1. Invite all applicants and employees who who wish to benefit under the affirmative action program to identify themselves to the contractor; 2. Review their personnel processes to determine whether present procedures assure proper consideration of qualifications of applicants or employees covered by the acts with regard to job vacancies (filled either by hiring or promotion) and to promotion and training opportunities; 3. Implement and adhere to a schedule of review of all physical or mental job qualification requirements to insure that they are job related and do not screen out qualified applicants. Although similar to the Executive Order regulations, some important differences must be noted: 1. Congress established different statutory 3. Another variation from the Executive Order Program is the principal form of investigation; Executive Order enforcement usually is based on compliance reviews but the 402 and 503 programs are geared primarily through complaint investigations. HOW 4. Complaint investigations are conducted exclusively by Department of Labor personnel. ever, compliance agencies have been delegated minimum responsibilities under the 503 and 402 regulations while conducting Executive order reviews. Those responsibilities include: Distributing sections 503 and 402 Determining whether contractors Determining whether the contractor Determining whether contractors Although the 402 and 503 programs are relatively new and many issues are yet to be identified, certain impediments to effective performance can be noted. They include: 1. The varying techniques utilized by the Executive Order Program and Sections 503 and 402 which make a uniform enforcement program under contract law difficult; 2. Since the program is complaint oriented, there is limited opportunity to conduct comprehensive compliance reviews to identify and remedy systemic discrimination or to determine the general acceptability of all affirmative action 3. The 402 program has encountered problems in Memorandum of Understanding which delineated the responsibilities of each agency in the MJL program. Basically, the Employment and Training Administration and the State Employment Service contact contractors to obtain voluntary compliance and to obtain job openings, refer veterans to openings and accept covered Veteran complaints of discrimination. Enforcement responsibilities in getting contractors to list jobs and take affirmative action for veterans rests with ESA. This Memorandum of Understanding has never been effectively implemented. Veteran complaint filing encounters lengthy delays in processing due to the requirement that complaints be filed initially with the State Employment Service. Recommendations The Task Force recommends the following changes in the 402 and 503 programs: These programs must establish a consistent regu latory framework both for coverage and in their requirements. These requirements must additionally be set forth in a systematic and sequential fashion its obligations in the analysis and correction of employment systems having adverse effect on the protected groups. Specific procedural guidelines must be established for the targeting and conduct of compliance reviews in addition to the current complaint system. Since the essential requirements for contractor programs under Sections 402 and 503 and the Executive Order are the same, the systems for targeting and conducting compliance reviews should be merged. Closer coordination with the new Deputy Assistant Secretary for Veterans Employment to revise the Mandatory Job Listing program and simplify the complaint processing for veterans. Strengthen the enforcement system by having OFCCP conduct compliance reviews of covered contractors. Coordinate with the Veterans Administration and other agencies and groups to provide technical assistance and awareness programs to inform contractors and veterans of their rights and respon |