Press Releases

On Wednesday, December 4th at 10:00 a.m., the Subcommittee on Workforce Protections, chaired by Rep. Tim Walberg (R-MI), will hold a hearing entitled, “Examining Recent Actions by the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs.” The hearing will take place in room 2175 of the Rayburn House Office Building.
 
The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) enforces affirmative action and nondiscrimination employment policies affecting federal contractors, such as the Rehabilitation Actcovering individuals with disabilities and the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act on behalf of covered veterans. OFCCP recently finalized two rules that impose sweeping changes to these long standing policies. The rules create significant administrative burdens by requiring contractors to conduct extensive analyses on their recruitment and hiring of veterans and individuals with disabilities. 

The new regulations also require federal contractors to hire a certain percentage of covered veterans, as well as ensure seven percent of each job group in their workforce includes disabled individuals. While the department has stressed these are merely goals, employers may lose their federal contracts if they fail to meet the department’s requirements. Employers will be forced to ask job applicants to self-identify whether they have a disability, despite a clear prohibition against doing so in the Americans with Disabilities Act. Committee leaders requested more information on the regulations, but the Department of Labor failed to provide an adequate response.

Wednesday’s hearing will provide members an opportunity to discuss the effects of these new regulations on workers and employers, as well as attempts by OFCCP to exert jurisdiction over health care providers. To learn more about this hearing, visit www.republicans-edlabor.house.gov/hearings.

# # # 

WITNESS LIST

Ms. Patricia A. Shiu
Director
Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs
Department of Labor
Washington, D.C.

Mr. David Fortney
Co-Founder 
Fortney & Scott, LLC
Washington, D.C.
Testifying on behalf of H.R. Policy Association

Mr. Thomas C. Shanahan
Vice President and General Counsel
The University of North Carolina
Chapel Hill, NC

Mr. Brian Fitzgerald
Chief Executive Officer
Easter Seals New Jersey
East Brunswick, NJ

Mr. Curt Kirschner
Partner
Jones Day
San Francisco, CA
Testifying on behalf of the American Hospital Association