Students won’t be the only ones with homework this weekend. While parents have been coordinating their pick-up/drop-off schedules, packing lunches and sending their kids off to school this week – the DOL has been busy too. Yesterday the Wage and Hour Division released six opinion letters –
- Organ donors' qualification for FMLA leave
- Compensability of time spent voluntarily attending benefit fairs and certain wellness activities
- Application of the movie theater overtime exemption to a movie theater that also offers dining services
- Application of the commissioned sales employee overtime exemption to a company that sells an internet payment software platform
- Volunteer status of nonprofit members serving as credentialing examination graders
- "No-fault" attendance policies and roll-off of attendance points under the FMLA
And just last week the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (“OFCCP”) released three Directives for federal contractors –
- Affirmative Action Program (“AAP”) Verification Initiative
- Analysis of Contractor’s Compensation Practices during a Compliance Evaluation
- Contractor Recognition Program
In Directive (DIR) 2018-07, the OFCCP expressed its concern that federal contractors are not fulfilling their legal duty to develop and maintain AAPs and update them on an annual basis. As part of the AAP Verification Initiative, the OFCCP is seeking more ways to expand its compliance reach “to ensure that there are no ‘free riders’ that benefit from participating in the federal procurement process while not bearing the corresponding cost of AAP compliance.” The program includes:
- Development of a process whereby contractors would certify on a yearly basis their compliance with AAP requirements.
- Inclusion of a criterion in the neutral scheduling methodology increasing the likelihood of compliance reviews for contractors that have not certified compliance with AAP requirements.
- Compliance checks to verify contractor compliance with AAP requirements.
- Requesting proffer of the AAP contractors when requesting extension of time to provide support data in response to a scheduling letter.
- Development of information technology to collect and facilitate review of AAPs provided by federal contractors.
If your company is a federal contractor, are your AAPs up to date?
These guidance documents from the DOL help employers predict what the future may hold and help employers interpret the federal regulations. We will take a deep dive into more of these documents next week, so stay tuned!