OFCCP contractor portal is now open; certifications due June 30, 2022

The OFCCP Contractor Portal is now open for federal supply and service contractors to certify their affirmative action plan (AAP) compliance no later than June 30, 2022. (Construction contractors aren’t required to participate at this time.) You don’t have to upload your written AAP, but you do need to certify that you have developed and maintained AAPs, i.e., that your AAP at each facility is current and you’re complying with all of the accompanying requirements. You must also attest that your AAP certification is true and correct to the best of your knowledge and that you understand the penalty for making false statements with respect to the certification is prescribed in 18 U.S.C. 1001 (which provides for fines or imprisonment up to five years).

As we previously reported, this is a new obligation, which applies to companies with at least 50 employees and a federal contract or first-tier subcontract for supplies or services worth at least $50,000. Here are some important points to be aware of:

• You must register each of your establishments (physical facilities). The portal is pre-populated with the establishments from your organization’s 2018 EEO-1 Report. If your company structure has changed significantly since 2018 (for example, because you sold or acquired locations), you may save some time and hassle by manually entering the establishments. To do so, check the box that says “I do not have the requested identifiers ‘Headquarter/Company Number’ and/or ‘Establishment/Unit Number.’”
   
• If you prefer to use the pre-populated data in the system, enter only the first six characters from your 2018 EEO-1 Report for “Headquarter/Company Number” and “Establishment/Unit Number.” Once you’ve registered, you have the option of adding establishments, but the only way to delete a pre-populated establishment is to contact the contractor portal help desk, which may be slow to respond.

Tips: If it’s not possible to come into compliance by the June 30, 2022, deadline, talk with your Vigilant Law Group employment attorney or other legal counsel to decide what to do. Any information you enter into the portal needs to be accurate, keeping in mind the penalty for false statements. There’s an option in the certification portal to admit that, despite holding a federal contract for 120 or more days (the grace period for new federal contractors), you haven’t developed and maintained affirmative action programs. Selecting this option will greatly increase your chance of being selected for an audit by the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP). The agency will also be on the lookout for covered federal contractors that fail to participate in the certification process entirely. Specific guidance on how to register for the portal and certify compliance is in the Contractor Portal FAQs as well as the OFCCP Contractor Portal Federal Contractor User Guide.