Under the new “pay transparency” rule promulgated by the Labor Department’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) that went into effect on January 11, 2016, federal contractors are required to “disseminate” information describing the rule to employees and job applicants using language prescribed by OFCCP.
In an apparent effort to help contractors comply, OFCCP has now published its prescribed “pay transparency nondiscrimination provision” (policy statement) in a new, formatted color poster available for download from the agency’s website. An unformatted PDF file of the prescribed language also is available on the website.
Importantly, contractors are not required to use OFCCP’s new formatted poster to meet these notice obligations. The obligation under OFCCP’s pay transparency rule is simply to post a pay transparency policy statement using language provided by OFCCP and to incorporate the policy statement into employee manuals or handbooks.
One possible disincentive to using OFCCP’s new poster is that it includes the added statement, “If you believe that you have experienced discrimination contact OFCCP,” along with agency contact information. Contractors are not required to include this language as part of their notice obligation.