OFCCP budget increases announced for 2010

The Department of Labor has announced their 2010 budget and the OFCCP has been identified to receive an increase of more than $25 million dollars to enhance their already aggressive enforcement strategies. Included in the budget is the addition of more than 200 full time employeees and a new case mamagement system. See the excerpt below for details.

Secretary Hilda L. Solis unveils U.S. Department of Labor’s budget for fiscal year 2010. View the news brief:
http://www.dol.gov/opa/media/press/oasam/OASAM20090489.htm

View the entire budget brief:
http://www.dol.gov/dol/budget/2010/PDF/bib.pdf

Excerpt from the Budget in Brief regarding the OFCCP budget increase:

"The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) has the responsibility of ensuring that employers doing business with the Federal Government comply with the Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) and affirmative action provisions of their contracts. The OFCCP administers and enforces three EEO programs: Executive Order 11246; Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973; and the affirmative action provisions of the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974.

The OFCCP carries out its responsibilities by: (1) offering technical assistance to Federal contractors and subcontractors to help them understand the regulatory requirements and review process; (2) conducting compliance evaluations and complaint investigations of Federal contractor and subcontractor personnel policies and procedures; (3) obtaining Conciliation Agreements from contractors and subcontractors who are in violation of regulatory requirements; (4) monitoring contractors and subcontractors progress in fulfilling the terms of their agreements through periodic compliance reports; (5) forming linkage agreements between contractors and Labor Department job training programs to help employers identify and recruit qualified workers and recommend enforcement actions to the Solicitor of Labor.

The FY 2010 budget request includes a program increase of $25,600,000 to fund 213 FTE and a new case management system. The additional FTE will support enforcement and outreach efforts related to compensation. Given the complexities of new procedures outlined in the two federal register notices – Interpreting Nondiscrimnation (Standards) and Voluntary Guidelines for Requirements of Executive Order (guidelines), OFCCP needs to place additional emphasis on outreach and training, as well as improving the various approaches and investigative techniques used to evaluate compensation. In addition, the program increase will also support litigation to amplify enforcement activities by funding external experts to verify OFCCP’s allegations and assessments to solidify its commitment to strong enforcement.
In FY 2008, OFCCP made total financial settlements of $67,510,892 in back pay and annualized salary and benefits for a record 24,508 American workers who had been subjected to unlawful employment discrimination. This marks the fourth consecutive year that OFCCP has posted record enforcement numbers."