Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

ESA Press Release: President Clinton Requests Additional Funds for Labor Department Civil Rights Enforcement [01/20/1998]

For more information call: 202-219-8211

President Clinton has announced he is requesting an additional $6 million for the Department Of Labor's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP), as part of an Administration-wide civil rights initiative.

"We at the Department of Labor are pleased to join with the other civil rights agencies in an effort to promote equal opportunity in the workplace," said Labor Secretary Alexis M. Herman. "As we celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King's birthday, the President should be applauded for providing leadership and the resources necessary to make Dr. King's dream a reality."

The OFCCP, which is part of department's Employment Standards Administration, enforces the laws that require federal contractors not to discriminate and to take affirmative action to promote an equal employment opportunity workplace. The laws are designed to ensure that taxpayers' dollars do not perpetuate employment discrimination on the basis of race, gender, national origin, religion, color, disability or status as a covered veteran. The OFCCP conducts compliance reviews, complaint investigations, and monitors the contractors' self-audit responsibility. The agency also works with employers to help them recruit and retain qualified workers through linkage agreements between contractors and organizations providing training of qualified workers.

"As we observe Dr. King's birthday, we at the Department of Labor pledge to redouble our efforts to ensure equal opportunity in the workplace," said Herman.

The additional funding will enable the OFCCP to implement its Fair Enforcement Strategy, which includes a tiered review process, upgraded information technology capability, paperwork reduction and technical assistance for federal contractors.

The OFCCP's tiered review process will improve the agency's interaction with federal contractors by tailoring the scope of compliance reviews to focus on the more substantive problems. This will allow for greater flexibility in determining the scope of individual reviews.

The OFCCP will upgrade its technology to allow for electronic communication with federal contractors, transfer and evaluation of data and implementation of a paperless compliance review.

Through regulatory reform OFCCP will reduce the paperwork burden on federal contractors by revising the requirements for the Affirmative Action Plan. The agency also will make changes to simplify paperwork requirements for federal contractors, while improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the program.

Technical assistance seminars will be conducted for federal contractors, especially for first-time contractors unfamiliar with the requirements of the affirmative action and equal employment opportunity clause in their contract.

The OFCCP laws cover approximately 26 million workers or nearly 22 percent of the total civilian workforce. Annually, the federal government awards nearly $200 billion in prime contracts. The OFCCP conducts approximately 3,400 systemic compliance reviews each year, including glass ceiling reviews. Since 1994, OFCCP has recovered more than $150 million in financial settlements, benefiting victims of discrimination.

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.