In order to provide more clarity regarding the equal employment and affirmative action obligations for small employers, OFCCP has released a new technical assistance guide specifically developed for small federal supply and service contractors, construction contractors, and federally assisted construction contractors.  According to the technical assistance guide, this document is meant to “serve as a valuable self-assessment tool for small contractors to review the practices they have in place to eliminate discrimination and achieve their EEO goals.”  The guide also “aims to help small federal contractors meet all of their obligations required under the law.”

The regulations enforced by OFCCP do not define what a small contractors is, nor do they provide a concise contract amount or employee count threshold that establishes a contractor’s obligation to follow affirmative action regulations.  Rather, each of the three laws from which OFCCP derives its authority have separate contract amount and/or employee count thresholds for certain aspects of the relevant regulations.  At times, this has led to confusion about the exact obligations that small contractors have. 

Content Adjusted for Small Contractors

In many ways, this technical assistance guide is a parsed down version of the Supply and Service Contractor Technical Assistance Guide recently released by OFCCP, though with information regarding construction contractors and federally assisted construction contractors added.  It contains a number of sections that small contractors may find useful including:

• Required postings, listings, and notices
• Mandatory notices in subcontracts, purchase orders, bids, and contracting documents
• Recordkeeping requirements
• Surveying requirements

Additionally, the document includes a number of appendices covering a range of topics such as information on the required contents of affirmative action plans, contact information for various OFCCP contacts, and examples of records that must be kept by small contractors.

Additional Technical Assistance Guides

The technical assistance guide for small businesses is one of several technical assistance guides recently created by OFCCP.  There are also technical assistance guides that contain information specifically for educational institutions, construction contractors, and supply and service contractors, as previously mentioned. 

Over the next several months, we will be exploring the various sections of the Supply and Service Technical Assistance guide and how federal contractors and subcontractors can use the information provided to help ensure compliance with federal affirmative action regulations.  Articles on the Supply and Service Technical Assistance Guide will be posted to our News page weekly starting mid-February.