AS OF SEPTEMBER 8, 2006

The U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) published a final rule in today’s federal register that eliminates the Equal Opportunity Survey. The survey was created in the final days of the Clinton administration in an effort to help identify those federal contractors that are most likely to be in violation of Executive Order 11246. EO 11246 bars contractors from discriminating based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin, and requires contractors to adopt an affirmative action plan. Since 2000, the OFCCP has required designated non-construction federal contractors to disclose in the survey information about personnel activities, compensation, employee tenure and affirmative action programs.

The Department of Labor concluded, however, that the survey is not an effective tool for identifying unlawful discrimination and therefore “misdirects valuable enforcement resources.” OFCCP issued a proposed rule rescinding the Survey in January following the release a 2005 study by Abt Associates indicating the Survey's predictive power is “only slightly better than chance.” A study in 2000, by Bendick and Eagan Economic Consultants Inc., came to a similar conclusion. Abt found that “selection models based on EEO-1 data or data collected during compliance evaluation may be essentially equivalent to or better than models based on the Equal Opportunity Survey.” OFCCP determined that it is best to eliminate the survey in light of the Abt study and the costs to the agency and its contractors of collecting and ana lyzing data and preparing and filing the survey.

DOL received more than 2,700 comments on its proposed rule, the majority of which were from HR managers in support of rescinding the survey. Some women’s and minority advocacy groups, however, filed comments urging the agency to keep the survey.