Attendees at last week’s 2020 CWC Policy Conference in Washington, DC were treated to a special presentation by new Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) Ombudsman Marcus Stergio. This was one of the first opportunities that stakeholders have had to directly engage the Ombudsman, whose role is designed to help “facilitate the fair and equitable resolution” of concerns raised by federal contractors. Mr. Stergio was one of three featured speakers at the Policy Conference from OFCCP, along with Deputy Director Bob Gaglione, and Dr. Robert (Bob) LaJeunesse, OFCCP’s Branch Chief of Expert Services.
Mr. Stergio sat down for a “fireside chat” with CWC staff, and provided a comprehensive overview of the core principles that will drive OFCCP’s new Ombud Service, examples of how and when the service can be used, and his experiences thus far since joining OFCCP. OFCCP’s Ombud Service was announced in 2018, and was designed to be led by a career official either designated or hired by the national office. Mr. Stergio was hired in August of last year to lead that service.
Mr. Stergio also announced that while the service has not formally launched, and may not launch for several more weeks, interested stakeholders should feel free to engage him by emailing him directly at stergio.marcus@dol.gov. Along those lines, Mr. Stergio has also agreed to host a web meeting sometime next month with CWC member company primary representatives, the details of which we hope to announce shortly.
Members of the Center for Workplace Compliance (CWC) can read more here.