The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) is poised to mail out advanced courtesy notifications (known as Corporate Scheduling Announcement Letters or CSALs), to federal contractor establishments that have been selected for a compliance evaluation during the next scheduling cycle. The CSALs are addressed to the “Human Resources Director” at the selected establishments. It is therefore imperative that employers inform their local Human Resources Managers to look out for the CSALs and forward them immediately to the responsible corporate HR official. Once an employer receives the advance notification of the CSAL, it should seize the opportunity provided by the CSAL’s “heads up” time and start preparing for the compliance review immediately.
If your establishment receives this courtesy notification, expect unprecedented challenges due to OFCCP’s new regulations affecting veterans, individuals with disabilities and compensation systems.
The list consists of 2500 establishments and is generated from OFCCP’s Federal Contractor Selection System (FCSS). The notification is intended to help contractors to be better prepared for the upcoming OFCCP audit, especially for each facility that receives a letter.
What Should You Do
1. Notify the local Human Resources personnel to be on the lookout for a CSAL from OFCCP. The receipt of a CSAL assures that the scheduling letter will follow.
2. Consider whether your company has been correctly selected for audit. Determine whether your company is a federal contractor or covered subcontractor. OFCCP uses a neutral selection process and its jurisdiction extends only to federal contractors and subcontractors. Although, the OFCCP typically won’t give up easily, it is not impossible to administratively close an audit for not meeting the threshold requirements to be classified as a federal contractor/subcontractor.
3. Begin preparing for the compliance review immediately. When you receive the official scheduling letter thereafter, you will only have thirty (30) days to respond to OFCCP’s standard audit requests, which now identifies 22 documents, records or other types of information in the Itemized Listing that it sends with its Scheduling Letter. . The OFCCP’s new scheduling letter requests, among other things, copies of your affirmative action plans as well as data regarding applicants, hires, promotions, terminations and employee compensation. Thirty days is naturally not enough time to ensure your plans are developed properly or to confirm the accuracy of the data you will be required to disclose. Both are important to contain liability risk and avoid a lengthy audit with as few follow-up requests from OFCCP as possible. If you have received or you do receive a CSAL and you are concerned about your ability to properly prepare for your upcoming audit, we can assist you. Call us at 714-426-1800. In the meantime, read our two-part post to learn what the new Scheduling Letter and Itemized Listing require of you.