We are pleased to present the third guide in our new “OFCCP Compliance Primer” series, which is designed to help new compliance professionals understand the affirmative action program (AAP) requirements, enforced by the Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP), that apply to companies doing business with the federal government.
As we explained in our most recent Compliance Primer guide focusing on the “Job Group Analysis,” dividing the workforce at each AAP location into AAP “job groups” is the first step in the process for comparing the demographics of the company’s workforce to the estimated availability of qualified women and minorities in the relevant labor market.
The next step in the process is to determine “availability,” which typically consists of two factors: (1) external availability; and (2) internal availability. In other words, a federal contractor might fill an open position through a new, external hire, or with the transfer/promotion of an existing (internal) employee, so that any estimate of the “availability” of qualified women or minorities must take both factors into account.
This guide focuses on how OFCCP expects contractors to determine, or calculate, the external availability for women and minorities, which is typically reflected in an “External Availability Report.”
Members of the Equal Employment Advisory Council (EEAC) can read more here.