The 'gig economy,' characterized by freelance and temporary contract work, has grown exponentially in recent years. A January 2018 NPR/Marist poll found that, currently, one in five jobs in the United States is held by a contract worker and, within a decade, contractors and freelancers could make up half of the American workforce. This remarkable shift away from the traditional employer-employee relationship has and will...
October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM), a time to celebrate the contributions of America's workers with disabilities both past and present and educate about the value of a workforce inclusive of their skills and talents. In honor of NDEAM, we recently talked to John D. Kemp, one of the nation's foremost authorities on disability employment and current President & CEO of The Viscardi Cent...
The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) plans to recognize contractors that prioritize disability inclusion.
Following its recent Directive to develop a Contractor Recognition Program, the OFCCP has proposed to implement an Excellence in Disability Inclusion Award. This award would recognize contractors 'that ensure equal employment opportunity, foster employment opportunities for individuals with di...
To date, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) has issued nine new and proposed directives in 2018. While most of the directives have been covered in prior articles, this article will provide more insight into the directives issued in September, as well as a few observations and an overview of what we have seen from OFCCP so far in 2018 under the Trump administration.
2018 OFCCP Recap
With the f...
During the last several weeks, OFCCP has been conducting a series of Listening Sessions to collect information for incorporation into a soon-to-be-released Academic Technical Assistance Guide (TAG). This TAG will serve as a resource for academic institutions who are federal contractors. It's long overdue, and academia is anxious to see which issues the TAG does, and does not, address.
Background
When I establish...
Since the beginning of the #MeToo movement in October 2017, Congress and state and local lawmakers have introduced a series of laws aimed at eliminating sexual harassment and abuse in the workplace. As we explained in our June 2018 article, by mid-2019, over 125 bills had been introduced by states to eliminate workplace harassment. Many of these statutes and proposed laws have prohibited or limited the use of mandatory ar...
In today's economy, 'Help Wanted' signs are visible everywhere. Employers are eagerly searching to fill their vacancies as the unemployment rate reaches an all-time low. As a professional who has been in the human services field for more years than I care to reveal, it is inspiring and refreshing to now be at the receiving end of phone calls, e-mails, and inquiries from businesses interested in matching and filling th...
On August 24, 2018, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) announced three new directives in furtherance of its efforts to make the agency more transparent and efficient and to maximize the effectiveness of compliance assistance outreach. This article focuses on two of the three directives: an initiative establishing a recognition program for contractors with 'high-quality and high-performing complianc...