New OFCCP webpage highlights Native American program

The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) has unveiled a new webpage highlighting its efforts to support the employment of Native Americans by federal contractors. The agency’s Indian and Native American Employment Rights Program (INAERP) has been around since 2013, but wasn’t widely publicized. Most of the webpage is geared toward workers, but it also offers a useful one-page compilation of the affirmative action regulations related to optional employment preferences for Native Americans. The regulations allow employers with federal contracts to voluntarily “extend a publicly announced preference in employment to Indians living on or near an Indian reservation in connection with employment opportunities on or near an Indian reservation.” Employers cannot favor members of one tribe over another, however. In other words, if your worksite is near an Indian reservation, and someone who is a member of a completely different tribe lives on or near that reservation, they’re entitled to the same preference that you give to local tribe members. The webpage also offers a link to the employment referral resource directory, a database that employers can use to identify outreach organizations that can help identify and refer qualified women, minorities, veterans, and people with disabilities.