Addendum A to Chapter 8 of the revised OFCCP Federal Contract Compliance Manual (FCCM) dated July 2013 is a "Model Conciliation Agreement for Compensation" (hereafter, Model CA). Chapter 8H01 entitled, "Contents of A Conciliation Agreement" discusses the standard text conciliation agreement that has been the template for all OFCCP conciliation agreements for years. There is no discussion in this section of the Model Concili...

The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) issued their final rules on Section 503 regarding persons with disabilities and Section 4212 regarding protected veterans. Sandra Scott Zeigler, Esq., a recognized authority on Federal EEO enforcement with 25 years of experience divided equally between the EEOC and OFCCP, discusses how these new rules will impact employers beginning in 2014. You can also read Zeigle...

The long awaited Section 503 (disability) and Section 4212 (protected veterans) regulations have finally been issued. Much fear and trepidation has been generated in the Federal Contractor community over the last few years over the possible impact of these new rules on the regulated community. Federal Contractors raised significant concerns about the prescriptive nature, the efficacy, and the burden hours of many of the p...

The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) issued a directive regarding the calculation of back pay for victims of employment discrimination. The Directive is intended to improve consistency in the methods used to calculate back pay across the United States. Sandra Scott Zeigler, Esq., a recognized authority on Federal EEO enforcement with 25 years of experience divided equally between the EEOC and OFCCP, di...

On July 17, 2013, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) issued a new directive on how to calculate back pay for victims of employment discrimination. The Directive serves at least two purposes. First, it memorializes current practices in the calculation of monetary remedies at OFCCP. Second, it resolves some open questions or variations in the approach to the basic calculation of remedies between the Re...

The American Medical Association (AMA) recently classified obesity as a disease. Could this influence the way obesity is treated when developing public policy? What implications and applicability does this issue have under The Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Section 503 and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)? Sandra Scott Zeigler, Esq., a recognized authority on Federal EEO enforcement with 25 years of experience divide...

The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) define non minorities or whites as the unexpected victims of race discrimination. However, Civil Rights prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, including whites. The disparate treatment and impact theories apply regardless of race and gender. Sandra Scott Zeigler, Esq., a recognized authority on Federal E...

Disease vs. DisabilityOn June 18, 2013, the American Medical Association (AMA) voted to classify obesity as a disease. According to all reports, this decision does not, by itself, carry any legal weight. However, it could influence the way obesity is treated in developing public policy on the issue. In fact, public policy has been trending this way for a while. One of the earliest cases discussing obesity and disability wa...

When a practice is fair in form because it applies equally to all employees or applicants, but has a disproportionally negative impact on the terms and conditions of employment of a protected class of applicants or employees, it results in disparate impact. Does allowing applicants to negotiate starting salaries lead to disparate impact since the opportunity to negotiate is equally available to all applicants? This question...

The unexpected victim in OFCCP and EEOC race cases is a white, or as OFCCP likes to call it, a non-minority, victim. The historical reasons for this are well known. The civil rights laws were developed to counteract the societal bias that favors white applicants and/or employees. However, the fact that such cases are rare does not mean they are non-existent. The civil rights laws prohibit discrimination on the basis of...