McGuireWoods has more than 40 years of experience helping federal government contractors and subcontractors comply with the detailed regulations promulgated by the Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP). We also have in-depth experience representing contractors across the country in all phases of OFCCP compliance reviews and in administrative proceedings.

Given OFCCP’s aggressive focus on alleged systemic discrimination in hiring and compensation, we believe that engaging skilled counsel to provide guidance on affirmative action matters and audit defense is becoming increasingly important.

Affirmative Action Advice and Compliance Services

McGuireWoods works with contractors to develop comprehensive, legally defensible and cost-effective systems to comply with OFCCP regulations. For example, we advise clients every day regarding affirmative action matters such as:

  • Evaluating whether companies are subject to OFCCP requirements.
  • Structuring Affirmative Action Plans (AAPs).
  • Soliciting demographic information from candidates.
  • Designing systems for appropriate tracking of job candidates and related decisions.
  • Determining who is and who is not an “applicant” under OFCCP rules.
  • Implementing employee selection and testing procedures.
  • Instituting legally sufficient record retention programs.
  • Preparing privileged analyses and providing advice for addressing risk areas.
  • Evaluating, defending and revising compensation systems.
  • Training contractor staff on compliance obligations.

OFCCP Audit Defense and Litigation

Our affirmative action team includes a range of lawyers, paralegals, and data experts who focus on OFCCP matters. The team provides experienced counsel and a vigorous defense for contractors during OFCCP compliance reviews. We prepare clients for OFCCP audits, respond to desk audit requests and defend on-site reviews. When compliance problems have been identified, we have extensive experience negotiating conciliation agreements successfully with OFCCP offices in various regions throughout the country, as well as with national OFCCP officials. In addition, when conciliation is not in the best interest of our clients, we aggressively defend contractors in enforcement proceedings.

Government Relations

In addition to our legal team’s practical expertise with OFCCP regulations and audits, our federal contractor clients are well-served by the extensive contacts and knowledge of the firm’s government relations team at McGuireWoods Consulting. This team brings an insider’s perspective on how politically-influenced enforcement priorities are set, and by whom.  Working closely with both Democrats and Republicans, the team builds relationships, gathers information, analyzes opportunities and works to solve problems for clients.