As we are preparing for a change in leadership at OFCCP, the Agency has published its first Section 503 Focused Reviews Annual Report and issued Section 503 Certificates of Merit. As many are aware, OFCCP Director Craig Leen is passionate about fighting for and protecting the rights of individuals with disabilities and, as such,
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.
EEOC Announces Scheduled Opening of EEO-1 Reporting Portal for April 2021
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced today that the collections for the 2019 and 2020 EEO-1 Component 1 Data that was postponed in 2020 will begin in April 2021.
The noticed stated:
The precise opening dates of the collections, as well as the new submission deadline dates, will be announced by posting a
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OFCCP Issues Opinion Letter Explaining Application of Executive Order 11246 Religious Exemption
Following on the heels of its final rule clarifying the religious exemption found at Section 204(3) of Executive Order (EO) 11246 and codified at 41 C.F.R. 60-1.5(a)(5) (the Exemption), OFCCP this week issued an Opinion Letter addressing the scope of the Exemption. Specifically, the Opinion Letter provides insights on “six possible religious discrimination scenarios.”
As…
OFCCP Extends Comment Deadline for Annual AAP Certification Proposal
OFCCP has published a notice in the Federal Register extending the public comment period on its proposal to require federal contractors to submit an annual certification of their AAP compliance. The new comment deadline is January 28, 2021. While this notice does not state the reason for the extension, it appears the Agency received…
Court Order Stops Enforcement of President Trump’s Executive Order on Combatting Race and Sex Stereotyping
Since it was issued in September 2020, Executive Order 13950 – Combatting Race and Sex Stereotyping has been a source of controversy and criticism. Speculation as to the fate of the Executive Order in the future Biden/Harris administration has accelerated in recent weeks with talks of rescission and legal challenges. While we await the ultimate…
OFCCP Issues Directive on Fourth Agency Pillar of Certainty
OFCCP issued today the last of a series of Directives aimed at defining the Agency’s enforcement relationship with federal contractors – this Directive 2021-02 focuses on providing federal contractors “Certainty” when interacting with the Agency.
Since he took the leadership role, OFCCP Director Craig Leen has focused on providing federal contractors with “four pillars” on…
OFCCP Publishes Small Contractor Technical Assistance Guide
Rounding out the Agency’s efforts to beef up its Technical Assistance Guides (TAGs) for different types of federal contractors, OFCCP recently published a “Small Contractor” TAG. TAGs can be helpful resources for both new and experienced federal contractors, and the aim of this TAG is to guide those small contractors with limited resources through…
OFCCP Publishes Final Regulation Clarifying Religious Exemption Under Executive Order 11246
As anticipated, on December 7, 2020, OFCCP published on its Website a lengthy final rule clarifying the religious exemption found at Section 204(3) of Executive Order (EO) 11246 and codified at 41 C.F.R. 60-1.5(a)(5) (the Exemption).
The purpose of this final rule is to clarify the contours of the E.O. 11246 religious exemption and the…
EEOC Launches Searchable Database of Aggregated EEO-1 Data
In December 2018, the EEOC created the Office of Enterprise Data and Analytics (OEDA). Since its inception, the OEDA has been working on modernizing EEO data availability. On December 2, 2020 EEOC launched EEOC Explore, which aggregates publicly available EEO-1 data (currently limited to EEO-1 data sets from 2017 and 2018) into a…
UPDATE: Race and Sex Stereotyping Notice Provision Now Available for Inclusion in New Contracts
The Department of Defense has published a Memo and provided the Clause which its contracting agencies are now required to include in new contracts after the November 21, 2020 effective date of Executive Order 13950 – Combating Race and Sex Stereotyping. The notice identifies this as a “class deviation” that is “effective immediately” and…