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How have new OFCCP compliance laws changed your recruitment

practices? How has your organization prepared for the changes?


Whenever someone mentions compliance I always run to check if I have all
documents in place. This effect perhaps, due to doing HR Audits alongside Internal
& External Auditors. I have always been amazed at the amount of data and
regulations that these guys have to follow to arrive to conclusions that drive an
organization change. But not so surprisingly I have never seen them enforced in this
part of the world. EMEA is a region where employment laws and practices are still in
the Stone Age while we have the largest workforce in any part of the world for
migrant workers. Each country has its own set of labor law not adhered to at most
times rather only seen as a basis to form the employment contract and policies
manual and at times even applied to different nationalities.
So discrimination starts at all level here. Most companies aspire to be compliant
according to international / U.S standards and even firms which are U.S based also
try to. But they are not aware / compliant of laws like FLSA (Fair Labor Standards
Act) or GINA (Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act) or any of the other laws
under DOL. If organizations in EMEA region need to be complaint with these laws
they have to move a long way and adopt some radical changes even from
grassroots level.
For the subject of OFCCP compliance affecting recruitment practices I would say
this has certainly added another burden on all organizations in US at the time of
recession / post-recession recovery. This is something that will make life difficult at
least for some time to come for both job seekers and employers. Already with so
many non-discriminatory and standard practices law in US, this becomes another
hurdle to jump. At a time when people are looking for a job and companies are
looking for a cost cut, this is something that will put pressure on recruiters.
Sure, most can easily adapt to under the current umbrella of practices but the DOL
has added 670 investigators in the last year and are now set to audit organizations
in a wide range of positions with IRS and other Federal agencies following suit. This
has become a harvest season for audit and compliance firms most of them
advertising solutions. I am sure most organizations with the current practices are
prepared to face this new regulation with minimal changes. As far as I understood
this new compliance is focusing more on increased applicant screening, more
documentation for applicants and policies of selection criteria, sex- ethnicity data
verifications, review of testing & assessment methods, relations with third party
agencies etc. These are not new to Recruitment Managers. Most are already
practicing documentation and clear policy adherence when it comes to sourcing,
screening and selection processes and also ask compliance from third parties to
follow the same.

The DOL enforces and controls several laws that look after the interests of more
than 125 million employees on over 10 million employers. Add one more and I say
this is not going to radically change the ways of the recruiters as of now. The
innovation is only in the area of systemic discrimination an area overlooked most
times in past but now under scrutiny as well. Employers will now require more time
and money to remain complaint.

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