On June 27, 2014, the D.C. Circuit granted Kellogg Brown & Root’s (“KBR’s”) petition for a writ of mandamus and vacated a federal district court order requiring KBR to produce 89 documents related to an internal investigation. Relying on Upjohn Co. v. United States, 449 U.S. 383 (1981), the
New Delaware Law “Encourages” State Vendors to “Ban the Box”
Delaware’s Governor recently signed a “ban the box” law to prohibit public employers from inquiring into or considering the credit or criminal history of a job candidate during the initial application process (up to and including the first interview), unless otherwise required by state or federal law. Public employers must
OFCCP Hosts Executive Order 13665 and Presidential Memorandum “Listening Session”
On April 29th, 2014, the OFCCP hosted a “Listening Session” to solicit comments from the government contractor community regarding suggested implementing regulations for Executive Order 13665 (“EO 13665”) and a new Presidential Memorandum, which were signed by President Obama on April 8, 2014.
EO 13665 prohibits discrimination and retaliation against employees who discuss their compensation or compensation related issues. The Presidential Memorandum directs the OFCCP to implement regulations governing a new race and gender compensation data collection tool for government contractors and subcontractors. The Executive Order requires that the Secretary of Labor propose implementing regulations by September 15, 2014 while the Presidential Memorandum requires proposed regulations by August 6, 2014.
The OFCCP’s listening session provided the contractor community with
New Louisville “Ban the Box” Ordinance Covers City Contractors, Continues Growing Trend
Mayor Greg Fischer recently signed an ordinance that generally prohibits the Louisville Metro Government (hereinafter, “City”) and its vendors from inquiring into an applicant’s criminal history on the initial job application.
The Ordinance joins an ever-growing patchwork of laws that curbs inquiries into or the use of an applicant and/or employee’s criminal history in employment decisions. Indeed, approximately 10 states and 50 localities have “banned the box” and, although many of these laws only apply to public employers, several local ordinances cover government contractors in particular, including in Compton (CA), Richmond (CA), Hartford (CT), New Haven (CT), Indianapolis (IN), Boston (MA), Cambridge (MA), Worcester, (MA), Detroit (MI), Atlantic City (NJ), New York City (NY), and Pittsburgh (PA). Nine other jurisdictions—Hawaii, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Rhode Island, as well as the Cities of Philadelphia (PA), Newark (NJ), Buffalo (NY), Seattle (WA), and San Francisco (CA)—also have “banned the box” for private employers (either expressly or implicitly covering government contractors). And, many more jurisdictions have imposed other limitations on criminal background checks for private and public employers, as well as for city vendors.
This post examines the obligations that vendors face under the new Louisville Ordinance and proposes best practices for compliance.
Joining Other States and Localities, Indianapolis “Bans the Box” for City Vendors and Further Restricts Criminal Background Inquiries
Mayor Gregory A. Ballard recently signed an ordinance that generally prohibits the Consolidated City of Indianapolis and Marion County (hereinafter, “City”) and its vendors from inquiring into an applicant’s criminal history until after the applicant’s first interview. In addition to “banning the box,” the Ordinance further restricts the types of arrest and conviction records the City or its vendors may ask about or otherwise consider following the first interview.
Treasury Adopts Final Rule Addressing Contractor Affirmative Action Under Section 342 of Dodd-Frank
Section 342 of the Dodd-Frank Act requires specified federal agencies and departments, including the Treasury Department, to ensure fair inclusion and utilization of minorities, women, and minority-owned and women-owned businesses in all business and activities of the agency, including equal employment and affirmative action by contractors and subcontractors. On March 20, 2014, the Treasury Department issued Final Rules implementing Section 342. The Final Rule will go into effect on April 21.
OPM to Federalize Background Checks in Wake of Snowden Scandal/Navy Yard Shooting
On February 6, 2014, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) announced that the agency will federalize the “quality review process” of its background investigations. OPM had previously engaged federal contractors to conduct agency background investigations, including the quality review procedures and back office support.
OMB Approves Section 503 Voluntary Self-Identification Form
On January 22, 2014, after several months of review, the Office of Management and Budget (“OMB”) finally approved the voluntary self-identification form required by the Section 503 Final Rule that becomes effective on March 24, 2014.
The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Program (“OFCCP”) designed the self-identification form to alleviate contractor concerns that collecting disability data would run afoul of the Americans with Disabilities Act and to assure employees and applicants that the self-identification requests are routine and consistent with OFCCP reporting obligations. As a result, under the OFCCP Section 503 Final Rule, federal contractors must provide employees and applicants for employment with unaltered copies of the OMB-approved form. Forms may be distributed electronically or in hard copy.
Federal Sick Leave Law Reintroduced to Congress
On March 20, 2013, Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) reintroduced the Healthy Families Act (“the Act”) to the United States Senate (S. 631) and House of Representative (bill number not yet available). Several iterations of the Act have failed to garner sufficient support in Congress since Representative DeLauro and Senator Edward Kennedy introduced the original version in 2004. But if passed, the Act would require employers with more than 15 employees to provide their workforces with one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked for up to 56 hours. S. 631 § 5(a)(1). The Senate Bill text is available at http://op.bna.com/dlrcases.nsf/id/mroe-95ysa4/$File/Healthy%20Families%20Act.pdf.