OMB Approves OFCCP’s Affirmative Action Program Verification Interface: The Obligation to Certify Contractor AAPs May be Right Around the Corner

On August 31, 2021, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approved the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs’ (OFCCP) Affirmative Action Program Verification Interface (AAP-VI). Currently, federal contractors submit their affirmative action programs (AAP) via mail or email and are not required to certify annually to the OFCCP that they have updated their AAP(s). According to the OFCCP, the AAP-VI system is designed to be the primary source for federal contractors to enter, track and submit their affirmative action programs for review by the OFCCP.

The OFCCP’s Affirmative Action Plan Verification Interface webpage explains that the AAP-VI is a secure web-based interface which is designed to “improve communication and the transfer of information of Affirmative Action Program data, between Federal Contractors and the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs.” The webpage is currently not otherwise updated and does not provide details as to the content of the webpage, and states only that more information will be “coming soon.”

However, in May 2021, the OFCCP published a user guide for federal contractors.  That guide includes a number of screenshots and process descriptions, including screenshots of the “AAP Certification (Quick Action)” dashboard the OFCCP contemplates.  The guide also includes a screenshot of, and instructions relating to, completing “System for Award Management (SAM)” questions and declarations, including the declaration that the contractor has “developed and maintained affirmative action programs at each establishment, as applicable.”  The language in the guide also seems to indicate that contractors will be required to identify each of their AAP establishments in the system as part of the certification process.  The guide does not state whether providing such certification through the AAP-VI is mandatory, but the guide appears to suggest that will be the case.

The OFCCP has not yet identified a “go live” or implementation date for the AAP-VI, but we will provide updates as soon as they become available. In the meantime, federal contractors and subcontractors should anticipate that providing such certifications will be required and should ensure that they timely complete their new or updated AAPs.