As the federal contractor community awaits the final veterans and disability affirmative action regulations, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) is keeping itself busy cleaning house.

OFCCP has maintained a Directives System since 1979 to distribute guidance to its staff and members of the public on OFCCP policy.  In December, 2011, the Division of Policy, Planning and Program Development began reviewing all of the directives that have been issued by OFCCP to determine whether they should remain active or be rescinded.  Earlier this year, OFCCP issued Directive 300 and Directive 302 rescinding 31 directives determined to be redundant or outdated.  On July 24, 2013, OFCCP rescinded another 33 obsolete directives with the issuance of Directive 311.

Directive 312, issued August 6, 2013, rescinds Directive 261, issued February 2, 2004.  Known as the “EVE” Directive, 261 created the Exemplary Voluntary Efforts (EVE) and two other “best practice” awards used to recognize private businesses and public interest organizations that exemplify equal employment principles.  Best practice awards were last presented in 2008 after authorization to collect information related to the awards expired on January 31, 2007, making the program obsolete.

More notably, Directive 309, issued July 12, 2013, rescinded a prior directive implementing the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the U.S. Department of Labor and the General Services Administration (GSA) regarding “Mega Construction Projects.”  OFCCP entered into a new MOU with GSA on July 9, 2013 that reduced the threshold for “Mega Construction Projects” from $50 million to $25 million.  Such projects are subject to “site-oriented” compliance reviews and may include more direct involvement with OFCCP from the outset of the project.

The Government Regulatory Compliance & Relations group at Proskauer continually monitors OFCCP activity for important changes affecting federal contractors.  Contact a member of our group regarding your compliance needs.