Leslie Solondz Quoted in Bloomberg
"Vendors Spend 11 Million Hours a Year to Satisfy Anti-Bias Rules"

Seyfarth Shaw Atlanta partner Leslie Solondz was quoted in Bloomberg on July 5 in an article regarding the Office of the Federal Contract Compliance Programs' (OFCCP) boost in funding and how that adversely affects U.S. federal contractors.

The agency has overhauled its auditing process, and beginning October 1, vendors will have to supply more extensive information (e.g. applicant and employee racial backgrounds, along with company policies on pregnancy leave and religious accommodations) at the beginning of an audit, which is a new requirement. While the audit length can vary from several months to up to 10 years, and this time frame is predicted to grow, the workforce details will be demanded up front.

"This will be an enormous burden on contractors," Leslie said. In order for companies to comply with the regulatory effort, the hardship is "not just in putting the material together to give to the agency, but there are all sort of processes that are going to have to be changed internally."

This new strategy by the OFCCP resulted in an increase in the number of settlements in cases where violations were found.

The article also mentions that President Obama has made labor and equal pay issues a priority, and the OFCCP is focusing on gender pay disparities.