/>iToday’s installment of our “Countdown to March 24th Effective Date: Are you Ready to Flip the Switch?”series focuses on the enhanced obligations involving posting positions with state employment services.
Under the current VEVRAA regulations employers are required to list appropriate job openings with the state Employment Service Delivery System (ESDS) in the state where the position will be filled. Under the new regulations, contractors have additional obligations with respect to these mandatory postings.
With your first job postings after March 24, contractors must ensure they are proving the job posting in a manner and format permitted by the particular ESDS. It is critical to understand that third party vendors listing jobs for you must follow this same rule and the burden rests with the employer to ensure its job postings reach the state. And this is not just the case with this obligation – contractors remain responsible to ensure all of the state posting obligations are met and thus are liable for the shortcomings of their vendors. As such, it is imperative that contractors clearly negotiate and understand what their vendors are doing for them and, most importantly, what they are not agreeing to do.
In addition to adding a delivery method requirement, OFCCP has increased the type of information contractors have to provide. Going forward after March, 24, contractors must “advise” the ESDS in each state where it has a hiring location that:
- it is a federal contractor;
- it desires priority referrals of protected veterans for jobs at all locations within the state;
- the name and location of each hiring location in the state;
- contact information for an official responsible for hiring at each location; and
- contact information for any third party recruiting vendor the contractor uses.
OFCCP indicated during its Webinar on job postings that a statement on the job listing indicating “VEVRAA Federal Contractor” would suffice to satisfy No. 1 above.
With respect to No. 4, the regulations state that the contact information provided can be for a “chief hiring official, a human resources contact or any other manager for the contractor that can verify the information” in the job posting. Bottom line – you do not have to list the hiring manager at the location and can look to direct questions from ESDS to someone in HR or recruiting. Setting up a general e-mail address may also work as long as the Inbox is well attended and messages are responded to within 24 hours.
What is not clear is whether this information must be provided with each job listing, or whether it can be provided to each ESDS once via letter or email, and then updated as needed via letter or email. Based onOFCCP’s February 20 Webinar, OFCCP seems to be taking the position some or all of this information must be provided with each job listing. OFCCP’s PowerPoint slide 15 states: “Must indicate on job listings status as federal contractor and desire for priority referrals of protected veterans.” (Emphasis added). The Agency also indicated however that the information should be updated if any changes occur.
As a practical matter, it may make sense to include “VEVRAA Federal Contractor” on each ESDS job listing but not to provide the other required information with each listing. The rules and common sense would seem to require only that a letter or email be sent to each ESDS on or around March 24, and updated via letter or email as needed.
