Reminder: Federal Contractors’ Deadline to Certify AAPs Only 10 Days Away

The deadline for federal contractors and subcontractors to certify compliance in preparing their affirmative action plans (AAPs) is June 29.  Failure to certify AAP compliance increases the risk that contractors will be selected for a future OFCCP enforcement audit.

Contractors should be able to complete the registration in less than 15 minutes on the OFCCP’s Contractor Portal.  The portal is an online OFCCP platform launched last year for covered federal supply and service contractors and subcontractors to certify they are meeting their annual AAP obligations.

New contractors have 120 days from the date they become eligible federal contractors subject to the affirmative action regulations to develop and implement their AAPs.  According to OFCCP, new contractors will have 90 days from the development of the AAP to access the OFCCP Contractor Portal and update their certification.

To help federal contractors navigate the portal, OFCCP has published Frequently Asked Questions, a User Guide, and How-To Videos.

Why is OFCCP Requiring This?

In 2016, the federal General Accounting Office criticized OFCCP for not maintaining a comprehensive list of covered prime contractors and subcontractors, nor a method for determining which are preparing an annual affirmative action program.  GAO estimated that as many as 85% of covered federal contractors may not be timely preparing annual AAPs.

If you have any questions or need assistance preparing your affirmative action plan, please don’t hesitate to contact the authors.