The best way to prepare for a compliance review is to be proactive in developing timely  written plans, making a good faith effort to hire and promote qualified females and minorities and to initiate required recordkeeping systems in a timely manner.  However, many companies fail to pay attention to OFCCP requirements for Government Contractors until they receive a compliance review letter.  Once a “Desk Audit” letter arrives with a 30 day timeline for responding, some companies find themselves confused and scrambling to understand and meet the minimum requirements outlined in the letter.  Usually in these cases, the company quickly contacts a Human Resource Consultant to assist with their response. As a firm specializing in OFCCP Audits and development of Affirmative Action Plans and compliance systems, Benchmark sees quite a few of these situations.   

Companies should keep in mind that it’s absolutely essential at a time like this to select a credible consulting firm and Managing Consultant with first-hand experience in both desk and on-site audits.  Benchmark is such a firm and as Managing Consultant with a solid track record of desk and on-site audit successes, I insist on personally handling all audits from start to finish.  A company should never hire a clerically based consultant with little or no audit experience to handle their compliance review. This will become even more important if the desk audit happens to progress to the on-site audit stage.  When working with new clients in audit situations, I always provide 24/7 personal support because many companies have little or no knowledge of the requirements and very few, if any systems in place.   

We first establish a strict timeline for completion of tasks to simply respond to the letter. Generally, annual compensation and EEO information must be gathered and submitted with the AAP as a response to the compliance review request.   Other tasks include data collection for the written plans and narratives with employee information on salary, race, sex, job title, location and EEO code.  Information must also be gathered on applicants, hires, terminations and promotions broken out by Job Group.  Census codes are applied to specific jobs, data is entered and imported and the plan is produced.  However, the written plan is only one small part of the process.  The plan must be analyzed and summarized with goals and systems established for ongoing compliance. 

Some of the essential systems include applicant tracking, required postings, Applicant and Post-Offer Self-ID Forms, and required language on purchase orders, applications and job advertisements.  Jobs must also be listed with State Job Service offices and annual letters must be mailed to recruitment sources.  Appropriate documents must be retained and a recruitment/selection policy should be defined and established according to internet applicant interpretations.  Managers must understand their roles in the Affirmative Action process and the importance of compliance as well as the AAP findings and recruitment/placement goals.  This is important because your company will need to immediately begin making a “good faith effort” to correct underutilization identified in the plan and other problem areas.  This entire process must be repeated every year because your company’s workforce demographics change and the numbers must be compared to the most current census figures for your recruitment area.   Benchmark or other experienced AAP Consultants can guide you through the entire process so that the OFCCP is assured that as a Government Contractor your company is not discriminating and always making a good faith effort to recruit, hire and promote qualified minorities and females as well as the disabled and veterans.  For additional information about who needs an AAP, requirements, deliverables, laws and regulations, internet applicants, retention of applications, EEO policies, applicant flow logs, OFCCP audits, ongoing support, EEO and race categories, etc. please visit Benchmark’s website  

Other important resources for OFCCP audit information and compliance requirements are located on Benchmark's "Suggested Links" page.

Tips & Tactics
Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• Alert your mailroom and also the top official at your facility to let you know when any correspondence arrives from the OFCCP so that you can respond in a timely manner.