The Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) announced late last week that it is extending the temporary measures put in place to ease the compliance burden on companies holding federal contracts to provide Hurricane Harvey relief to contractors with Hurricane Irma relief contracts. In addition, OFCCP has extended the temporary moratorium on new compliance audits of establishments in Hurricane Harvey impact zones to Hurricane Irma impact zones.
Again exercising his authority under federal law to invoke a “national interest exemption” (NIE) where circumstances warrant, Acting OFCCP Director Thomas Dowd has issued a second memorandum to all federal contracting agencies allowing them to enter into contracts for Irma relief that waive OFCCP’s written affirmative action program (AAP) obligations.
OFCCP has also added to and further revised its “Frequently Asked Questions” (FAQs) to clarify that the written AAP waivers for both Harvey and Irma relief apply to both construction and supply and service contracts, and has clarified that the waiver applies automatically to qualifying subcontracts as long as the prime contract contains the prescribed waiver clause. As a practical matter, the waiver exempts companies that hold these relief contracts – and only these relief contracts – from an OFCCP audit, providing companies that are not federal contractors with an incentive to pitch in.
OFCCP has also extended a temporary three-month moratorium on new compliance audits to contractor establishments located in Hurricane Irma’s impact zones.
Members of the Center for Workplace Compliance (CWC) can read more here.