?Federal officials announced on Feb. 7 that they have extended the deadline for contractors to submit objections to the public disclosure of their EEO-1 reports. Now the deadline is Feb. 17 at 11:59 ET.
What do contractors need to know about this latest development from the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP), and what should you do if your company is among those slated to have your information released?
OFCCP has announced that it will be releasing the Type 2 EEO-1 reports and their sensitive employee demographic data in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request the agency received from the Center for Investigative Reporting. Last fall, contractors had until Oct. 19 to file their objections.
On Feb. 2, the agency provided the contractor community with what we thought was one final opportunity to object to the disclosure of EEO-1 reports, and it provided a list of contractors slated to have their EEO-1 reports disclosed. At the time of that announcement, the two objection grounds OFCCP would consider were:
- The company was not a federal contactor between 2016 and 2021.
- The contractor had previously filed an objection with the agency.
The extended deadline provides one final opportunity for action. In addition to the 10 additional days the contractors will now receive for submitting final objections as a result of the extension, the agency has also said objections may also be submitted to the extent there are entities associated with the contractor’s organization that should be covered within the objection that had been previously filed. This includes merged companies, subsidiaries, and any additional entity information needed to confirm the objection.
What Should Employers Do?
OFCCP has provided a list of federal contractors whose data will be released, absent an objection filed by the new deadline. You should check the list on each tab of the Excel spreadsheet to determine whether your organization – or one of your affiliated companies – is on one or more of the lists.
If you previously filed an objection, or believe that you should not be on the list because you are not a multi-establishment federal contractor or first-tier subcontractor, you will need to contact OFCCP at OFCCP-FOIA-EEO1-Questions@dol.gov prior to the deadline.
Marilynn Schuyler is an attorney with Fisher Phillips in San Francisco. Sheila M. Willis is an attorney with Fisher Phillips in Columbia, S.C. © 2023. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission.
