Look out for OFCCP scheduling letters: OFCCP previously sent out 1,000 courtesy (CSAL) letters to specific contractor locations generically addressed to the Human Resources Director to inform contractors if they will be audited or not. On Monday March 19, OFCCP sent out the first round of scheduling letters. OFCCP mails a CSAL (or designated point of contact) of each establishment on the scheduling list. Employers may confirm whether an establishment was mailed a CSAL by e–mailing a written request on company letterhead to the Division of Program Operations at [email protected].
Reminder – EEO-1 reports due March 31: 2017 revisions to the EEO-1 Report changed the annual filing date from September 30 to March 31 and would have required employers to submit compensation and hours data in addition to the standard workforce representation data. Employers received a reprieve from the compensation and hours data obligations in August 2017 when the Office of Management and Budget issued a stay of those portions of the revised report. The change to the filing deadline; however, remained in place. As such, employers must now use a payroll period between October 1 and December 31, 2017 as the basis for the submission and must file their 2017 EEO-1 Report by March 31, 2018. It is unknown at this time whether March 31 will be the reporting date for 2018 or if it will return to the September 30 schedule: Source: Crowell & Moring 3/14/18
#Metoo has not yet led to rise in sexual harassment charges with EEOC: The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission hasn’t seen a surge in sexual harassment complaints since the start of the #MeToo movement, but more workers have been threatening to sue, acting EEOC Commissioner Victoria Lipnic said last week at a Society for Human Resource Management conference in Washington, D.C. Lipnic, who was joined by Duane Morris LLP partner Jonathan Segal, told attendees at SHRM’s 2018 Employment Law & Legislative Conference that employer groups and insurers that pay out on harassment claims have been fielding more and more letters from workers’ attorneys laying out possible claims in recent months. “People may not be, yet, going to the EEOC — and in fact we have not seen a huge surge in charges being filed with the EEOC — but what I’m hearing is, particularly from insurance carriers … they’re seeing a lot more demand letters,” Lipnic said. “If the demand letters I’m receiving on behalf of employers is any prediction of what’s going to come, you’re going to have a very busy summer,” responded Segal, who advises employers on discrimination and harassment. Source: Law360 3/14/18
White employee fired for using racial slurs cannot show double standard: Although a white employee who was fired for using the "N-word" on multiple occasions claimed there "was a double standard concerning discipline for alleged racial slurs between white and black employees," he failed to show he was treated differently than similarly situated black coworkers under nearly identical circumstances, including an employee who stated "They ain’t never made a good white man." Nor could he show the employer’s reason for firing him—violating its non-harassment policy—was pretextual, said a federal district court in Mississippi, granting summary judgment against his Title VII and Section 1981 race discrimination claims. Source: CCH 3/15/18, Vess v MTD Consumer Group, Inc, No. 1:16-CV-80-DMB-RP. (Northern District Mississippi, 2/16/18)
Federal contractors – are you subject to federal paid sick leave? As a reminder, contracts entered into after January 1, 2017 that fall into one of these four categories are subject to these obligations: procurement contracts for construction covered by the Davis-Bacon Act (DBA); services contracts covered by the Service Contract Act (SCA); concessions contracts, including any concessions contract excluded from the SCA by DOL’s regulations at 29 CFR 4.133(b); contracts in connection with federal property or lands and related to offering services for federal employees, their dependents, or the general public. If you haven’t already done so, check your contracts to confirm whether they contain reference to Executive Order 13706: Paid Sick Leave for Workers on Federal Contracts. If not, then you are not required to do so. The requirements include that an hour of paid leave is earned for every 30 hours of work; leave can be used to care for the worker or family members; unused leave can carry over from year to year; unused leave will be reinstated for employees rehired by a covered contractor within 12 months after a job separation; and payment for unused leave upon job separation is not required. For more information on paid sick leave law, click here. Source: Jackson Lewis 3/13/18
OFCCP requires PDNs before NOVs: On March 14, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance announced that as part of the agency’s continuing efforts to increase transparency of preliminary findings with federal contractors, and to achieve consistency across all regional and district offices, it is standardizing the use of Predetermination Notices (PDN). The change will give all contractors an opportunity to respond to a preliminary finding of employment discrimination before the agency issues a Notice of Violation (NOV). Compliance officers and other responsible staff are now required to issue PDNs at the conclusion of compliance evaluations in which the contractors have failed to provide adequate explanations to proposed discrimination findings. The PDN, in the form of a letter from the OFCCP to the contractor, gives the contractor 15 additional calendar days to rebut the agency’s proposed findings that there is sufficient evidence of discrimination. The corresponding regional Office of the Solicitor is required to review PDNs before they can be submitted to the OFCCP’s national office for review and final decision. Source: CCH 3/16/16, OFCCP 3/14/18
Happiest countries in the world rankings: No, it’s not the United States, which only ranks 18th. The World Happiness Report released by the United Nation ahead of the United Nations' World Happiness Day on March 20, ranked 156 countries on six variables — income, life expectancy, freedom, social support, trust, and generosity. The report included surveys of 117 nations based on the happiness of immigrants there. Finland came out on top in both categories. Following Finland in the top 10 are Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Canada, New Zealand, Sweden, and Australia. The same countries over the past two years have been in the top 10 spots. They are characterized by lower wealth inequality, high taxes, good access to health care, long life expectancy, low corruption, and support for those who need help from the state or communities. The U.S. nabbed the 18th spot, down four places from last year. Top factors for the American decline in happiness include weakened social support networks, government and business corruption, and a declining confidence in public institutions. The report also cites obesity, the opioid epidemic, and depression in America. As an FYI, Great Britain is 19, Russia ranks 59, and China 86. Source: USAToday.com 3/14/18; 2018 World Happiness Report