Two days prior to the 2023 contractor portal certification deadline, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) updated the certification guidance on its contractor portal frequently asked questions (FAQ) page. The agency did not make a public announcement about the changes, other than changing the "last updated" date at the bottom of the FAQs to June 27, 2023. It also did not note the edits within the page itself, leaving the public with some guesswork to determine whether guidance previously relied upon was still valid or was edited.
Quick Hits
- OFCCP updated its contractor portal frequently asked questions pages without any fanfare.
- Federal contractors may need to review the FAQs in their entirety to ensure compliance.
- The contractor portal certification deadline is June 29, 2023.
One significant change relates to contractors that have not previously filed an EEO-1 report for one or more of their establishments. In the prior version of the FAQs, OFCCP noted that a contractor lacking an EEO-1 identification number should generally "wait until it is required to file an EEO-1 report and receive an EEO-1 identifier to register for the portal." Based on that guidance, a contractor could have already registered for the portal and excluded establishments without an EEO-1 identifier. However, the guidance edited June 27, 2023, indicates that contractors that "wish to" add an establishment without an EEO-1 identifier should contact OFCCP to receive "a temporary identifier for the establishment." Other contractors that still need to certify prior to the June 29, 2023, deadline should note that there have been reports of general technical issues with the portal.
Contractors wishing to update establishments without an EEO-1 identifier or who are experiencing other problems with the portal can contact the OFCCP Technical Support Service Helpdesk at 1-800-397-6251 or submit a technical assistance request via email. We understand that the Helpdesk has many pending assistance requests and a response may not be immediately forthcoming.
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