Overview | Product Information | FAQ's

This information is meant to provide you with an overview of the The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) requirements for Internet Applicants and tools that are provided by DiversityInc Careers to help you in your efforts to comply with these requirements.

OFCCP Regulations

OFCCP stands for The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs. This organization is part of the U.S. Department of Labor's Employment Standards Administration.

The OFCCP:

• Administers and enforces equal employment opportunity
• Monitors compliance through evaluations
• Investigates complaints filed by individuals alleging discrimination.

October 2005 "Internet Applicant" Ruling

The OFCCP made a ruling in Oct 2005 requiring Federal government contractors to collect and retain records about gender, race, and ethnicity of each “Internet Applicant” for employment. The ruling became effective February 6, 2006 but the OFCCP granted a 90 day grace period from this effective date for contractors to comply with the new record keeping requirements.

Note: The requirement to retain records regarding the hiring process is not a new obligation for contractors. The new requirement to retain records applies more broadly than the requirement to solicit demographic information from “Internet Applicants.”

Who Must Comply with the "Internet Applicant" Ruling?

The OFCCP requirements apply to Government Contractors and Subcontractors covered by Executive Order 11246. This order prohibits contractors from discriminating on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. Each individual contract must determine their legal requirements for compliance and define a compliance plan.

For information on the Executive Order 11246, please contact the US Department of Labor or visit the web site at, http://www.dol.gov/.

The Definition of an Applicant

The OFCCP recently issued a final ruling that defines four criteria, which must be met for an individual to be considered an Internet Applicant.

• The individual submits an expression of interest in employment through the Internet.
• The contractor considers the individual for employment in a particular position.
• The individual’s expression of interest indicates the individual possesses the basic qualifications for the position.
• The individual at no point removes themselves from further consideration or indicates that they are no longer interested in the position.

Collection of Race, Ethnicity, and Gender Data

The new OFCCP rule imposes no new obligation to solicit race, ethnicity, and gender data. The rule does not mandate a specific time or point in the selection process that contractors must solicit this demographic information.

If you plan on using an E-Screen Interview to collect this information, please remember Applicants are not required by law to answer these questions and should be provided with an option to say that they decline from answering any of these types of questions. You may also want to wait to obtain this information until later in the application process to ensure you are not deterring any candidates from applying online.

Collection of Data From External Resume Databases

For external resume databases, contractors must retain all expressions of interest considered for individuals who meet the basic qualifications for a particular position, even those of individuals who are not Internet Applicants. This rule applies to any Candidate Database searching that is conducted on an external job board.

According to the OFCCP, contractors must maintain a record of the following items from external databases:

• Position for which each search was made
• Substantive search criteria used in each search
• Date of search
• Resumes of any job seekers who met the basic qualifications for the particular position who are considered by the contractor (even if they do not qualify as Internet Applicants).

Enforcement

OFCCP will rely on census and other labor market data to assess a contractor’s hiring practices for potential discrimination.

New Tools Released on May 2006

On May 3rd, 2006 new tools were released to help employers in their efforts to comply with the OFCCP's Internet Applicant record keeping rules of the federal employment laws. The tools allow employer accounts to identify themselves as needing to be OFCCP compliant and the system will archive additional data as outlined by the OFCCP requirements. The new tools include:

• A way for individual employer accounts to opt-in
• Additional archiving of Candidate Database search activity including search queries and viewed resumes
• Additional storage of Applicant data and the job they applied to
• New online help documentation to educate clients and advertisers

Why is May 6th an important date? The OFCCP rule became effective February 6, 2006, however under OFCCP's enforcement discretion, for a period of 90 days following this effective date, OFCCP will not cite a contractor for purely technical record keeping violations for failure to comply. The grace period holds provided that the contractor (1) demonstrates they are taking reasonable steps to update their system to comply with the rule, and (2) collects and maintain records according to the established procedures consistent with OFCCP's record keeping requirements that preexisted to the Internet Applicant final rule.

Important Note: The purpose of the new tools is to support employers with their hiring practices. These tools alone will not make the employer compliant. Employers who are using an external job board are ultimately responsible for establishing their own guidelines and company policies to ensure they are in compliance with the OFCCP regulations. It is also the employer's obligation to seek legal advice and use the services we provide in such a way as to be compliant.

Account Opt-In

There is an opt-in field on the ‘Account Information’ page allowing accounts to indicate they would like the additional data collection. When this option is selected, a date of when this was selected appears and the option cannot be unselected. In order to opt back out of the features, please contact your sales representative or support staff at joborders@diversityinc.com. There is no cost to you for opting in to this feature. This is being provided as a value adding service to help you in your efforts to comply with the OFCCP regulations.

How to Opt-In

1. Login and edit your account information at http://careers.diversityinc.com/careers/employer/
2. Select the checkbox for the OFCCP features located near the bottom of the form.
   Note: If you opt-in by May 6th the archiving of data will begin on May 6th. If you opt-in after May 6th the archiving of data will start on the day that you opt-in.

Archiving Candidate Search Activity

The following information will be archived in relation to a Candidate Search:

• The date of the search
• The search criteria
• Any resumes or job applications of candidates who were viewed or saved to the folders
• Folder notes and status related to each Candidate saved to a folder

The following information will not be archived: Candidates that were viewed from an external email client. This would occur when you email forward a Candidate to an email address. The system is not able to track Candidates that were reviewed somewhere other than on the site.

Applicant Data Archiving

If an account has opted-in to this, the following Applicant data will be archived:

• Full Job Details
• Resume/Job Application
• Cover Letter
• E-Screen Interview
• Folder notes and status related to each applicant

The following information will not be archived:

• Applicants that were redirected to another url or the employer's web site to apply to a position. In this situation, the system is unable to track the Applicant's details.
• Applicants that were viewed from an external email client. The system is not able to track Candidates that were reviewed somewhere other than on the site.

1. How Can I Prepare?

Be prepared and knowledgeable by familiarizing yourself with the regulations and seeking legal council when necessary to understand if these regulation effect you or not. Provide training to your human resources and recruitment staff regarding these regulations. Make use of the tools provided to opt-in for the additional record keeping features.

2. Where can I get more information on the OFCCP regulations?
For more information, please visit the OFCCP web site at, http://www.dol.gov/esa/ofccp/. The OFCCP recently released new FAQ's on this topic at, http://www.dol.gov/esa/regs/compliance/ofccp/faqs/iappfaqs.htm#content.

3. Are we going to have a mechanism that will allow us to save search parameters?
The system will automatically archive Candidate Search criteria and the date of the search behind the scenes for any account that has opted in.

4. What are the additional opt-in tools?
The additional opt-in tools include a new field on the account information page that allows the account to indicate that they need to comply with the new OFCCP Internet Applicant and external database searching requirements.

5. Will these "opt-in" tools cost those Employers who use them an additional fee?
There is no additional charge for employers to opt-in to this. If a client requests a feed of the data that is being logged as a result of the opt-in, some charges may apply. Please contact your site for details.

6. Will Employers/Advertisers need to go into the system and do anything when the changes go live?
Yes. Employers who need to comply with the OFCCP regulations will need to login and change their Account Information to indicate that they need to opt-in for the additional archiving keeping features. Should an employer be audited or need to collect the archived data, they should contact the site for details.

7. How will Employers know about this change?
Accounts received an email informing them of the changes and pointing them to the Account Information page to opt-in.