Photo of Laura A. Mitchell

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.

In an effort to slow the spread of the Delta variant of the COVID-19 virus, President Biden announced (in a July 29, 2021 White House Fact Sheet, as well as at a press conference) that on-site federal contractor employees will be asked about their vaccination status and if not fully vaccinated, be required to

As covered in our last blog post on this topic, President Biden issued Executive Order 14026  on April 27, 2021 raising to $15 per hour the minimum wage certain federal contractors must pay workers performing work “on or in connection with” a covered federal contract or subcontract.  According to the Executive Order, the Department

OFCCP has announced the release of its FY 2021 CSAL.  The CSAL, known as the Corporate Scheduling Announcement List (or also referred to as the Courtesy Scheduling Announcement List) identifies 750 Supply and Service establishment-based full compliance reviews, Corporate Management Compliance Evaluations (CMCE), Functional Affirmative Action Program (FAAP) Reviews and University Reviews.

As it has

The White House has released a Fact Sheet detailing an expected Executive Order from President Biden raising the minimum wage for certain federal contractors to $15 an hour by January 2022.  The new executive order will expand upon the Federal Minimum Wage Executive Order 13658 signed by President Obama in February 2014, which applied