The Center for Workplace Compliance (CWC), our affiliated nonprofit membership association, has filed comments with the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs urging it to consider alternatives to its proposed revisions of nondiscrimination and affirmative action regulations under Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act.
OFCCP has proposed eliminating the requirement that contractors “invite applicants and employees to self-identify their disability status,” along with the quantitative analytics that stem from tracking and tabulating these invitations.
CWC’s comments urge OFCCP to weigh other options that will satisfy its concerns that pre-employment disability solicitations conflict with the Americans with Disabilities Act, but without jeopardizing the important disability compliance programs that federal contractors develop each year. OFCCP’s Section 503 regulations can be challenging, but employers have nonetheless found disability data to be valuable in ensuring that individuals with disabilities have equal access to workplace programs.
OFCCP will analyze the comments submitted by CWC — along with comments filed by individuals, advocacy groups, and employer groups — and weigh them before publishing a final rule. In the meantime, all Section 503 requirements remain intact.
CWC members can read more here.