Ondray Harris, the new Director of the Labor Department’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP), has issued a new Directive to the agency’s field staff calling on them to “establish the consistent use of PDNs
Essentially, Directive 2018-01 revives and standardizes OFCCP’s prior practice of issuing a “predetermination notice” (PDN) prior to issuing a final notice of violation (NOV) whenever the agency believes it has found indicators of discrimination in the course of a compliance evaluation. The PDN is meant to provide contractors with a last opportunity to explain their case before a NOV is issued, which officially ends the conversation and initiates the formal enforcement process.
During the previous administration, OFCCP regional directors had discretion in determining whether to issue a PDN, and for the most part did not issue them, choosing instead to go right to enforcement. Pursuant to the new Directive, however, “Regional discretion is no longer permitted.” In fact, the directive requires approval by both DOL’s Office of the Solicitor and then OFCCP’s national office before a PDN can be issued. In the meantime, the Directive instructs field offices to hold any NOVs that have not yet been sent to contractors and issue a PDN instead.
Members of the Center for Workplace Compliance (CWC) can read more here.