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Laura Mitchell is a principal in the Denver office of Jackson Lewis P.C. and leads the firm’s Workplace Analytics and Preventive Strategies Pay Equity subgroup. She partners with employers to evaluate, develop and implement policies and practices that ensure workplace fairness while mitigating legal risk. Laura is a guiding force in the firm’s most specialized and technical practice areas where she leverages an analytics-focused approach to partner with her clients in building legally compliant programs around which they can anchor their workplaces achieving productivity and stability.

Laura understands that creating a competitive advantage for employers in today’s workplace involves using a data-driven approach to counsel companies on the development of proactive and equitable non-discriminatory practices in hiring, promotions, separations and pay—and where advancements in technology can create both opportunities for efficiencies and risk that can be measured. Committed to putting her clients’ organizational goals first and foremost while balancing legal risk, Laura views herself as an extension of her clients’ team, responsible for providing proactive guidance and engaging in transparent, ongoing communication. Staying the course with employers across their organizational journey while balancing legal compliance obligations throughout their employees’ lifecycle ensures Laura’s position as a go-to resource.

Laura works with companies across all industries—both new and well-established multi-national organizations of all sizes—to realize the combined vision of legal compliance, increased productivity and economic growth enhanced by a focus on pay equity.  As part of the pay equity journey, she advises employers on the evolving pay transparency landscape, working to align compliant practices with the practical realities of the business world.

Laura partners closely with government contractors to understand, implement and demonstrate compliance with their EEO regulatory and compliance obligations. She also works closely with non-government contractor clients to conduct risk assessments of their programs, policies, and training to align with federal and state anti-discrimination requirements.

Laura is the editor and a principal contributor of the GovCon Employment Exchange blog and presents on pay equity and government contractor obligations. To round out her days, Laura enjoys spending time with her family and friends attending sports events, working out, riding her bike, playing pickleball and taking in Colorado’s incomparable sunsets.

The 2021 EEO-1 Component 1 reporting period is currently underway.  Most employers with 100 or more employees (and most federal contractors with 50 or more employees) must submit their 2021 EEO-1 Component 1 Report by Tuesday, May 17, 2022.  In past years, for various reasons, the EEOC has extended this deadline to permit additional

As we reported the 2021 EEO-1 reporting portal is now open.

More employers are collecting non-binary gender data from employees.  The EEOC however, is not authorized to require collection, or reporting, of non-binary employee data.  The current EEO-1 reporting form has fields only for the reporting of employee binary gender data.  So what are employers

OFCCP’s second Directive under the leadership of Director Jenny Yang addresses audit practices and rescinding four Directives issued by former OFCCP Director, Craig Leen.  This Directive comes on the heels of another new Directive 2022-01-Pay Equity Audits and a notice of the Agency’s intention to rescind a Leen-era regulation – Nondiscrimination Obligations of Federal Contractors

Directive 2022-02: Effective Compliance Evaluations and Enforcement issued March 31, 2022 is intended to

strengthen OFCCP compliance evaluations and reduce delay by promoting the timely exchange of information

It also sets a number of expectations for contractor conduct and compliance during reviews, rescinding a number of previous Directives that set out transparency and expectations and

As anticipated, OFCCP has released its proposal to revise the Agency’s Rule on Nondiscrimination Obligations of Federal Contractors and Subcontractors: Procedures to Resolve Potential Employment Discrimination.  The final rule, published in November 2020, codified the used of The Predetermination Notice and the Notice of Violation as part of OFCCP’s enforcement activities.

In today’s message from

In addition to digesting OFCCP’s release of a new directive on compensation, government contractors may soon see new regulations around inquiries into and the use of prior salary information.  In conjunction with Equal Pay Day, President Biden signed a new Executive Order on Advancing Economy, Efficiency, and Effectiveness in Federal Contracting by Promoting Pay

OFCCP’s contractor portal is new for everyone, and we are all learning how to use it.

But it presents a unique and interesting inflection point for higher education employers.

Let us explain . . .

OFCCP uses EEO-1 reports to identify the scope of potential contractor establishments for audit.  Because higher education contractors do