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OFCCP Proposes Changes to Affirmative Action Obligations Related to Individuals with Disabilities

On Dec. 9 the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) issued its proposed rule to revise regulations on implementing affirmative action and nondiscrimination obligations to contractors and subcontractors, and to evaluate the affirmative action provisions. While AGC agrees that individuals with disabilities must not be discriminated against, AGC’s Sept. 21, 2010 comments to OFCCP’s then Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, addressed the belief that the OFCCP’s contemplated broad affirmative action requirement for the recruitment of individuals with disabilities may be difficult to achieve or possibly counterproductive in the construction industry. AGC noted that record unemployment in construction, the unique nature of the construction industry, and the undue burden the additional recordkeeping would place on construction employers may make the new requirements difficult to achieve.  AGC urged the OFCCP to continue to leave the decision to hire to construction employers, and those decisions should be made on a case-by-case basis based on the candidate’s ability to perform the essential functions of a particular job safely, with or without a reasonable accommodation. The proposed rule is now open for public comment until Feb. 7, 2012. AGC is currently soliciting feedback on the affects of the proposed rule from AGC members.  Members interested in providing AGC feedback should contact Tamika Carter at cartert@agc.org.  Additionally, OFCCP is sponsoring a webinar on the proposed rule. The webinar is not an AGC-affiliated event but is open to the public by clicking here. For more information, please contact Tamika Carter at (703) 837-5382 or cartert@agc.org, or Jim Young at (202) 547-0133 or youngj@agc.org