As a follow up to our May 3, 2011 Labor & Employment Alert announcing the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs' intent to revise the regulations implementing 38 U.S.C. § 4212 for Protected Veterans, interested parties will have until July 11, 2011 to submit comments instead of the previous deadline of June 25, 2011. Briefly, the proposed revisions involve:
- Rescission of 41 C.F.R. § 60-250 (the original VEVRAA regulations)
- Equal Opportunity Clause (full 5-page incorporation)
- Invitation to Self-Identify (new "model" invitation)
- Reasonable Accommodations (requires inquiry if individual identifies as disabled)
- Linkage Agreements (requires establishing an agreement with an agency other than state or local employment agency)
- Hiring Benchmarks (similar to Placement Goals – employers will be required to establish for hiring veterans)
- New Data Collection Requirements (increased documentation of efforts at employing veterans)
Again, interested parties now have until July 11, 2011 to submit comments on these proposed revisions. Comments must be identified by RIN number 1250-AA00 and submitted by any of the following methods:
- Federal eRulemaking Portal: www.regulations.gov (follow instructions)
- Fax: (202) 693-1304 (only six pages or less)
- Mail: Debra A. Carr, Director, Division of Policy, Planning, and Program Development, Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, Room C-3325, 200 Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20210
A copy of the proposed rule may be obtained by clicking here.
As always, Baker Donelson’s Labor and Employment attorneys stand ready to assist contractors in understanding this Notice of Proposed Rulemaking as well as any issues that may arise in the federal contracting arena. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to your Baker Donelson attorney or any of our nearly 70 Labor & Employment attorneys located in Birmingham, Alabama; Atlanta, Georgia; Baton Rouge, Mandeville and New Orleans, Louisiana; Jackson, Mississippi; and Chattanooga, Johnson City, Knoxville, Memphis and Nashville, Tennessee.