The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) has proposed to rescind two guidance documents addressing compensation discrimination: the interpretive standards for systemic compensation discrimination and the voluntary guidelines for self-evaluation of pay practices for federal contractors and subcontractors.
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The OFCCP is also proposing to rescind the voluntary guidelines citing that they have been “largely unused by federal contractors and have not been an effective enforcement strategy.”
The Notice of Proposed Rescission (NPR) states, that in the absence of the Voluntary Guidelines, contractors will still be obligated to conduct self-evaluations of compensation practices as required by 41 CFR 60–2.17(b)(3).
The interpretive standards and voluntary guidelines were both issued in 2006 under Executive Order11246 which requires Federal Government contractors and subcontractors to provide equal employment opportunity through affirmative action and nondiscrimination based on race, color, national origin, religion, or sex.
The agency is requesting public comments up until March 4, 2011.
The NPR was published in the January 3, 2011 Federal Register.