The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) announced that the Contractor Portal for federal contractors and subcontractors to certify compliance with their affirmative action plan (AAP) obligations will open on April 1, 2024, with contractors and subcontractors having until July 1, 2024, to submit the required certification.

This is the third year of OFCCP’s annual certification requirement. Contractors must again certify that they have developed and maintained annual affirmative action plans for each of their workplace establishments or functional/business units, as applicable. 

Beginning last year, contractors and subcontractors were required to enter the start date of their currently maintained AAP. For the current 2024 certification period, contractors are certifying compliance for its most recent AAP start date. In addition, covered federal contractors must disclose the number of employees which are included in each establishment AAP. 

OFCCP continues to stress the need to meet this reporting deadline. The agency has indicated that contractors who fail to certify compliance (due to either failing to complete the certification or stating in the certification they have not complied) “will be more likely to appear on OFCCP’s scheduling list” for annual compliance audits.

The certification requirement applies to existing federal contractors. OFCCP encourages new contractors to register as soon as possible after entering a contract and then update certification within 90 days of developing their AAP.