OFCCP Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for Veterans Regulations Is Imminent

The federal contractor community has been waiting for it … and now publication is imminent. The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs’ (OFCCP) Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) for the regulations interpreting the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974, as amended (VEVRAA), is ready for publication in the Federal Register.

Yesterday, March 30, 2011, the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), part of the Office of Management & Budget (OMB), completed its review of OFCCP’s proposed rule, which is titled “Affirmative Action and Nondiscrimination Obligations of Contractors and Subcontractors; Evaluation of Recruitment and Placement Results Under the VEVRAA of 1974, as amended.” OIRA had received the proposed rule from OFCCP on July 2, 2010.

In March 2010, OFCCP Director Patricia Shiu announced the intent to revisit the affirmative action regulations for covered veterans in connection with publication of the OFCCP’s strategic plan for fiscal years 2010 through 2016. Click here for more information on OFCCP’s strategic plan. Since that time, the agency has focused heavily on affirmative action for veterans during compliance evaluations of federal contractors and subcontractors. As stated in OFCCP’s regulatory agenda for fiscal year 2011, the agency planned to publish the NPRM in January 2011. Click here for more information on the agency’s regulatory agenda.

What Contractors Should Do Now

Stay tuned. Now that OIRA’s review is complete, publication of the NPRM in the Federal Register should happen very soon. Seyfarth Shaw will send another alert once the NPRM is published with more detailed information about content and potential implications for federal contractors and subcontractors.

If you would like more information about this One Minute Memo, affirmative action for covered veterans, or submitting comments to OFCCP once the NPRM is published, please contact the Seyfarth attorney with whom you work or any attorney on our OFCCP & Affirmative Action Compliance Team.