This is a reminder of the March 3, 2023 deadline by which federal contractors may assert that their Type 2 EEO-1 data should not be released in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.
In response to the FOIA request from the Center for Investigative Reporting (“CIR”) for Type 2 EEO-1 data for all federal contractors during the 2016-2020 EEO-1 reporting years, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs provided federal contractors with multiple notices and opportunities to object to the release of this data. This notice serves as a reminder of the March 3, 2023, deadline and as another attempt to reach federal contractors who may have missed any prior notices. This notice is going to registrants of the Contractor Portal and the 2016-2020 EEO-1 filers. If you received our notice on February 16, 2023, this notice does not contain any new information and only serves as a reminder.
On February 2, 2023, we posted a list of all entities that, according to the agency’s records, were federal contractors that submitted Type 2 EEO-1 data between 2016-2020 and had not submitted objections to the release of this data (“List”). Upon publishing the February 2 list and hearing from contractors, the agency quickly realized that the list included entities that had previously submitted objections to release despite the agency’s best efforts to manage the processing of this unprecedented and voluminous request. As a result, we have undertaken a comprehensive review of our process leading to the publication of the original list and have taken several actions to ensure accuracy, address the challenges identified, and provide contractors with sufficient time to submit responses to the agency.
On February 16, 2023, we posted an updated List of non-objectors. This updated List is intended to reflect two things. First, it removes all contractors that objected prior to publication of the initial List. Second, it removes all entities that responded to OFCCP between February 2 and February 10, 2023, asserting either that they were not a federal contractor or otherwise objecting to their inclusion on the List and the disclosure of their data. We also included the business addresses from contractor EEO-1 reports on this updated List to assist contractors in correctly distinguishing between entities with similar business names.
The updated List as of February 10, 2023, is available at the following link: Non-Objector Contractor List. If you submitted a response or objection for the first time after February 10, your entity may not yet have been removed from the List. If your entity is not listed, no action is necessary at this time. We have not yet made any determinations regarding the substance or merit of any responses or objections and is removing these entities from the initial disclosure to CIR pending OFCCP’s determinations.
We are providing an opportunity for contractors to review our updated List and notify us as soon as possible, but no later than March 3, 2023, if they believe their entity has been improperly included on the List. If you believe your entity was improperly included on the February 16, 2023 updated List, please respond via email to OFCCP-FOIA-EEO1-Questions@dol.gov, including at a minimum the following information: (1) all addresses associated with your entity for the reporting years in which your entity is listed; (2) your entity’s EEO-1 unit number; (3) any other entities associated with your organization (including, e.g., merged companies and subsidiaries) that you intend to cover in your objection, with any additional entity information needed to confirm the objection (including EEO-1 unit number and address, if different from those identified in response to (1) and (20)).
After the close of the response period on March 3, 2023, the agency will publish a second updated list by March 10, 2023, which will remove contractors that submitted objections between February 10, 2023, and by March 3, 2023, from the initial disclosure to CIR while we evaluate these objections. Contractors will then have one final opportunity to contact us, no later than March 17, 2023, if they believe their company was improperly listed.
We encourage all recipients of this message to consult the posted updated List. If a contractor wishes to object for the first time to disclosure on any other grounds aside from claiming they are not a federal contractor and were improperly included on the List, the objection must include an explanation as to why the contractor did not object in response to previous notices that we had issued, and why there is good cause for us to accept the objection at this point. If OFCCP determines that there is good cause for why the objection was not filed in response to the previous notices provided by the agency, we may, at its discretion, consider the substance of the late-filed objection.
Those seeking further information about this FOIA request may consult the Federal Register Notice, website, and FAQs published by OFCCP.
If you are not the appropriate contact for this notice, please forward this message to the appropriate department within your organization.
Contact the OFCCP National FOIA Office
You may contact the OFCCP FOIA Help Desk by phone or email with any questions related to this message. Please note that our business hours are from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (EST), Monday through Friday.
You may contact us at the information below.
National FOIA Office
Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs
U.S. Department of Labor
Helpdesk Number: 1-800-397-6251
Email: OFCCP-FOIA-EEO1-Questions@dol.gov
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