Handyman Insurance, New OFCCP Affirmative Action Regulations Governing Hiring of Veterans and Disabled Individuals Go Into Effect
Federal contractors and subcontractors will soon be subject to new regulations, which increase those contractors’ obligations to hire both veterans and individuals with disabilities (“IWDs”). On March 24, 2014, two final rules promulgated by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Program (“OFCCP”) will go into effect. The veterans rule updates the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974 (“VEVRAA”), as amended by the Jobs for Veterans Act of 2002; the IWDs rule implements the nondiscrimination and affirmative action regulations of Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (“Section 503”), which prohibits discrimination by covered federal contractors and subcontractors against individuals on the basis of disability, and requires affirmative action on behalf of qualified IWDs.