DOL Posts Fact Sheets on its Regulatory Agenda

Here is a copy of the Section 503 Fact Sheet for OFCCP. See all the fact sheets and replays of the online discussion of the Secretary's regulatory agenda at: http://www.dol.gov/regulations/factsheets/ofccp-fs-sect503.htm

US DEPARTMENT of LABOR: FALL REGULATORY AGENDA 2009
The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP)
Topic: The Evaluation of Recruitment and Placement Results under Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, (Section 503) Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM)
The OFCCP is breaking down barriers to fair and diverse workplaces so that every worker’s contribution is respected.
Key Action: The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) has initiated research and compilation of information about barriers to employment that individuals with disabilities face. Toward that end, the OFCCP will review data that may be used for establishing numerical goals. The agency plans to conduct several Town Hall meetings through Spring 2010.
Key Issues: The agency is starting this rulemaking with an ANPRM because of the challenges associated with:
Identifying the appropriate data for use in determining how to set hiring goals for individuals with disabilities;
Assessing employer compliance burden; and
Assessing the impact on small businesses.
BackgroundThe OFCCP is responsible for ensuring that federal contractors and subcontractors do not discriminate on the basis of race, sex, religion, color, national origin, disability or veteran status, and that they take affirmative action to provide equal opportunity to job applicants and employees.
Enforcement of these statutory obligations contributes to achieving several of the Secretary's policy goals of "good jobs for everyone" with desired outcomes such as increasing workers' incomes and narrowing wage and income inequality, breaking down barriers to fair and diverse workplaces so that every worker's contribution is respected, and helping workers who are in low-wage jobs or out of the labor market find a path into middle-class jobs.
The ANPRM will invite the public to comment on ways to improve employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities. The ANPRM will seek comments on issues such as:
How affirmative action requirements can be strengthened so that employment opportunities for people with disabilities are measurably increased;
How federal contractors and subcontractors can improve monitoring of their employment practices to identify barriers to the employment of individuals with disabilities and improve employment opportunities; and
What specific employment practices have been verifiably effective in the recruitment.