The Labor Department is planning for major cuts to a watchdog office that ensures federal contractors aren’t discriminating against their employees.
The department, in a memo obtained by Federal News Network, is looking to cut staffing for its Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) by 90%.
OFCCP had 479 employees, as of mid-February, including 317 investigators. The planned cuts would leave the office with 50 total employees. Of those, about 20 would be investigators conducting nondiscrimination audits of federal contractors.
A Labor Department employee told Federal News Network that it would be an “almost impossible” task for 20 investigators to audit and oversee all federal contractors.
The employee said OFCCP already scheduled audits for about 2,000 federal contractors this, but that this workload would be untenable with the workforce cuts.
According to the employee, each of OFCCP’s six regions receives, on average, 140-160 complaints each year. The employee, who asked to remain anonymous to avoid retaliation, said the workforce cuts would make it easier for federal contractors to discriminate against their employees.
“There won’t be any watchdogs,” the employee said.
The memo from Acting OFCCP Director Michael Schloss directs remaining staff to focus on enforcement of Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act, which prohibits the federal government and federal contractors from discriminating against employees based on their disability.
Schloss also directed the remaining OFCCP staff to prioritize enforcement of the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA), which protects veterans from job discrimination and requires federal contractors to set benchmarks for hiring protected veterans.
The memo notes that President Donald Trump, in an executive order signed in his first week in office, eliminated an executive order from the Lyndon B. Johnson administration that generally prohibited federal contractors from engaging in certain employment discrimination.
OFCCP currently has 55 offices throughout the country — including its national office, six regional offices and 48 district offices. Under these changes, the OFCCP would keep four regional offices and four district offices.
The memo, however, states the federal government is still being funded through a continuing resolution and that the OFCCP will need additional funding to reduce its headcount.
“Any reorganization will require, in addition to the funds necessary to operate OFCCP at the projected reduced level, additional funds necessary to downsize (i.e. buyouts, annual leave lump sum payments, severance pay, relocation expenses, office closures, etc.)
This a developing story and will be updated.
The post Labor Dept seeks 90% staffing cut from federal contractor watchdog first appeared on Federal News Network.