Stemming from seven town hall meetings in 2019, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs announced an action plan to address issues that were consistently raised by contractors and other stakeholders. 

The six-point plan involves the following:

• Updating and developing new resources to assist contractors in conducting outreach to diverse talent pools.
• Providing more compliance assistance and resources for contractors to develop effective affirmative action programs and to allow for more dialogue with contractors during compliance evaluations.
• Enhancing avenues for collaboration between contractors.
• Enhancing resources for protected veterans and their spouses, family, and other associates.
• Enhancing resources to increase the effectiveness of the Indian and Native American Employment Rights Program.
• Enhancing resources for disability inclusion.

Here are some of the specific steps outlined by the OFCCP:

• Posting a new webpage to assist contractors in finding diverse candidates.
• Developing additional affirmative action plan materials to show how contractors can address aberrations and unique situations in their data.
• Launching the Contractor Compliance Institute, which provides online educational resources for federal contractors.
• Highlighting contractors’ best practices on the OFCCP’s website “through stakeholder messages.”
• Using information learned from Section 503 focused reviews to identify best practices for use by other contractors.

This is the OFCCP’s second Town Hall Action Plan. The first plan was released in May 2018, and identified specific tasks designed to increase transparency and improve compliance assistance. The agency has checked off quite a few items on that list, such as publishing technical assistance for construction contractors and academic institutions, and hiring an ombudsperson to address contractor concerns. 

With this second plan, we wonder if this will become a biennial practice for the OFCCP. Regardless, we will keep you up to date on the agency's progress and achievement of these initiatives.