On February 1, 2022, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) presented a webinar on its new contractor portal through which covered contractors are being asked to certify whether they are meeting their requirement to develop and maintain annual affirmative action programs. The presentation was largely limited to an explanation of the mechanics of registration through the agency’s website and included virtually no discussion of the new certification requirement.  Accordingly, contractors still do not know what OFCCP intends to require.  The agency indicated, however, that it would be providing more information regarding certification at another webinar to be held on March 31, 2022.

Although the system is open as of February 1, 2022 for registration, certification will not even be possible until after March 31, 2022 and, if required, would not have to be done until June 30, 2022 or possibly later.

Given the continuing questions regarding OFCCP’s authority to require registration or certification and the uncertainty as to what OFCCP is going to require with regard to certification, many contractors may want to wait until after April 1 before deciding whether to register.  This is, of course, an issue that employers should discuss with their legal counsel.

Based on an assumption that the OFCCP’s presentation today would be more substantive, Littler had been planning to hold a webinar on March 15, 2022 to explain the registration and certification requirements and review relevant issues.  However, because OFCCP has still not provided specific information regarding the certification requirement and apparently does not intend to do so until the end of March, our webinar is being rescheduled for April.  We will continue to monitor developments and will provide additional reports.