember — for Military Family Leave (PDF)
- WH-385-V Certification for Serious Injury or Illness of a Veteran for Military Caregiver Leave (PDF)
OFCCP Renewed Focus on Affirmative Action/EEO Compliance
By Mike Stover
Under Executive Order (EO) 11246 (9/24/65), Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974, federal contractors are prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or status as a protected veteran. Such contractors are also required to take affirmative steps to ensure equal employment opportunity in their employment processes, such as outreach, recruitment, and training obligations. The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (“OFCCP”) within the Department of Labor is charged with enforcing the Affirmative Action laws among the 120,000 contractor establishments and approximately 24,000 firms or parent companies over which the OFCCP has jurisdiction.
Under the applicable laws, certain federal contractors are required to develop an affirmative action plan (“Plan”) within 120 days of the commencement of a contract and to update the Plan annually. In 2016, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) in a report, Equal Employment Opportunity: Strengthening Oversight Could Improve Federal Contractor Nondiscrimination Compliance (GAO-16-750), expressed concern that OFCCP had no process for ensuring that federal contractors have timely developed a Plan or updated it annually. The report further found that almost 85 percent of federal contractors did not submit a timely written Plan.
On August 24, 2018, the OFCCP issued a Directive to implement a verification process with the objective of ensuring that all covered federal contractors are meeting the equal employment opportunity regulatory requirements by establishing a program for verification of compliance by all contractors. The verification would initially take the form of OFCCP review of a certification, followed by potential compliance checks, and could later take the form of annual submission of Plans to OFCCP for review. In addition, under this Directive OFCCP will be able to incorporate Plan certification information as a criterion for scheduling compliance audits. Thus, contractors that have not developed and maintained Plans will be more likely to get audited by the OFCCP.
In light of this new Directive, federal contractors must ensure that they are in compliance with the EEO and affirmative action laws and regulations and that associated Plans are timely submitted and updated annually. With the OFCCP renewed focus and attention and the revamping of the audit procedures, affected contractors should no longer risk non-compliance and exposure to penalties for failure to comply.
Contact us if you need assistance in making sure your company is or remains in compliance.
Want more? Visit the Weekly Wright Report page to browse past issues.